Head in the Clouds

Quite a few years ago I bought this little 1950s bandeau made from cello, an artificial straw material. I was attracted to it because I thought its puffy shape resembled a naïve drawing of a fluffy cloud. Aptly, it is an icy blue and as light as air to wear.

I like the bandeau as an alternative to either hats, or headbands, for the latter put me too much in mind of schoolgirls wearing Alice bands. However, I have never worked out how to wear my hair with 1950s hats without looking too vintagey.

To set them off properly, they should really be worn with the hair up in a French roll or the like (as it would have been worn back in the day), but this combination that feels far too prim and ageing for me. I had in fact taken a series of photos nine months earlier, when I had long hair. I styled it in a low bun, and added 50s clip-on earrings, but the look displeased me so much I never used the pictures, and consequently reshot them.

Yet I’m not sure the bob is right either? (Irrelevant to me now as I no longer have a bob of course.) I am not sure I like the look of some of the hats of the era worn with long hair either – the proportions can often look all wrong to me.

Oh dear, a millinery dilemma! This jury’s head is still in the clouds. Perhaps I should take this up as a sartorial challenge?

Photos: February 2013, May 2012