The Fascinator

  My hat collection is now complete. C, the excellent husband that he is, bought me a fascinator.
   For those of you who don't know, a fascinator is a type of headgear. You know those crazy looking things precariously perched on British women's heads at weddings. Those are fascinators. For the record, mine is very tasteful and will never be worn at some bizarre angle.
  I was a little curious about how this came to be called a fascinator so I did a little digging online. It turns out that the origin of the modern fascinator was a bit more modest. According to several sources a fascinator, (although that word was not used at the time) was actually a crocheted or loosely knitted hood or scarf made of lace, wool or soft light yarn. Gradually over the years, more decorations were added to them until they became what we see today. One source I consulted referred to them as a hat decoration without the hat.
  I had always wanted a fascinator but had decided that I truly had enough things to wear on my head. A fascinator would be nice, but not necessary.
  A few weeks ago, C and I decided to have a "date afternoon". We hadn't gone walking in the "Big Mall" (also called The Mall of America) in a long time. We are lunch in the food court and then strolled around the mall. One of the places we strolled past was a hat shop. It is the only hat shop in the mall and could be the only hat shop in the Twin Cities area. After promising C that I would not buy any more hats, we went in to look.
  My eye was drawn to the center table where there was a collection of fascinators. I saw one that looked like a spray of flowers. It was pretty but impractical. Whenever I'm considering an accessory purchase, I have to make sure it will match things I already have. There were some pretty ones in several colors. C was drawn to a black one. I tried it on. (For some reason I've always been allowed to try on hats in a hat store. Perhaps the workers there can sense that I am a serious hat person.) It was nice, but I felt like I didn't have enough things to wear with it. I was drawn to a cream colored one nearby. It had a small flat solid piece ornamented by some netting, a fine net bow and a spray of pearls. I tried it on. It looked perfect. The style and color are such that I could wear it spring, summer, and fall. I put it back on the display. There is no room in the budget for it.
   C could see that I liked it. He asked the price. I told him. It wasn't too bad. He said that he wanted to buy it for me as a birthday present. I brought it up to the counter and he paid for it. I was truly grateful. He didn't have to buy it. I would have been fine without it, but he knew I would like it.
  I wore it to church on Sunday. I also wore it when we went out to dinner for our anniversary. I felt very classy and sophisticated.
  One thing I learned is that fascinators are like hats. You sometimes have to play around with them until you get the look right. I wear my fascinator backward. The net drapes off to the side and back of my head. The bow and pearl spray are in front.
   C says he would like to find a red fascinator for me. I'm ok with that, but two is enough. (No room to store them.)