Why I Wear Hats

     Last Sunday I wore once of my fancier hats to church. I tend to get a few complements every time I wear the hat. This time one of the women asked me how many hats I own. I told her somewhere around 20 or so. I've never really stopped to count them. If you count the ball caps I probably own closer to 30. This started a discussion about the times when certain denominations required women to cover their heads. At one point I was asked when I started to wear hats.
  I can't remember the answer, but I pondered the question later that day. Why and when did I start wearing hats and when did I start wear them to church.
  I started wearing hats on a regular basis when I started colouring my hair. The women in my family tend to go gray early. I started showing white hair in my middle 20s. While I have no problem with looking my age, I wasn't ready to have white hair yet. I started to colour my hair. I like red highlights in my hair. One challenge with the reds is that they tend to fade easily. There's different kinds of things you can do to protect your colour. One of them is to wear a hat. Anytime I knew I was going to be outside for longer periods of time I would wear a hat. I got to liking them and started to collect them.
  I liked that no one could recognize me if I was wearing a hat. It just made me feel really cool. One thing I liked to do was go out to tea. There were some tea houses in the area where I lived. Whenever I went out to tea, I always wore a hat.
  The first time I went to church with C, I wore I hat. I had never worn a hat to church before. I was raised in the Lutheran church. Except for Easter, women did not wear hats. I had heard that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a conservative church. I thought it might be a good idea if I wore a hat. As it turned out the only person with a hat on was me. I discovered that I really liked the look of a nice outfit with an appropriate hat. I continued to wear them.
  A few years back I bought a book called "Crowns" by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. It is a coffee table book of pictures of African- American women wearing formal church hats. Each woman was interviewed and there is a bit of what was said next to each portrait. Many of the women wore hats to church because it was required. There are certain denominations that follow the injunction of the Apostle Paul that women should keep their heads covered. Some of the women said that it was a cultural practice. The women worked hard and long for six days of the week and on the seventh day, Sunday, they could dress up and go to church. A couple of them said that one must look ones best when going to meet the King on Sunday. One quote from the book is, "When you present yourself before God,...there should be excellence in all things, including your appearance."
  I have to admit I was a bit envious of the hat wearing traditions that many of these women had grown up with. I would have loved to have been raised in  a house where a lady was not fully dressed without a hat.
  As I pondered on the question of why I wear I hat another thought came to me. I was raised in modesty. It wasn't too hard for me to be modest. To be honest when you are short and stout being covered up is a good thing. Being modest does not have to mean ugly. It is possible to dress modestly and attractively. It is also possible to be modest and still have a bit of flair. That is where the hat comes in. I want to set a good example for my stepdaughters and the young women of the church.
  I'm now known in church for my hats. There are a few people who don't know my name, but they do know the woman who wears a  hat. Once I came to a church conference straight from work. I didn't have a hat on. I had several people who knew me walk right by me without recognizing me. One lady approached me with a bit of shock. She'd never seen me hatless before.
   I've always thought that wearing a hat is a very classy look. I always encourage women who have hats to wear them. I hope that someday hats will be back in fashion. I like looking at pictures of women at the Kentucky Derby or British women at social events. I love looking at all the hats. (Although sometimes I wonder at the choices some of them make.) I hope someday hat wearing will come back in fashion. Then I can enjoy looking at hats more often. (It would also be nice if there were more hat stores.....)