Wholesale Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Blog

IT SEEMS LIKE A VERY LONG TIME AGO now, but I still remember it vividly.  It was early March, and there were snowflakes on the ground when I walked down Fifth Avenue into Altman’s Department Store and there it was:  The most beautiful hat I had ever seen!  It was pale pink, with a lovely brim laden with gentle pink silk flowers.  Oh!  I had to buy it!  The saleslady put it gently into a big hat box filled with crisp tissue paper, and it was mine.  I was thrilled. 

When my grandmother looked at the hat box she was surprised.  She opened it slowly, and then she saw it.  Here eyes lit up, just as mine had.  That fabulous pink hat!  Oh!  She picked it up, put it on her head, and practically danced across the room to her mirror.  Did she look grand!  Was there ever a more beautiful hat in the world?

It was an Easter bonnet for the ages, and probably the most successful gift I had ever given anyone.  Feminine, yet aristocratic.  Something that makes you smile when you see it.  But it went far beyond Easter.  My grandmother wore it everywhere – to church on Sunday, to lunch with her girlfriends, to her ladies’ club meetings on Thursday afternoons.  And each time she wore it, this sweet woman of infinite humility seemed to exude just a bit of pride, because she looked good, and she knew it.

A hat can do that.  It can make a rainy day sunny.  It can brighten up a woman’s spirits like nothing other.  Hats complete a look, they give it finish and polish.  At Easter, hats practically announce it is Spring, with their pretty colors and florals.  Hats are elegant, wonderfully appealing.  They make a woman look terrific, like nothing else can.

YOU CAN THRILL YOUR CUSTOMERS WITH WONDERFUL NEW EASTER CHAPEAUX. YOU CAN’T HELP BUT LOVE THESE!

• Organza wide brim hat

• Elegant sinamay dress hat

                                                Easter Parade

When I was a young girl, you just had to have a new hat for Easter Sunday.   We would put on our new chapeaux for services, and then rush home to watch the Easter Parade on TV – all those society ladies wearing their designer hats as they walked up and down Fifth Avenue. 

Hat making was a real art, and only the finest milliners would display their show pieces.  It was a matter of pride here, too.  After all, wasn’t the great couturier Coco Chanel a milliner, first and foremost?  Hats are the quintessential fashion!

Then, a lot changed.  People stopped wearing hats.  People even stopped getting dressed up as much.  Many women went (and still go) to church in slacks and jeans. It’s an informal manner, and part of a new cultural expression.  Yet, something has been lost, don’t you think? 

                                                     Good News

WELL, THERE IS GOOD NEWS because the fashion industry would never let something so wonderful as a hat disappear into time.  Never!  And right now, in New York, in Paris, in Milan, in Frankfort, hats are back!  Wonderful hats, some even capable of competing with that fabulous pink hat I bought my grandmother so many years ago!

The colors of the new hats are as inspirational as ever:  Pinks, blues, greens, pale sage green.  And the flowers!  Flowers are an absolute essential for a new Spring hat, the more the merrier.  Ruffles and bows and fringes and sequins and garlands of chiffon piled high on a new Spring hat at the epitome of fashion now.  It is a look to die for! 

Karl Lagerfeld has designed a charming silver colored spring suit he calls “neon baroque” and dressed his model with a stunning lavender floral headpiece to finish the outfit. A stunning collection of spring hats by Albrizio includes a high crown black straw number with a fun cluster of black feathers.  The young designer Federica Moretti has also created a quirky straw hat collection for spring, festooned with handsome black ribbons.

                                                         In Milan

In the fashion capital of the world, Milan, even the ads are hyped up and excited by the newest hat designs.  Baldinini gives more advertising emphasis to the super big brimmed red hat on his model than on the bathing suit she is wearing.  And, back in the States, if you really want to see where hats are going, take a look at that phenomenal white and black and red feathered hat by Guy Garsone’s that was a recent standout at the NYC Milliner’s Guild.  It was heart-stopping!

You might say hats are undergoing a true renaissance.  They are back, in a big way.  It just goes to show, you can always trust fashion to do the right thing. 

