Land of the Lost

the Fabian by Eugenia Kim

We were reflecting the other day on entire sectors of the apparel and accessories industry that have very nearly disappeared.

Once it was the convention that gentlemen and ladies wear hats in public, and that ladies should wear gloves. Imagine the uncountable number of milliners who closed up shop when ladies and gents alike threw off their hats in the interests of modernity.

Now hats are worn at certain churches, at Ascot, by women of a certain age who are aiming for a certain wacky too-old-to-give-a-hoot aesthetic and by the sunfearing (I include myself in the latter category). It's too bad because hats can be a damn lot of fun especially if your name is Isabella Blow and you have your own personal milliner, Philip Treacy. (See more about the pair here)



Isabella Blow

Thanks to designers like Eugenia Kim, hats and the fine art of millinery are not dead. Viva hats!

Now I know it's a long shot, but let's talk about gloves....