The hat, Hanne, is about a life less ordinary ... its allure rests in the micro-measurements between necessity and ... more - in which space resides culture, art, and much that makes us something more than bipedal mammals that lump around on a little planet glimmering in the light of a dying star.
"Useful" is the little woollen hat that keeps you from losing too much heat: it's a neat addition to hair. Pretty splendid in its own way.
"Useful + a bit of the magic that is fashion" is the bobble hat, or woolly beret, perhaps with sequins, perhaps with a retro-pattern, perhaps going more for the chunky, sock-like, snow-board look. All v. nice, and interesting, and happy-making because they all tell you something about what humans like to do: make things, decorate things, go that little bit further than necessity. It's kind of loveable.
But this hat is so great because it goes quite a bit further than the above-mentioned styles. It sort of challenges their ... timorousness. It's so exuberantly decorative, and so unashamed about that, it makes, for instance, the sock-like, chunky hats look quite abashed and even slightly churlish in their attempts to hide their own decorative nature.
It's also unabashedly glamorous, and quite clearly referencing history in the age of hats where hats had a very decisive place in attire, were not at all shrinking and apologetic.
I also think it stays on the side of offering to lift an everyday attire into the realms of "ooh. I am ready for my picture", and preparing the wearer to meet any unexpected encounter with the wonderful, adventurous and surprisingly romantic without crossing over into the territory of being an item of clothing you feel you have to "live up to".
That last bit sounds odd, but I've never forgotten an article a woman wrote (Daisy Waugh???) about how hard it was being the wearer of an "It Bag" and how it made her feel Constantly Unworthy and like It Bag's frumpy mate.