YOU CAN DO THE RIGHT THING, TOO, BYJ GIVING OUR CUSTOMERS TERRIFIC EASTR STYLE AT A VERY REASONABLE PRICE. JUST LOOK AT THESE SPRING HATS:

• Wide brim ladies hat

• Ladies fabric hat

THERE WAS A TIME, some decades ago, when men would routinely wear hats once the winter cold settled in.  Men would choose their style and fabric carefully, but the use of hats was mostly practical: to provide warmth and comfort.  Workmen would wear

knit caps, sportsmen would wear sportscaps, many with ear flaps, and office executives would wear more traditional, say, fedora, stylings.  

I remember when much of that changed—in a single TV glimpse of the glamorous new American president, John Kennedy, who was photographed bareheaded in mid-winter, 1960 and who looked so dashing that he single-handedly banished the hat from many men’s wardrobes. 

                                       Michael Jackson Impact

It’s taken a half century for the hat to make a men’s sartorial comeback, but come back it has, Big Time!  Fall fashion dictates a hat as finishing element in many sports-to-more formal ensembles. And, again, the hat’s renewed popularity has been sparked by celebrities—the late Michael Jackson, of course, for the many versions of the Fedora. 

The Fedora continues the favorite of many men’s clothiers, such as Dunhill and Kenzo or Prada.  It’s been mated with everything from a mod T-shirt to a relaxed city suit.  Also, the classic small-brimmed cap is often paired with sportsjacket, contrast shirt and patterned matching small scarf and breast-pocket handkerchief for a casual, yet finished look.  

A bit of faux formality is being shown, with double-breasted suit jackets with contrast buttons accenting the style which nonetheless is unstructured and unlined.

New and comfortable!  And Michael Kors introduced a tan suit that looked quite conventional– except that that jacket is completely sleeveless, baring the arms from the shoulder.  It presents a visual contradiction:  a nicely refined, tailored suit, with startling, even erotic nakedness of the arms.  Wow…

WORN WITH MANY OF THE NEWEST CLOTHING DESIGNS FOR SPRING ARE GOOD-LOOKING, TRADITIONAL FEDORAS AND BOWLERS. LOOK HERE:

• Men’s felt fedora – a classic! – with felt body and grosgrain band.

• Men’s wool felt bowler hat.  Check out the sophisticated styling and quality construction!

                               Sexy Shades – Dark and Mysterious

Even though use of hats shades the eyes naturally, dark sunglasses add to the mystique and look oh, so! trendy and smart.  Aviators are the choice of Dolce & Gabbana—they led a phalanx of hip looking models down the runway, all outfitted with the same aviators.  Michael Bastian paired large-lens dark glasses with a white-banded black fedora.  Lacoste matched happy, yellow-rimmed big sunglasses with a smart yellow T-shirt.

REMEMBER, AVIATORS ARE TIMELESS, ALWAYS IN.  THEY CONTINUE AS NO.1 BEST SELLER SUNGLASS DESIGN FOR MEN.  CONSIDER THESE:

• Oversized unisex aviators – a cool look in sunglasses seen on more and more celebrities.

• Sports sunglasses with colored mirrors.  Suave and affordable!

Another retrouve design element is the bow tie, repeated on a moving row of models by Dolce & Gabbana; setting off a denim shirt atop short-shorts by Trussardi 1911; and a black and white mini-patterned bow tie/matching suit pocket handkerchief combined with a sharply tilted light fedora, all by Dunhill.  Individual style, very NOW.

                                                 Hey, Red…

Lighter weight fabric is the ultimate design element, and accessory as well:  Neckerchiefs abound, some patterned, some monochrome.  Fire-engine red, long Scarves match red suit jackets, red (yes!) coats, red trenches, red leather jackets.  Etro draped a wide, fringed silken scarf over a patterned jacket. And Hermes knotted a midnight blue silk neckerchief at the open collar of a subtly striped blue shirt.

Men’s jewelry took the form of multiple necklaces at open necklines, with manly pendants, often hanging from cords or leather strips. Versace decorated a handsome young model with sleeveless grey patterned T, sleeveless grey vest overshirt, grey rimmed outsize sunglasses, staggered corded pendant necklaces.  Impeccable, gorgeous guy glam.

ONE COLD JANUARY AFTERNOON when I was a kid, my aunt called to ask if I would like to join her family for an evening picnic dinner in the woods.  Well…did you ever hear of anything so crazy?  I was thrilled!

