How To Wear A Hat This Fall

There’s no other way to say this other than to put it bluntly: I’m obsessed with hats.  Remember how a little while ago I pledged my undying love to the wedge sneaker, emphasizing how they stole my heart and I would never be the same?  Well, while my feelings haven’t changed about my pumped up kicks. I have found those same feelings blossom for hats.

All hats, you ask?  Not particularly.  Yes, there’s a place in a girl’s closet for every type of hat (ok, most types of hats…there are definitely exceptions), but for me, I’ve had a multi-month love affair with the structured, brimmed, felt hats that can (thank god) be seen almost everywhere this season.  I first fell in love with 1970’s classic bohemian photographs featuring the likes of Joni Mitchell and Jane Birkin smiling beneath flowing locks and perfectly perched hats.  Then Emma Stone started wandering around last winter with Andrew Garfield and hat in tow, and I was a goner.  I had to have one.

Problem is, when push comes to shove and winter is at its most brutal, what is a brimmed hat that simply sits atop your head and neglects to shield your ears going to do to keep you warm and protected against that deadly chill?  Honestly, I have no idea.  Which is why I never invested in one.  I’d favor one of those fuzzy wool headband turban things any day, or a solid pair of earmuffs, or those hats with the earflaps.  But autumn is the time to snatch up a hat and wear it in all its glory.  It’s that perfect crisp, slightly chilly, mostly sunny time of year, when the leaves are changing and we can wear light fall jackets, loosely tied scarves, and that perfect hat (and pumpkin spiced latte in hand) to complete the ensemble.  Yes, they are more fashionable than functional.  But isn’t that what makes fashion so fun in the first place?

Browse through a few of my favorites from this season’s selection below, and then tell me – are you all about the hat, or do you think this look falls flat?

After graduating from college in ’09, Allyson Barkan flew off to Greece to teach English Literature at a private high school and explore Greek and European culture for a year.  Since returning stateside, she now works in Entertainment Public Relations in New York City.  For travel advice, stray observations as a 20-something in the big city, and the occasional hilarious misadventure, follow Allyson atwww.allysonbarkan.com and on twitter at @aebarkan.