More headlines Hats and your hair

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 15

More headlines Hats and your hair

In vogue

Paula Ryan

It’s been a long time since hats took centrestage. In the European Collections for winter they showed up in an irresistable range of colours and style with some very dramatic impact. One of the great designers is quoted as saying: “I could not consider doing a collection without a hat; it would be like, a book without a title.”

Special occasion hats should be just that —• special, dramatic, and different, so try to avoid the styles you have seen in every shop window. Be sure to take your outfit with you when you are going to choose the hat. This is the only way you will achieve a well-bal-anced line.

Right on the day

When buying a hat for a particular event, remember the nature of the occasion. Black velvet, sequins, and diamante would certainly get you noticed at an elegant luncheon or garden party ... but for all the wrong reasons. Just as a white, flower-strewn caplet would look wrong with a white dress at a wedding unless you happen to be the bride.

The ideal special occasion hat should really look as though it was designed with only you in mind, and belongs just to you. Make sure the colour flatters your skin tones, and works well with your garment, and that the hat is going to stay in place securely.

Always keep in mind that if you’re going to be outdoors, there is the possibility of a wind blowing up, and nothing spoils your finished effect more than having to spend the occasion holding on to your hat.

A good thing to remember, too, is that if the occasion is going to involve a lot of sitting down, an extravagantly wide hat may leave you sitting alone.

The chances are thay when you wear a hat your hair may look a disaster once the hat is off. There is really very little you can do about that except ensure that you have the best hair cut possible, so that your hair will flip easily back into shape. Best to concentrate on how to cope with your hair when you are wearing the hat. Hats and hair If you are sweeping your hair up to hide away • beneath a hat, make absolutely sure there isn’t a •sign of a hairpin or clip , showing. • Certain hats call for a ; no-hair look, which is • very stylish and adds a • sophisticated air. Long . hair is probably the most ■ easily dealt with for this . look. Smoothed back and • secured in a top-knot it will sit neatly under the crown of the hat. The hat that needs a bit

of hair on show, but must be flat and smooth, will work well if a very little non-greasy gel is combed through the hair.

THere are very few hats that look really good with a long, full fringe. Some are quite effective if the fringe has been geled to the side in a feathery fan or pulled out to the front in short, shiny spikes.

Never use hairspray once your hat is on. Nothing will prevent the spray from falling on to the surface and causing a dull smudge. Keeping warm For winter warm-ups during the coldest winter months, hats can be a very colourful affair. With winter’s layering of garments, some form of headwear seems to tie the look together. The brighter and more cheerful it is, the better. Woolly pull-ons in bold stripes or soft knits are inexpensive and, if chosen with a deep cuff, can adapt to more than one shape. The balaclava can present a very amusing and eye-catching option. Knitted in a gaily patterned Fair Isle design, the fashion plus comes when you add a man-style felt trilby or a Homburg. There are times when almost every woman, caught short, just has to cover hair that is maybe lacking attention. And it can happen at a time when a hat will be inappropriate, like a last-min-ute invitation to dinner or an emergency call back to work on a day off. Life-savers

There are several wonderful lifesavers in the great cover-up category. A well-cut and expertly-

made turban will hide every wisp of the tell-tale hair, and will be the answer for that unexpected invitation. If the dinner is to be a very dressy affair, you can add an important brooch at the front or the side. With a turban it is important that the make-up is never less than absolutely perfect.

A head-wrap can be made from a long scarf, but some practice is needed to get the knack of wrapping it.

You will need an extra long scraft in a fine, soft fabric. Single-knit jerseys are good because they will mould easily. You hold the centre of the scarf at the forehead, and then wrap the ends round the head several times as if you were tying a bandage. When the whole head is wrapped, the ends are tied in a knot at the nape of the neck, or can form a floppy bow at the side of the head.

You can achieve an ethnic look by twisting the ends tightly from the knot at the back and then bringing them up to the centre front. Tuck the ends into the previous layer.

Outdoors, the best hair disguise is with a simple, woollen, pull-on hat. Choose one with a cuff to frame the face and add a matching muffler, pulled wel up under the chin. A tidy peaked cap, like a railwayman’s, is an ideal cover-up, and is jaunty and stylish. Ornaments

A trend which is coming through very strongly now from the leading hair stylists is for hair ornaments, particularly for evening. Hair decoration of any sort adds a dash of glamour, or can complete

a top-to-toe colour co-or-dination. In the shops there are masses of options. There are bright and witty plastics, elegant designermade jewels, or things that you can devise for yourself. A plain, silver, half bracelet can look great sitting round a top-knotted bun! There is plenty of scope for lots of witty imagination and flair ... a pair of beautifully lacquered chopsticks, crossed through a bun look great, dressed up combs with sequins or diamante can be worn in pairs on one side or high on the head, Spanish-style. Of all the hair decorations, those made with ribbons are often the most effective. Long hair can be plaited in one thick plait with a ribbon plaited in with one section of hair. Curly gift wrapping in a

little bunch of varying lengths can be attached to an ordinary slide or to a comb. Wide floppy Chanell bows can catch the hair, low at the nape of the neck. Ribbons

Narrow ribbons can be plaited mixing toning colours and worn as an Alice band. There is virtully no end to the things you can do with lengths of ribbon. Satins and velvets make floppy bows, fine narrrow silks plait well together, and grosgrain makes a nice, stiff, tailored bow.

Hair ornaments need shape and volume of hair around them if they are to look effecctive. Combs will always look better on a smooth curve of hair. The best way to achieve this is to smooth the section with a brush and catch it with an ordinary hair grip. When the comb is placed, the grip, hidden underneath will form a firm base that will prevent the comb from slipping.

A quick trick with a hair comb is to twist coloured ribbons between the teeth and maybe knot a bead at the end.

There is a certain style about some imaginative hair dressing. It adds that top-to-toe polish and finish. For evening weddings and important functions an attractive hair ornament will really look as though you have taken the time to bother, which is always a flattering gesture to your hosts.