Shortly after four, my uncle arrived and I piled into the car with my cousins for the ride to the Watchung Picnic area in Central New Jersey. When we arrived, a friend of my uncle had already started up an impressive bon fire and was busy stoking charcoals for grilled hamburgers. 

My aunt quickly poured hot chocolate into mugs and cuddled us all in blankets over our cozy hats and scarves.  Snow was beginning to fall, the moon was bright, and I thought it was the most wonderful night of my life.

Kids love things offbeat.  Different. Like Christmas in July.  Or this picnic.  So long as we were warm, we were happy.  We sang songs.  Ran around being silly. We ate heartily.  We giggled. And soon enough, we were back in the car, already falling asleep, ready for the ride home to bed. 

KEEPING WARM IS OFTEN THE KEY to how you enjoy the winter months, whether you are shoveling snow or walking the dog.  And keeping warm means, first and foremost, a good hat.  Did you know you can lose as much as 85 percent of your bodily heat through your head?  That’s why campers and mountain climbers pay so much attention to hats.  They are literally life-savers in the cold.

YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR CUSTOMERS ALL WINTER LONG WITH THESE GOOD-LOOKING AND PRACTICAL HAT AND SCARF PRODUCTS:  

• Chenille scarf, hat, and glove set with soft fabric feel and choice of colors.

• Pashmina scarves in solid colors.  Fantastic fashion item!

                                           The Vermont Experience

WHEN I GOT A LITTLE OLDER, the winter games got even more complicated.  Friends got involved in all kinds of winter sports.   But skiing in Vermont was surely the most popular.  Some kids went with their parents to exclusive resorts, equipped with their own skis and fashionable skiing outfits. 

Others, like me, joined the American Youth Hostels and got much the same experience (just a bit less luxurious) traveling to and from Vermont on buses and staying in dormitory studios owned or rented by AYH.  It was always terrific.

The AYH weekends were usually at Killington or Mount Snow.  Most of the youngsters rented skis and took advantage of AYH free skiing lessons from highly-skilled ski instructor-members.  We all wore the warmest clothes we could find, especially down-filled ski jackets and, again, those snuggily, cozy hats and scarves. 

   — I have to admit, there were always some kids who could hit the trails without a hat or scarf at all, but I never could understand how.  For them, however, it was a matter of fashion.  Sexiness.  Why cover those gorgeous blond tresses?  Instead, they bowed to foolishness.

IT NEVER MAKES SENSE TO BE COLD WHEN YOU CAN BE WARM.  THAT’S ESPECIALLY TRUE TODAY, WHEN HATS NOT ONLY LOOK AS GOOD AS A BARE HEAD, THEY USUALLY LOOK BETTER!  HERE ARE SOME GREAT EXAMPLES:

• Ladies wool felt roll-up hat – classy and easy to wear!

Trendy ladies newsboy cap with satin lining and inner elastic band to assure a great fit. 

A glimmer of hope is always welcome in a year like this that started out looking so shaky.  Well we are more than half way through the dog days of summer and economic forecasts are looking far more optimistic.  Expectations for fall fashion business are making major strides forward.  But we don’t have to wait for fall to enjoy an upturn in business because wholesale hats are on a big upward swing now and have shown remarkable strength all summer. 

First let’s look at wholesale dress hats.  Dress hats start off the spring season with Easter and Mother’s Day the two big events for dressy hat sales.  But as the summer moves along demand continues, but the supply of wholesale dress hats dwindles.   This is especially true this year because of cautious buying and low inventory levels for retailers and wholesalers alike. 

Demand for white church hats is especially good with many special functions in the summer calling for these dressy hats.   Classy trimmed polypropylenes provide the traditional straw look that enjoys steady popularity dating back to the mid-twentieth century.  We have stocked both trimmed and untrimmed white dress hats deep because we never seem to have enough to meet the mid-summer demand.  Here is an excellent opportunity for you to improve your summer sales by filling the vacuum for summer church hats. 

An even greater demand is in casual hats.  Year-to-Date statistics show casual hats within a whisker of 2007 volume and that was a record year.  This is terrific in a year when almost all categories are well behind 2007 volume.  The same statistics show that cowboy hats are leading casual hat sales with 46% of the market.  So fashion forecasters can quit writing the obituary on this American icon that continues to be a consumer favorite. 

