Hat Lady on a Mission to Bring Back Lost Style a State-Of-The-Art Approach to Skin Tightening: Adelyne Imrie Didn’T Have to Attend Millinery for Special Events
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IN GRAND STYLE Introducing Fibroblast Skin Tightening You – and Improved! Hat lady on a mission to bring back lost style A state-of-the-art approach to skin tightening: adelyne Imrie didn’t have to attend millinery for special events. The historian With age, the supportive networks of skin fibers become lax, causing looseness in the face and a royal wedding to learn that a hat and author of several books about fashion neck. Non-invasive fibroblast skin tightening uses plasma, an ionized gas, to tighten skin without can be a crowning glory. Lynn and hats is also the subject of a biography surgery or causing damage to surrounding tissues with results comparable to invasive surgery. Her mother was a milliner. Her Haddrall about her millinery passion. “The Hat Lady” Mfather made dresses. She grew up sur- was written by Patricia Boyle. rounded by style makers and appreciates Shephard’s travelling exhibition comes to Fibroblast skin tightening is able to treat a number of areas, including the following: sartorial flourish. life when hats are placed on models such • Forehead lines and frown lines • Upper and lower lip So when she learned the “hat lady” was the audience. as Clair Hills staff members Paula Parejo • Crow’s feet, upper and lower eyelids • Neck and jowls bringing her exhibition to Clair Hills Shephard explained the provenance and and Carine Brunet. The two young women • Nasolabial folds • Abdomen and navel Retirement Community in Waterloo, Imrie social context of each headpiece as it was brought a youthful perspective. donned a cheery chapeau to match her gently removed from its hatbox by her “I felt pretty glamorous wearing the hats dress. white-gloved husband, Jim. that I modelled for the show. It made me “We always wore hats,” says Imrie, 94. She “All of our foremothers used to wear hats,” think that we as a generation are missing remembers having a special hat perched on she said. Women nodded in agreement. out,” Parejo said. “Some of the styles were her head when she met Queen Elizabeth II But hats fell out of fashion in the 1970s so light and comfortable, I think those at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto in 1997. for reasons including social and religious styles in a regular wardrobe would have Imrie came to the hat show with a hat changes, beehive hairdos that didn’t work dressed you up without even trying.” box containing the going-away hat she with hats, and the popularity of casual Shephard started collecting hats almost 30 wore after her 1953 wedding. She joined a dress. years ago. It distressed her to see beautiful mainly female audience to listen intently as “I’m doing my best to bring them back,” items discarded in thrift-shop bins. Beyond Norma Shephard talked about the history Shephard said. the beauty and fashion, there is a story of and social relevance of hats. As founder and director of the Mobile the individual who owned each hat, and the Shephard loves wearing vintage items. Millinery Museum, Shephard has collected era in which it was popular. Hats are a fashion piece for her, but they more than 2,500 hats, storing them in a Shephard identifies three major stages in also reflect major changes in the social climate-controlled facility in Burlington. the women’s movement that are associated evolution of women and society, she told She showcases a selection of vintage with hats: Complimentary consultations Paula Parejo models a 1940s straw picture hat (left) that is rimmed with fabric flowers and simulated cranberries. On the right, she wears a 1950s black sequined halo turban cocktail hat by Christian Dior. 385 Frederick St. Mall, Kitchener Left photo by Shelley Boate; right photo by Lynn Haddrall (15 minutes from Guelph) 519.576.2250•www.totalskinandbody.ca 106 GRAND SEPTEMBER I OCTOBER 2018 •The fight for personhood is reflected in The Mobile Millinery Museum celebrates large-brimmed, wide-crowned hats and its 20th anniversary in 2019 with a show BIG STYLE dagger-like hatpins of the Edwardian era. titled Canadian Crowns. Shephard plans to Hats were a visual representation of status- encourage people to wear hats by showcas- seeking. ing contemporary pieces as well as vintage. SAMSONITE • Women’s liberation in the 1960s is Hats no longer hold the prominence they LEVI’S OUTLET associated with the rejection of social and once did in women’s wardrobes. But interest Meetings Weddings Social Events legal imperatives of dress, such as hats and always renews when a royal wedding rolls SKECHERS restrictive undergarments. “In Ontario, for around. Shelley Boate, lifestyle co-ordinator SPANNER example, until the mid-’60s, women were at Clair Hills, was googling royal wedding required by law to wear fashion hats when hats when she discovered Shephard’s ROYAL DOULTON attending court proceedings.” website. • More recently, the demand for an end “I had heard about her years ago but never RED CORAL to sexual victimhood is symbolized by Norma Shephard wears a 1940s halo hat had the program and thought that it would COTTON WAVE pink pussy hats, made and worn at protest trimmed in rooster tail. be a great idea to bring her and her hats marches. The “hat lady” chooses a different hat in as the ladies love fashion and especially LAURA for every presentation. 