Today's fashion-forward hats are a far cry from yesterday's demure Easter bonnets, but they all have one thing in common: A wonderful hat celebrates spring and reveals a woman's most feminine side.
Monica's beret may have brought hats to the attention of Americans recently, but industry experts say it doesn't have much to do with the fact that hat sales are up (10 to 15 percent every year since the mid-'80s, according to Casey Bush of the Headwear Information Bureau). Credit instead new materials that are light, flexible and durable; styles that are feminine and practical; and the current interest in sun protection for both face and hair.
This spring's haute hats -- which will be out in full force for Passover and Easter -- may also be the result of nostalgia for simpler times now that the millennium is fast approaching. Hatmakers are creating variations on Jackie O's pill box, the '20s cloche, reproductions of the Titanic "boarding hat" and even a feminized version of the tricorn.
The good news for milliners is that today's young women are used to wearing bandannas and baseball caps. When they graduate from jeans to suits and cocktail dresses, their next fashion accessory may very well be a stylish hat trimmed with flowers and feathers.
Hat styles are more timeless than, say, hem lengths; but there are some design directions that look particularly right for spring:
* Feminine silhouettes. Milliner Peter Bentley's delicate confections in straw, Panama and silk are a sprightly example. They suit spring's soft, flowing clothes.
* Unadorned packable hats. These are chic, light and comfortable and come in a variety of brim sizes. Spring's most useful colors are natural, white and oyster gray.
* Round crown, medium brim. It's the look for spring, says Barbara Musial, spokeswoman for milliner Eric Javits. An example is the Breton (think Madeline), with its upswept brim.
* Flowers. Lush cabbage roses, rosebuds, sprays of violets and baby's breath adorn every size brim. "Flowers are always big," says Phyllis Eley, custom milliner at Hats to Hose in Pikesville.
* Straw. Spring's straw hats are sophisticated, like hatmaker Commodore's elegant straws in pastel shades and styles for every social occasion.