What styles of cowboy hats are retailers finding move fastest?  Distressed straws—that well worn look—lead wholesale cowboy hats that are shipping. Pinch front styles with shapeable brims are best here.  Some prefer simple bands while others like the individualism that special bands can create—hatbands with the look of leather, conchos, turquoise, or wood beading. 

Actually western hat bands themselves are a niche market with decent demand and practically no competition.  So adding western hat bands to your selection of cowboy hats makes you look more specialized and gives your customers a creative way to achieve the rugged individualism that a cowboy hat stands for. 

Now back to the hats.  While distressed straws are the wholesale cowboy hats we ship in the greatest quantity, they are not the whole story.  Natural straws are very good as well and colors still have plenty of demand and dwindling supply.  The demand comes not only from individuals that prefer color in cowboy hats, but from organizations and groups as well.  Black and white are always good.  Pink cowboy hats are popular for breast cancer awareness walks; red for red hatters; fashion colors for cheerleader squads, majorettes, or band members.  Color can also designate a group such as school colors for fans at a sporting event.  Dwindling supply is the result of many wholesalers and importers dropping out of the colored cowboy hat market because they viewed the western hat business as a fashion fad rather than a steady market.  

Is it a steady market?  A few years ago J-Lo and Brittany appeared in shapeable straw cowboy hats and soon celebrities everywhere were wearing them, giving cowboy hat sales a huge shot in the arm.  As celebrities moved on to fedoras, newsboys, and ivy caps, cowboy hats continued to lead causal hat sales because the rugged individualism these hats present just can’t be replaced.  The cowboy hat is an American icon that immediately calls up the romantic imagination of the Wild West.  The total feeling is hard to express, but it includes individualism, attitude, survival, toughness, and a code of chivalry. 

Cowboy hats are still the preferred headwear of many celebrities and nearly all country music artists.  Cowboy hats are everywhere at rodeos, horse shows, and country music concerts.  And you can’t go to a festival, beach, or summer sporting event that you don’t see them.  Yes cowboy hat sales have a steady future in sales because the headwear that can compete with them for individual personality has not been designed yet.  

Tomorrow Part 2 of causal hats that sell right now.

Hats! That’s the subject of a wild and wonderful exhibition by British milliner Stephen Jones, running at the famed London Victoria and Albert Museum.

The show covers a broad time and place geography, from an ancient Egyptian mask of Anubis, God of the Underworld, through Balenciaga hats from the fifties, along with the work of a bevy of modern milliners whose names are just now rising on the couture landscape, such as Nasir Mazhat and Justin Smith. The show is also inspiration for style drama in very hot new hats.

It’s not very often you get to see a fascinating museum collection devoted exclusively to hats.  Of course, there are many at the Smithsonian, but they tend to be of a somewhat limited scope and focus mainly on America.  These hats (and masks and crowns) are intriguing, and limited only by the anthology imagination of the main designer.

                                                Status and Power

“Hats denote status and power,” declares Jones.  “The ultimate symbol of royalty is a crown.” 

Of course, most people don’t think of crowns as hats, exactly, but you might say they’re headpieces, and that’s more or less what designer Jones is displaying. Others fit the head like a mask, like the Stephen Jones-designed Egyptian masterpiece shown at Dior’s runway show back in 2004.

YOU CAN ASSEMBLE YOUR OWN IN-STORE OR ON-LINE COLLECTION OF HEADWEAR QUITE EASILY. TRY THESE GREAT PRODUCTS.  THEY ARE GOOD-LOOKING AND WILDLY POPULAR RIGHT NOW:

• Ladies fedora hat with linen look comes in a variety of fashion colors.

• Upbrim summer hat in cool colors with charming plaid lining in upturned brim.

• Ladies hat with down brim and front floral design.  Ohhh!  This is delightful!

                                     Ballerinas to Serfs

One piece in the museum show is an off-beat Dior arrow cloche that belonged to prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn.  Another is a not-so-royal hat from the Tudor period, a knitted cap worn by serfs. It seems he found the caps in the museum’s archives.   Smith says the hat is knitted exactly the same way as some hats he was going to do for couture designer Galliano.

Many of the exhibition hats are from collections made by Jones for top design houses such as Christian Dior and Comme des GarconS.  Jones’ newest collection for Spring of this year has been inspired by the different themes of the museum show:  Inspiration, Creation, The Salon, and the Client.