519-514-0412 Audience members peppered Shephard when there is history involved,” Boate said. www.Marriott.com/ykfdw TRENDS FOR MEN NORMA SHEPHARD’S [email protected] with questions, while admiring a range of Shephard watched Prince Harry wed hats including those from the Edwardian Madelyne Imrie cradles her 1953 STYLE TIPS FOR WEARING HATS Meghan Markle in May and presided over a bridal going-away hat that era, Roaring Twenties, Victorian times, and • Have fun: Experiment with casual styles number of royal wedding teas this year, just she proudly displayed at the hat show. the Mod Sixties. before choosing one for a wedding or special as she did in 2011 when Prince William PHOTO BY LYNN HADDRALL She shared a wealth of information as event. A summer casual hat can be found married Catherine Middleton. Shephard each hat was modelled, sometimes raising for between $25 and $50. It will protect pointed out that fascinators are not a new eyebrows and eliciting chuckles from the Some hats weighed several pounds. your skin and make an ordinary outfit look trend. They go as far back as the 1770s and audience. • In 1912, women would pay as much as spectacular. were popular in the 1920s when they were BIG SAVINGS “Hats can give you a personality or reflect $25 for an extra-long lavish ostrich feather • Weddings/special occasions: Choose dubbed “headache bands.” how you are feeling,” she said as she shared to add to a Downton Abby-style hat that one you fall in love with. Try a variety of Shephard refers to her hats as “cultural PADERNO tips about the history of each piece. Here would sit very high on the head. styles and workmanship but allow a budget story blocks.” In her mission to renew VIVAH JEWELRY are a few gems that engaged the audience at • Hollywood began to influence fashion of about $300. If the hat suits you, you’ll interest in millinery, and preserve the stories Clair Hills: choices in the 1930s. Large brims fell out of want to wear it again. hats tell, she hopes future generations will CORNINGWARE 6 ISSUES • “In Victorian times, a red hat meant no favour because they interfered with camera • Fall/winter selections: For great winter embrace them for more than just utility. FOR ONLY knickers.” angles. Juliet felt caps were popular; they style, buy from a milliner (in person or online) “The greatest joy for me is to see how OXFORD MILLS • “There are very few social imperatives were inexpensive to make in the Depression. or shop at the “One of a Kind Show,” held others have treasured these historic pieces. TOY BUILDING ZONE any more about wearing hats, but there • The triangular convertible cap, popular- annually in Toronto. In fact, finding old hats discarded and were lots before. One that remains today – ized in the 1950s and 1960s, required “just • Canadian milliners worth checking devalued at thrift stores years ago is how I BABY’S ROOM WAREHOUSE $ 76 if the mother of the bride is wearing a hat, lipstick and sunglasses,” but it fell out of out: Lilliput Hats in Toronto (lilliputhats.com) got started. It felt like a rescue mission for Tax included OLDE TYME KETTLE KITCHEN don’t remove yours until she does.” fashion because women would wear them and Maria Curcic in B.C. (MariaCurcic.com) me,” says Shephard. 33 • During the Second World War, Britain over curlers, deglamourizing that look. For more on the history of hats go to Paula Parejo, 24, sees hope for hat lovers. NORTHERN REFLECTIONS SUBSCRIBE NOW chose not to ration hats, amid controversy. Shephard loves to hear women share hat hatshowlady.com “I’ve never worn hats because I thought “They decided not to ration them because stories and, like Imrie, bring their treasures I couldn’t pull them off, but these styles they were ‘spirit boosters’ and they could be to her shows. I do. We receive a number of interesting showed me otherwise,” the millennial says. made of anything. German women were not “It does happen a lot and I love the donations from audience members as well.” “The only hats my generation really wears so lucky. They were rationed in Germany.” interactive aspect of it. Some bring family Shephard’s exhibitions have raised funds for style are ball caps, beanies and sun hats.