Wedding Hats and Other Niceties

Amid all of the jokes about hats worn to the recent royal wedding in London, I was thinking about what I might have worn had I been invited. With my level of talent and creativity, I’m quite sure I could not have designed a hat that would attract as much attention as the one worn by Princess Beatrice of York. When a young lady has much wealth, it is no doubt important to be a stand-out at any event. And, considering the fact that Catherine was the main attraction at this event, Princess B came up with a great plan for being noticed and talked about beyond the time of her arrival to attend the wedding.

I’m sure the image of the princess’s hat will live on in the minds of many for a long time to come. The last time I checked on her “ridiculous” hat, it had 136,822 fans on Facebook. Cheers for the princess! I’m thinking her hat might not be more ridiculous than these fans.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m really not a hat person unless it’s cold and I need to keep my head warm. But I can’t imagine a British royal wedding without the parade of hats.

Here in the U.S. we have, for the most part, abandoned niceties, so it’s easy for us to laugh at traditions of others. After spending an amount equivalent to a week’s grocery budget on tickets and “dressing to the nines” to attend the Philharmonic, I often find myself located near people who have shown up in jeans. So what happened to dressing for a concert? I remember when that was expected. (I’m actually for starting an indoor baseball league for the winter months so these people have a place to be on the nights I go to concerts.)

I will no doubt never be invited to any formal event. But I can dream of one day going to a black tie party where I enter on Hubby’s arm in my beautiful flowing gown, or hope to attend a symphony where I won’t be out of place in my cute little beaded black dress, or receive an engraved invitation to a wedding where arriving without a hat would mean not being fully dressed.

When I get my invitation to such a wedding, I plan to model my hat after a hat worn by a doll I have in my collection. Just put a different color of hair and eyes under this hat and you can picture me at the wedding. (With my haircut, I have to assume it will need to be stapled to my head.)

Watch out next royal wedding, here I come. Now to save for the gift! I wonder how much porcelain and silver figurines go for these days.