YOU CAN FIND COMPARABLE HAT THEMES IN WONDERFUL CHAPEAUX AT A FRACTION OF DESIGNER PRICES.  LOOK AT THESE FOR EXAMPLE:

• Polka dot cabbie hat has real designer appeal.  Comes with puffy crown and jaunty bow on the side.

• Cute ladies cotton bush hat for safari-dreamers.  Comes in a variety of summer colors.

• Classy wide-brim hat in bright colors gives super sophisticated tone to any outfit.

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade….   — Irving Berlin

THE TRADITIONAL EASTER PARADE is not what it used to be, but traces of it still remain in major cities around the country.  The Easter Parade, as we know it, probably started in New York sometime in the late 19^th century, when Easter signaled the beginning of Spring, with warming days and budding flowers filling everything with a young and  thrilling atmosphere. The delight of the Parade affected everyone, and soon it became an annual event in towns and villages throughout the country.

Families would literally dress up for Easter, putting on new finery and proudly heading off to church where they would simultaneously pray and posture.  It was always great fun, and the key to it all was the Easter Bonnet.  Ladies and little girls all wore new bonnets, festooned with flowers, as they paraded around the church environs. 

The really BIG Easter Parade, of course, was in New York City.  It started as an Easter Day stroll by Fifth Avenue churchgoers and continued to grow until it ran down Fifth Avenue from 57^th to 49^th Streets.  The Easter Parade’s important focus in New York was always on St. Thomas’ Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  While almost anyone could (and did) participate in the Easter Parade, it was for many years mainly focused on the city’s wealthy and socially elite.   

WEARING AN “EASTER BONNET” IS STILL A SPECIAL SPRING TRADITION. HERE ARE SOME SPLENDID HATS TO CHOOSE FROM:

• A ladies dress hat with shimmer.  In a variety of colors, this elegant hat is made for attention-getting!

• Ladies church hat with high crown almost shouts out Easter Halleluiahs!  This is a wonderful dress chapeau!

• Ladies wholesale sinamay hat with big bows and luxurious satin leaf shapes.  Stunning!

                                         Mystery and Excitement

THERE WAS OFTEN GREAT MYSTERY and excitement surrounding what one’s Easter Bonnet” (later referred to as an “Easter Hat”) looked like.  Many girls and ladies hid them away from the sight of friends until Easter morning, when they would come out with a great flourish.  As time passed, hats often got bigger and bigger.  More flowers were put on the hats.  Television cameras came out to record the spectacular variety of Easter Bonnets, and show them off to the world. 

As might be expected, hi-jinks accompanied the Parade’s popularity.  Commercialism snuck in, as women wore hats from particular milliners just for the cameras to see. Outrageous outfits began showing up n the Avenue, diluting its elitist manner.  Hairdressers attempted to compete with the Easter Bonnet popularity, bringing models with often weirdly colored hair to walk along the famous Fifth Avenue mile and hopefully gain them a moment of fame. Little by little, the parade lost its focus and began to run down.

But that’s not to say the Easter Parade is over!  Ladies still choose a special hat for Easter church services and, if anything, the Parade itself has mushroomed out, as communities around the country witness a flourish of feminine “dress-up” as part of the joyful rites of spring.

                                        The Creative Bonnet

AN INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT in recent years has been the habit of buying a basic hat and then decorating it with all manner of silk and real flowers, sequins, crystals, scarves, and other embellishments, making the modern “Easter Bonnet” a highly creative and individualistic work of art.

YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN EASTER CREATION, USING A LITTLE IMAGINATION AND SOME REAL MILLINERY FINERY.  HERE ARE SOME LOVELY HATS TO START WITH:

• A super-wide brim ladies hat with black grosgrain trim.  This is a real find that you can wear “as is” or decorate with a choice of spring flowers and bows.

• Pink, white, and lavender: This charming child’s hat comes in a choice of colors for Easter and is decorated with a tiny ribbon and shell to make her feel like a grown-up! 

GUESS WHAT is suddenly pushing forward as one of the hottest accessories categories of the year?  Hats!  Big, small, cozy, spring-like, caps, church hats, fedoras, you name it.  They are all enjoying new respect and attention as a bevy of top couturiers give them their names and design refinement.

