Dapper in a hat on race day
By Malcolm Brown | theage.com.au | 31 October
The age of the man's hat, which faded half a century ago, is set to return, says Sydney milliner Rosie Boylan, who predicts the change will come about through men being more exposed to the elements as they walk or use public transport instead of the car.
The images are there - think of the behatted tough guy Humphrey Bogart of the 1930s and 1940s, or Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1960s, pitching his hat onto a rack to the delight of Miss Moneypenny.
But the sea of men's hats, as seen in crowd scenes from the 1950s, gave way to bare heads in the 1960s as fashion changed.
However, since at least the 1990s, when the message about sun exposure and skin cancer took hold, men have come to realise the value of covering up. It is just they are unsure how to proceed.
"Men have lost the art of how to style a hat for themselves," Ms Boylan said. "Men come to me saying they want to wear a hat, they don't have the confidence or they don't know what is good."
Ms Boylan is about to take up a Churchill Fellowship overseas study tour to "explore contemporary and historic practices in men's headwear design". She says that where there is a will, there is a way, and men will discover the finer points of hat wearing.
They will follow in the path of leaders such as the former British prime minister Winston Churchill, whose hat collection has been retained at his historic home, Chartwell, or his US counterpart, Franklin D. Roosevelt. And in modern times, the actors Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt have shown men the way.
Ms Boylan has made thousands of hats over the past 30 years, including for stage and screen, including the movies Moulin Rouge, Peter Pan, The Piano, Oscar And Lucinda and The Proposition.
Ms Boylan has been working with costume designer Catherine Martin for the Baz Luhrmann film, Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, due out in November, in which Jackman will be wearing a specially designed Akubra.
"Hats are the identifier of style and the individual, and with the casualisation of dress, the hat is an accessory they can use to set themselves apart from others," Ms Boylan said.
"Women wear a hat to create a mood or a changeable note. Men wear hats to define who they are.
"I want to come back to Australia and reinvigorate the Australian hat industry.
"I think men are ready to reconnect now and accept the hat as part of their personal dress and styling."
First published by TheAge.com.au on October 31 2008
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