If Kate Middleton becomes the new fashion icon, will more women be wearing hats? I don’t mean baseball caps, bandannas, or hats you wear to keep your ears warm. I’m talking about the feminine hats that have little brims like fedoras, bonnets, and cloches. Will American women go for them outside of the Kentucky Derby?

I love hats and I even have a small collection of them. Different hats call for different haircuts or lengths and lord knows I have had a variety of those. But my hats rarely find their way to my head. It’s not because I am short either as my hats are proportionate to my features. On that rare occasion that I place a hat on my head it is just too …..TOO! It feels very contrived. Lord knows I can get “matchy-matchy ” when it comes to accessories, and the hat is just the frosting on the cake….so to speak. Then there is the awkwardness of when to remove the hat that further prevents me from putting it on in the first place. Hat head or hat hair did not exist in the 30’s and 40’s when women styled their hair to accommodate the perfectly tilted hat, often held in place with a hat pin. I have yet to expose even the best haircut after it has been easily persuaded to take a different direction than I had intended by the likes of a hat.

Then there is always hat etiquette to consider. The rules are different for men than they are for women according to Emily Post. For instance a woman should never tip her hat nor should she wear one to the theater if the brim is large enough to obstruct the view of those around her. Should she be so bold as to wear one to a restaurant after dark, she may remove it only after dinner. It is not proper to wear one inside one’s own home. I’m sure Kate knows all about hat etiquette. After all, she will have the queen to answer to.

For now I will stick to wearing my little straw hats with the brim only at the beach once I am secure in my lounge chair with my cover up nearby. I will wear my little fox fur hat apres ski and maybe an occasional beret in the fall with a cute little jacket, as long as it can remain on my head.