As hats return to their traditional importance in fashion, they are being seen as a key accessory and couture status symbol. Hats, one European stylist contended, are absolutely essential for expressing individual style.  They finish an outfit.  Without a hat, well…a lady is only half-dressed.

                                             British Classic

IN THE COLD WEATHER category, tweeds are red hot, especially Scottish tweeds and felts in protective headgear like winter caps. A very refined design comes from Anthony Peto, whose handsome tweed cap features exquisite tailoring with a same-material (rim), classic lines, and a medium-sized brim.  The look is terribly British, the kind of hat you’d expect to see on someone rambling in the Cotswolds or the Scottish Highlands.  

A hat distributor in Ghent, Belgium, said that, despite the bad economy, his budget was up 10 percent on these hats, and his general attitude for the rest of the year was positively encouraging.  Hats.  They are really hot!

YOU CAN GET THIS CLASSIC LOOK, TOO.  CONSIDER:

• A military inspired cadet winter cap in brown and white check separating rows of black and white herringbone.  It’s a double for Peto’s designer cap, but at a fraction of the price!

• A handsome wool felt hat with high crown and upturned front brim that narrows toward the back.  In grey or blue, this is a very flattering style for everyone!

                                    Milan Designers

AT THE RECENT SHOWS in Milan, Prada, Gucci, and Mui Mui were just a few of the top designers showing their runway outfits complete with hats.  In New York, the new and sweet little boater hats in almost endless variations have become almost eponymous with designer Marc Jacobs, who placed them on the heads of all his recent runway models.

The fedora, which has been in the fashion news for a couple of seasons now, not only isn’t losing its popularity, it is more important than ever, showing up in many different materials and style modes, not the least of which are checks.

IMITATING THE DESIGNER MODE IN HEADWEAR IS EASY! TRY THESE IDEAS:

• A fun fedora in crushable, fancy-weave polyester.  In a variety of colors.

• A rush straw safari hat, very “Out of Africa” chic; or

• A bamboo lifeguard hat with big brim, great for sunny climes.

                                            Creative Headpieces

SUPER DESIGNERS DOLCE AND GABBANA are particularly creative with a large collection of  what they call fashion “headpieces” – little hats made up of things like big bows and cleverly twisted birdlike material.  The looks are truly fabulous! 

For Spring, Burberry introduces a charming straw bucket hat in a smart neutral yellow, plus several other sophisticated colors.  Marni has a very young big and little blue and white polka dot print crusher hat.

YOU CAN GET CREATIVE WITH HATS, TOO!  SOME SUGGESTIONS:

• A large wholesale dress hat with feathers and grosgrain ribbon… super-trendy and a real “headpiece” special. 

• A wide-brimmed sinamay dress hat with squared satin crown and large satin rosette embellishment.

                                                        Finale

HOT FOR WINTER 09-10 are big fur and faux fur Russian hats, moving everywhere! Even Rock stars are getting in on the act here.  Two dramatic Cosack design hats are worn by the gorgeous lady singers that accompany major entertainer Kid Rock on his latest release. Check them out in any of many magazine ad pictures.

January 20^th was a day of days!  Not only did Barack Obama take the oath of office as America’s first black president, but America’s Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, thrilled the Inaugural audiences and international air waves with a magnificent rendition of My Country ‘Tis of Thee. 

What no one could have figured, however, was the immense popularity that one fashion item worn by Miss Franklin that day would garner: The item was her hat! And oh, what a hat it was! 

 ”It’s a media and cyberspace sensation,” gushed Bill McGraw of the Detroit Free Press.  

The heather-grey wool felt hat was embellished with Swarovski crystals and featured a big-stand up bow. It was more than noticeable; it was impressive.  You might say it had presence. And didn’t the country know it!

The Idea is A Hat!  You can modify the Franklin sensation with your own taste and come up with an equally individualistic look for yourself. Consider:

• A charming cabbie hat with rhinestone bow;

• A jaunty grey fedora or soft wool dressy cloche (just add a bow for extra Franklin-zip);

• A wholesale church hat with beading embellishment.

                                            Sales Sensation

Minutes after Franklin finished singing, the phone started ringing at Mr. Song Millinery in Detroit, where Franklin bought the chapeau for $179.  Hundreds were sold in the ensuing twenty four hours. And the demand continues…

“People are calling from as far away as England asking for the hat,” Mr. Song said. 

