The Vintage Gauntlet
In light of the fact that I have in the past spoken scathingly against sinnamay hats, I thought it only fair to show that even I can slip up occasionally. But there were extenuating circumstances: I was indulging a little obsession with fedoras, and it was sales time. These were the only reasons I was able to purchase this straw hat with its sinnamay brim without stabbing myself in the eye afterwards with a hatpin.
I also thought the colours were quite pretty: an indeterminate blue floating somewhere between French and robin’s egg, and cream. So while it was a wrench (emotionally speaking), I bought the hat. I am only able to forgive myself because at least it is a rather strong, masculine shape and doesn’t inspire me to rip it off my head and stamp on it in hat rage. (I have mentioned I loathe sinnamay, haven’t I?)
Actually, I believe the purchase of this hat was a sop, because I was lusting after a Philip Treacy wool-felt fedora, also blue – baby blue to be precise. Unfortunately there were two things wrong with it: it was far too big in size and price.
The vintage gloves, on the other hand, were a very determined purchase. I had to go through a lot to get them. Hankering after these robin’s egg blue gloves for quite some time, I purchased them at last from Etsy, shortly before I departed for foreign climes last May. The seller did not ship to Australia, so I had to organise delivery with a forward-shipping company. There was a hitch though. While overseas I received an email that the package had been returned undelivered for reasons unknown, and I had to pay for shipping all over again. I was quite willing to go the extra mile because gloves like that don’t grow on trees these days.
Hats and gloves though are literally remnants of a more elegant past, when they were part of the de rigueur arsenal of the woman of style. They’ve since been flung away by the majority, but I am happy to pick up the vintage gauntlet. I wonder if I would have passed muster and been allowed in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot?