Haberdashery assumes an air of irony in Oakland

Hats, like feathers, aren’t just for the fur and feather mafia anymore.  First, Whole Foods started selling Livity hats, then Goorin Brothers opened on College, and soon everyone was wearing fedoras. I mean everyone.  People who really don’t belong in hats, couples wearing matching designs, and your mother. H&M caught on to the trend, and now, it just feels funny wearing what once was a super hot hat when my fourteen year old students have three up in their closets.  It feels sort of like the time I wore a thrift store sweater to a high school class I was teaching. One of the freshmen girls raised her hand and said, “Oh my god, I have that same sweater!  Hollister, right?”  I wanted to melt into the white board behind me.

At any rate, I’ve been wondering what could possibly come next. What once was the tribal-does-steampunk crescendo appears to be nearing its mass market diminuendo, and really no one in their right mind can wear (or afford to wear) that stuff everyday.

So, I was at Whole Foods at lunch today (imagine that) and caught a glimpse of some guys packing up their demo stand.  One of them had stacked his Livity hat on top of another fedora.  That’s it!  The next step! I thought, a bit too excitedly. Fedoras are too sexy to let go of, but too ubiquitous to any longer wear in their natural form. Let’s go outrageous and totally unfunctional.  Let’s go a little ironic.  Let’s layer our hats.

This evening, after yoga, I ended up at the other Whole Foods, looking for a slice of Gratitude’s coconut cream pie to bring home for my friend’s birthday. At the Gratitude counter I spied a girl with enough metal and precious stone jewelry on her hands I was surprised she was still able to hold them up. In her ears were some tribal curlicues. On her head was a baby blue sequined beanie. All sequins. Was I in 1998 or 2010? I didn’t know, but I loved it. The new trend? Perhaps. Just a few weeks ago, the bassist for Hamsa Lila wore his own sequined beanie on stage — he looked somewhat like a disco ball; the Whole Foods girl from tonight more like a flapper-gone-millenial.