The hats Song is now offering customers are slightly different from the customized hat Franklin wore, but they are no less charming. Apparently, Song’s hats are all very special. The milliner has been selling to Franklin for years, and says he sees hats as an art form.  “For me,” he declares, “hats define culture.”

Franklin has reportedly had museum requests for the hat as well.  But she isn’t sure she wants to hand it over.  After all, this is a major piece of memorabilia and she helped make it so.  As Song concludes, the hat “has taken on a life of its own.” 

               CELEBRITIES RADIANT WITH THE DIAMOND LOOK

A SPECTACULAR COLLECTION of diamonds and evening gowns was shown off at the recent Screen Actors Awards, worn by some of the most dazzling actresses on the Hollywood scene.  The stage was ablaze with deep saturated color as award-winners literally danced across it with one dress more fabulous than the other. But nothing quite compared to the flash and sparkle of diamonds, diamonds, diamonds!   

Freida Pinto (The Slumdog Millionaire) wore a Marchesa full-skirted smoky blue dress with a long, loose back chiffon-like panel. Adding light and passion were gorgeous diamond accessories: a stunning diamond bracelet and handsome dangling diamond earrings.

Kate Winslet (The Reader) wore what she called “an amazing color,” a Narcisco Rodriguez gown in deep purple-blue. Reflecting brilliant color all around were double strand hanging diamond earrings and a delicate diamond bracelet, all by Chopard.  Romanoff-level chic!

YOU CAN GET THE LOOK WITHOUT THE COST.  Look for CZs that defy identification as anything less than diamond royalty!

• Emerald cut drop CZ earrings offer surprising flashes of brilliant light and color;

Lavish CZ necklace set features opulent design with Hollywood showtime brilliance.

                                       Gemstone Bag

A brilliant emerald green off-one-shoulder dress by Emanuel Ungaro was worn by Christina Applegate (Samantha Who).  She was gorgeously dressed with a long, below-the-waist chain necklace, a narrow diamond bracelet, and big but delicate hoop earrings embedded with single stones. The charming actress, recovering from breast cancer, also carried a green gemstone-decorated clutch bag.  Wow!

Holly Hunter (Saving Grace) wore a wildly hot pink strapless dress by Reen Acra and accessorized it with class, and then some.  The super-slim blond beauty wore gorgeous diamond pendant earrings and – hear this! – a 10.80 carat diamond ring.  The jewelry was by Fred Leighton, the well-known California jeweler who always “knocks you dead” with marvelous designs. 

Viola Davis (Doubt) wore the happiest color of the night, a sun-bright off-one-shoulder yellow creation by David Meister. Her jewelry included a wide yellow beaded bracelet and a yellow-gold ring. She carried a small gemstone-encrusted clutch.                      

YOU CAN GET THE LOOK WITHOUT THE COST.  Add the magnificence of real crystal to your next shopping list. For immediate attention, look at:

• Austrian crystal rhinestone stretch bracelets;
• Tennis bracelets with spectacular clear crystals.

                                     Obama Inspired

With all this color you might think everyone forgot white.  They didn’t.  Picking up where Michele Obama left off, Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) turned out in a dazzling white column gown by Azzaro.  The dress featured a wide bejeweled waistline that may have been a belt, who knows? 

Hathaway also wore a heavy crystal encrusted necklace at the neckline of the dress; it, too, may have been costume embellishment rather than free-standing jewelry. One thing we know for sure was jewelry: a lovely slim diamond or crystal bracelet.  Glitzy as it may sound, the outfit came off as quietly dramatic.

CHANCES ARE, LOUIS ARMSTRONG  had no idea when he first sang “Baby It’s Cold Outside” that so many years later it would still be a cold-weather classic,  sung from coast to coast on dark, snowy winter nights. Rarely, however, has there been a winter more befitting his famous song than 2008-09. 

We expect snow early in the high Rockies and along the Cascade Range, but this year snow came surprisingly early to even low lying areas of the nation, in California and New England, in the mid-west and almost all parts in-between.  Temperatures dropped drastically the beginning of December, in many places falling way below zero.  Oh, baby, it has been cold out there!

