It’s not just a matter of what you’ll wear to the Azalea Festival Garden Party, but what statement you want to make with your Garden Party hat. No Garden Party look is complete without a head-turning topper. If you don’t own a hat or in search of something custom-made, have no fear. I’ve turned to Wilmington’s favorite milliner Jan Wutkowski, who has honed her talent for more than a decade, for insight. Jan, who spent time at the Melbourne School of Millinery in Australia in the mid-90′s and today travels the world as an instructor (in her spare time away from her shop aMuse), takes pride connecting women with the largely forgotten pleasure of a custom-made hat.
‘FACE’ FACTS: “In selecting your hat, keep your face shape in mind. Round faces should steer away from extremely rounded crowns and downturned brims. Square shapes should avoid boater crowns, and heart shapes should pass on pixie or pointed crowns.”
WHOLE LOOK: “A hat should complement the ‘whole look’ of an ensemble. It doesn’t need to be ‘matchy-matchy’ but should work with your outfit’s colors, patterns, other accessories and should be proportional to body shape and height. For example, a short woman would most likely look best in a shorter brim rather than a brim that is larger in size.”
WEAR IT RIGHT: “For the woman who says she doesn’t look good in hats … either she hasn’t tried on enough styles to know what does look good on her, or she is wearing the hat improperly. Many women can put any hat on their head and look smashing, but some need to work at it to find a becoming style. Here’s a few tips that should help: wear the hat forward on the head; don’t wear the hat dead center of your head, slightly cock it off to the side; tuck your hair behind your ears; put on some complimentary jewelry and some make-up. This goes back to the ‘whole look’ tip.”
GLASSES: “For women who wear glasses, lighter frames can be more selective in style of hat, but heavier and darker colored frames will want to stay away from larger and down-turned brims. A swept-back brim would be perfect, and perhaps a short brim. Again, try on different styles with your glasses to see what works for you!”
‘HATTITUDE’: “Hattitude can certainly make any rules fly right out the window! The woman who feels good in her hat and is not afraid to be seen in a hat, and enjoys the attention a hat generates, can pretty much wear whatever she likes. Hats can be an extension of your personality, allow you to create bold new attitudes, or even give you a chance to go incognito. Hats are like punctuation marks – they can be a declarative statement (a period), add mystery and intrigue (a question mark), or show a playful, fun-filled side (exclamation point).”
I visited with Jan the day of the Garden Party with Fashion Designer Amanda deLeon to select our hats for our green carpet entrance.
VIDEO: Milliner Jan Wutkowski helps Amanda deLeon select one of her handmade headpieces for the Garden Party
I have to share this insight for all the single ladies out there – if you are looking to snag a man, wear a hat! All day long, we received a showering of compliments from men of all ages on our head-turning ensembles. Turns out headpieces are the most fashionable ice-breakers….
