Fascinators: Yes or No?

~ Laura

The VERY IMPORTANT topic that must be discussed at Apt. 11D today is… Kate Middleton's fondness for fascinators. What's a fascinator? It's a hat that isn't really a hat. It's like a super fluffy hair clip. 

Here's one of Kate Middleton's fascinators. 

KateHat_415  Like or hate? 

Where would you wear one of those things? Church? A wedding? Sunday brunch at the local pancake house? 

Published by Laura

31 thoughts on “Fascinators: Yes or No?”

  1. It looks like a quail is perched on her head. I don’t dislike fascinators in general, but I definitely dislike this one.

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  2. I would wear it to dust in antique houses with very low ceilings.
    Fascinators are akin to declaring, “No! I am not a serious person! And don’t ask me to be!” Given her current plans, one must say, it works for her, so who am I to criticize?

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  3. I love them. But I honestly only think the brits, scots, irish, n. irish, and welsh can put it off. My MIL wore one to my BIL’s wedding. It was gorgeous. (in ireland/irish people).
    But I also feel that women in hats are exclusive to the above mentioned. Americans just can’t pull it off.

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  5. I like it. I mean, I don’t like in the sense that I would actually wear it or that I find it attractive, but I like that she is doing something a bit different. The expectations for her dress and manners are so rigid that she probably has to find these small, acceptable outlets to assert her own identity.

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  7. I love seeing the royal family et al. wearing fascinators. Go Kate! As for the rest of us mortals – maybe for weddings, or a certain kind of very dressy church. I have to confess that on a regular daily basis, I’m not even that fond of the flowers and bows and bobs a lot of my classmates are wearing these days. (I don’t get wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and sticking a flowered headband in your hair.)

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  8. An English friend wore one to my wedding and it caused quite the stir. When I attended hers, I desperately tried to find one I liked, but was unable (sigh)–because I wasn’t about to fork out $$$ for a fascinator–despite my penchant for clothing, I’m more practical when it comes to “accessories.”

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  9. I kind of wish men’s hats would come back. I want to keep my head warm in the winter or and shaded in the summer without looking like I care about baseball.

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  10. MH — I’m pretty sure you’re old enough to develop a hat eccentricity. Of course, people might think you’re bald, but at least your head will be warm.
    I am a big fan of flowers in hair, but can’t really get excited about fascinators. I do enjoy seeing celebrities wearing things out of the norm, though, things I wouldn’t wear. That’s what we have them for. It’s kind of annoying when they try to look too ordinary and won’t take risks. So I approve of Kate’s fascinator.

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  14. MH,
    You can certainly start wearing serious hats at your age. For the winter, I’d suggest a felt hat. Perhaps something in Dorfman Pacific’s Indiana Jones line?
    http://dorfman-pacific.com/brands/indiana-jones.php
    Here’s a Dorfman-Pacific crushable felt hat:
    http://www.rei.com/product/631470
    We used to sell them by the gross at my parents’ store. We’d demonstrate that the hat sheds water, we’d crush it, then reshape it good as new. And they’re relatively inexpensive, too (REI has them at $25 to $40).
    For the summer, I don’t have any exact recommendations, but I’d suggest something in a similar shape in fabric.
    Do not, I implore you, wear any sort of hipster hat.

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  15. MH,
    I’m thinking a beret like the one in the ads in the back of the New Yorker. That guy’s been selling them for years. I imagine a small bachelor apartment with boxes and boxes of berets.

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  16. I don’t want to look like a hipster, a French bachelor, or somebody camping in the Pacific Northwest I do want the “real” hats made of felt.

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  18. I love her fascinators. She’s wearing a hat, which she seems to have to do as a fancy royal, but looks young and modern and cool and like she’s having fun with it…and her beautiful hair stays pretty. She’s smart about it. It wouldn’t look good on everyone or most occasions I deal with, but if I was 25 and throwing a party I might put one on. Luckily I came of age in the Sonic Youth to grunge era and we didn’t have to wear that stuff.

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  20. MH,
    The crushable felt hat looks like a conventional men’s felt hat, but with a few performance features (to avoid prematurely achieving the Jed Clampett look).

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  21. Newspaper boy cap worn backwards a la James Taylor?
    Still partial to the beret or perhaps making a living from selling berets via mail order.

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  25. I love the idea, but of all people I’d expect a future princess to bother brushing her hair before clipping one on!

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  26. Lucy, a kindred spirit! Yes, I can only imagine how many berets you sell in order to afford an ongoing New Yorker add.

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  27. “I love the idea, but of all people I’d expect a future princess to bother brushing her hair before clipping one on!”
    You have no idea of how much that ‘I didn’t brush my hair’ look costs at a good salon 🙂

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