It snowed in New Orleans.  It snowed in Florida.  Ice and sleet greeted office workers in Manhattan day after day after day. And Santa Claus was still nowhere to be seen, resting comfortably with his reindeer at the North Pole, waiting for the real winter weather to set it.  Well, he shouldn’t have waited. Winter stormed in with a vengeance while he was asleep, kept up during his big global ride, and now, in mid-January, the winter rage goes on…

                                   Bobsledding or Belly-Whopping

THIS IS A YEAR to stay cozy and warm!  Put on a snuggly winter jacket, a wool scarf and gloves, and take a lighthearted attitude toward all this white stuff.  Bobsledding is fun for the upscale crowd; if you’re an ordinary citizen, try belly-whopping with an ordinary sled.  After the sports-fest add a fashionably chic hat to your wardrobe, and have fun snow-parading while it lasts. (And that could be a long time!) 

• A lighthearted answer to low temperatures is a beautiful wool beret.  In a large range of colors, berets cross over seasons with ease, bringing an urban French couture sensibility to the snowy-est country scene.

• An angora wool bucket hat is another great double-duty cold weather accessory.   Fashionable and warm, in a handsome herringbone design, these hats fall comfortably below the ears and work well in any winter temperature.

                                            Brrrrrrrr!

BITTER COLD WEATHER has witnessed dangerous wind chill factors running as low as 58 degrees below zero in some parts of the country. In Hallock, Minnesota, the vice president of Johnson Oil Company is taking the frigid temperatures in stride, pointing out that 38 degrees below zero isn’t so difficult. “We’re kind of acclimated to it up here,” Marc Johnson said.  

Not everybody takes the weather with such aplomb.  If you’re anything less than the staunch Nordic type, think carefully about keeping the body warm with layers of clothing and hats, hats, hats!  After all 80% of the body’s heat is lost through the head.  Keep the head warm, and you’re warm.  Hopefully.

• A terrific cold weather combo is a fashionable hat, scarf and gloves, all matching, in many different color options.  With its handsome faux fur trim, this hat bespeaks Russian royalty. Choose it in wine red and you’ve got a real winner! 

• A faux fur and suede winter hat, again in a variety of colors, forms a cloche-like wrap around the ears to assure you won’t be losing body heat to the wild, swirling winter winds.  A terrific fashion piece for cold winters like we’re experiencing.

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— Oh, will everybody be watching with eagle eyes this year to see if that sleepyhead groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, sees his shadow on February 2^nd.  Bundle up, cuddle up, and be sure to wear a warm winter hat while you’re waiting!

Cold weather and scattered snow cover much of the country as we approach Christmas Day.  Everyone bundles up for last minute shopping and headwear is indispensible for this weather.  That’s good news for hat sales that go right on through January and February.  And women want to be stylish as well as comfortable.

Offer clientele matching glove, hat, and scarf sets so they can bundle up in fashion.  Sets come with the soft feel of chenille fabric as well as fleece with faux fur animal print trim.  Solid colors are also available with matching faux fur trim.  This was a wonderful gift item through the Christmas season and now makes fashionable cold weather warmth for personal use. 

Fedoras are stepping up big time this winter with celebrities and fashion runways leading the charge.  Orders show these stylish hats are on an upswing and demand is often outstripping supply-an ideal situation for keeping this headwear on top.  Shapes show a modified look for today’s consumers, often with a more rounded point in the front and prints and weaves (like pinstripe, houndstooth and herringbone) that contrast with a solid color underbrim.  Fedoras are especially hot with the younger market. 

Cabbies continue to reign in popularity with a look too cute to ignore.  Accessories Magazine’s year end report placed these hats (also called newsboys) at the top of the list for department store sales in headwear for 2007.  Will the newsboy repeat in 2008?  Very likely because sales continue to be brisk in these styles.  Winter cabbies have wool patterns like herringbone or solid fall colors and appeal to a wide segment of the market. 

Cadets are the new kid on the block this winter and are making their mark in hat sales.  The caps, shaped like an army fatigue hat, are making ball caps look, well…..”Old hat”.  These styles, often worn with the bill to one side by young adults, will most likely grow in popularity over the next couple of seasons. 

Demand for hats is definitely increasing with celebrities inspiring fans and runways influencing the fashion conscious.  If you sense this demand in your customer base, keep them shopping with you by giving them the looks they want.