Thursday, April 17, 2014

Church Crowns


Under the brim of a purple hat-shaped hair clip is shown.

In some instances of organized worship females are required to cover their heads as a symbol of modesty.  The only time I cover my head is at nighttime with silk scarves, to protect it from cold or rainy weather, or on "bad hair days," with scarves that I tie on as fashionably as possible.

I do admire those who wear fancy hats whether for modesty or to complement the rest of their attire.  My mother is one of these women, but she does not crown her head with fancy hats  "religiously."   My mother-in-law, on the other hand, did.  Hats, in her mind, completed her look.  When attending church, she did not feel completely dressed without a hat.   I suppose you would have to be from their generation to relate. 

My mother informed me of a new beauty supply store that opened recently.  She and other residents of her senior living complex went to Jenny's on one of their weekly outings.  From her description of its approximate location and massive size, I felt it must be located where an old Target store used to be.  I couldn't imagine a beauty supply store that large so I had to go see it myself.  I took Mr. G. along because we were going somewhere else afterward. 

After locating and grabbing three bottles of a hair lotion that my mother and I both use that we had not been able to find in over two years, Mr. G. and I browsed the store.  I stumbled upon a brown hat-shaped hair clip that I knew would be perfect for a playscale doll.  It was derby style with feathers and other embellishments.  "One of your dolls can wear it,"  Mr. G. said.  The hat hair clip had obviously been left where I found it by a customer who probably walked around with it and later decided against purchasing as there were no others like it in that area.  I knew there had to be more.  We walked up and down several aisles in the hair accessories section before finding the several others that were available.  There were several racks full.  Between the two of us picking and choosing which ones I should buy, I came home with the ones shown below after deciding against the brown one.

Shimmery silver hat-shaped hair clip (in front) , white, purple and black ones (back row) -- adorned with feathers, ribbons, faux gems, or flowers were 99 cents each.

Not that this is something I would ever wear, before removing all clips, I tried the purple one on as seen next:

Purple hair clip.  "Yeah, that's how it's supposed to be worn," Mr. G. said.  (I won't be wearing it, I thought.)
To prepare these for my dolls, I had to first remove the metal clips which had been applied with hot glue.  This was difficult, but finally done.  Some glue residue remains under the brims, but I left it there since it is not visible when the hats are worn.

Chandra, who was already wearing a So In Style Fan Club-exclusive purple, two-piece suit, was my choice for the purple hat, or so I thought.  I discovered that it, like the white one, is too large for playscale dolls.  After Chandra modeled three of the four hats, I was able to adjust the fit of the purple one for her by stuffing the inside with tissue.   Below she models two of the others:

In the above two photos, Chandra models the black hat that has black lace trim, black and white polka dot bow, and black feather.
Next she tries on the shimmery silver hat.  Like the one above, it fits well and matches her silver shoes.

The purple hat, although too big for her head, is the one she settled on. 

Chandra is joined on "her" right by Kara whose white dress and mock black and white belt coordinate well with the black and white polka dot ribbon on the black hat.  Model 4 chose the shimmery silver hat that matches her shoes.  The white hat was temporarily worn by Glam 'N Groom Christie.  "We" (Christie and I) weren't in love with the way the hat looked on her, however.  Mr. G. even said, "That one is just too big.  Maybe one of your other dolls can wear it."

The larger purple and white hats fit 16-inch dolls like Paris Williams and Esme, who were kind enough to model them before returning to their separate display areas crown-free.

Colin Dehan eventually claimed the white hat and looks stunning wearing it.

These three chose to wear the other three hats.  See them better in the next close-up photo.

I thought my fun with dolls and hats had ended until I discovered an additional hat hair clip that was still in the bag with other items I purchased from Jenny's.

This black straw hat has gold-trimmed black satin bow and gold etched netting.

Soon I will redress a playscale female and allow her to crown her head with the extra black hat shown above.  She can decide if wearing it will be for modesty purposes or just to complement her fashion.




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13 comments:

  1. Those are ridiculously cute! Next time I re-up on moisturizer I'm gonna see if my store has these.

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    1. I hope they have them in your area, Teva! Make a note, however, that they are small ones. I was so excited when there I didn't even notice the size difference.

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  2. These are so fab! The ladies seem to have a little more attitude with their hats on.

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    1. Thanks, Vanessa. Yes, Chandra definitely has been exhibiting more attitude, but in a good way. As they used to say back in the day, "When you've got it, flaunt it!" She's definitely flaunting it.

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  3. These are awesome. I want them ! wow!

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    1. Thanks, Bobby! The larger size would be perfect for your 16-inch family.

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  4. I see that a trip to the beauty store is in order! I think these are great. And it's nice to see that you have them tilted to the side so they can have maximum panache.

    Coming from a home town filled with Baptist churches I am very familiar with church ladies and their hats. Even though I'm a hat person myself, I never got into overly adorned chapeaus. A little too "look at me" for my tastes.

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    1. I know, Muff! I am very low-key and maintain a low profile in public, which is why I could never see myself wearing hats like these, but there is nothing low profile about my dolls. They probably snicker and talk amongst themselves about my insecurities.

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    2. Thanks for sharing!

      Oh, yes, Baptist church ladies and those mega-hats. I remember seeing them often when I went to church. Easter Sunday and Mother's Day were the days for the biggest and most gloriously decorated chapeaux.

      P.S. DBG, I think your dolls are kinder than that - they know that they can "carry" the bigger-than-life look, and they appreciate that you support them in rocking that look. Keep them in fashionable head gear and they won't complain ;-)

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    3. Yes, women of the Baptist church and other predominantly African American religious denominations are well-known for wearing elaborate church hats particularly during special religious events.

      My dolls allow me to live through them in hairstyles and dress, both that I would and would not personally wear. This is one of the beauties of doll play, right D7ana?

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  5. How wonderful. I especially love the white hat on your Colin doll. Beautiful. Does she have an entry in your blog?

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  6. Hi April,,

    Colin was briefly shown in this post. She wears denims, but her high heels and white blouse with embellished bodice dress them up. The hat adds more pizazz.

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  7. I'm a hat girl and I love these hats! So me and my dolls would have a bag full of these! Yes, I love the white hat on your Colin doll! You should sell some of these on the doll page.

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