Hats

Mary Harycki

A hat settles on the top of your head like the feeling of being kissed.

It carresses your hair and smooths it like a hand holding your other hand.

It gives you dignity; it gives you strength.

A woman wears a hat to complement and call attention to her ensemble;

a man usually dons a derby or a tam'o shanter or a beret for practical reasons.

Either way a hat is a delicious thing to have on your head.

It's like the cherry on an ice cream Sundae,

or the pleasure of a body next to yours,

or a conversation beween friends.

Hats are for people who care about heads,

and who doesn't care about their own head?

Cerebally, hats do nothing, but ceremoniously they say everything.

The Queen of England always wears a hat to match her Hardie Amies ensembles,

and I'm not even going to get into the fact

that the Queen upstages even the most fanciful hat wearers

with her collection of crowns and tiaras,

which is a whole other class of headgear, not relevant here.

Personally, I have two favorite hats designed by Frank Olive,

who is known to all professional hattiers.

I bought them at a luncheon at the Milwukee Athletic Club,

where Mr. Olive appeared in person and his models modeled his creations

while all the ladies there

sat at beautiful linen covered tables eating lunch.

(I recall it was Chicken a la King.)

Then we ordered the hats we wanted (I ordered two)

and they were sent to us, and I still have them to this day.

They are both made of fine straw

and one looks like a Chinese coolies's hat

and the other is a boater with a wide, wide brim

with a navy and white striped ribbon around it.

Of course I don't have anywhere to wear my Frank Olive's now --

I mean I don't go to places where such elaborate head coverings are necessary or appropriate.

But somehow, back in the days when I was young, I managed to acquire them.

And now what will happen to my two loveliest hats, if I should slip off and die?

I think I'll put them in my will to be donated to my Alma Mater's fashion collection.

I graduated from Mount Mary College,

which has a programto turn young girls into fashion designers,

and so the college also has a collection of famous fashions

from famous designers through the ages.

My Frank Olive's would be welcome there,I am sure,

after I am no longer here.