Together with my bowler hat, I learned how to walk in my own skin, to feel my own way through avenues and streets. Over the years my hat collection has grown — in quantity and individual size. And if hats are a measure of confidence, then perhaps I went overboard on a trip to Italy when I bought the widest floppy sun hat I could find (I had children pointing fingers at me on the street). Each hat has marked a different phase in my life, a different memory. But I will always hold my bowler hat close. I was 18 years old when I first wore a hat in earnest. It was a velvet bowler hat, lined with a golden ribbon with a gentle sparkle. I had just walked out of my college dorm, ready to discover the joys of walking alone through a park on an autumn afternoon. This very adult activity called for a very elegant accessory. Except that, when I dressed the hat, it looked anything but. It felt like a foreign object on my head. On my stroll pedestrians looked at me. I kept my eyes forward. This was not the romantic picture I had envisioned. What is not debatable is that this is an iconic fashion statement that Audrey made her own. The tiara is so fitting of Audrey’s brand that costume designers chose to feature the style in several of her movies including some of the most notable: Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and My Fair Lady. Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964), pushed into high gear Ascot’s headwear extravaganza. Designed by milliner extraordinaire, Madame Paulette, the over-the-top hats captured the style and fashion of the horseracing set, as well as showed the grandness of an accessory. Although a designer and hat maker are the creators, the wearer is the presenter. Every hat is unique on its wearer, but the style is shared. The pillbox hat, glamorized by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, found equal glamour onscreen with Audrey Hepburn in Charade (1963). Sure, you can question whether or not a tiara is technically considered a hat. It doesn’t cover the hair and it’s not made of fabric. But who are you, the hat police?

Hats To Help You Choose Yours 26 Throwback Celebrity Sun Hats To Help You Choose Yours

The CLOSEST replica of the hat from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s! This one was hard to find. It’s a little expensive but totally worth it. Oversized PREMIUM wool hat with a removable 100% silk scarf. GET THE LOOK! Quintessentially elegant, Hepburn’s status as a global style icon owes as much to an endless assortment of fabulous headwear, as it does to her body of work. Hepburn and her hats were a match made in heaven and for decades she not only graced the silver screen but the cover of every glossy magazine throughout the world, rarely captured without her signature accessory.

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Fitting snugly on her spritely crown, Givenchy’s chiffon turban in Sabrina sparked a slew of inspired designs that are still in vogue to this day. The delicate layering of the fabric and the low profile draws attention to the symmetry of Audrey’s features, and conveys both independence and sophistication. The Chapeu du Matin was featured on Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, paired with her oversized sunglasses and pearl earrings. This Audrey Hepburn hat has proven desirable for many women and to this day is considered to be quite fashionable. During these months quarantining at home, I’ve watched my hats steadily collect dust on the tops of my dressers and shelves. Just as many of us feel uninspired to get out of our sweatpants into proper streetwear, popping on a hat, masked and tired, doesn’t quite feel right (it’s like covering whatever part of your face that was left). I’ve missed walking out the front door, spontaneously, my hat and me leading the way. The dusty hats signaled that something was stagnant inside of me. The bowler, it turned out, was designed by legendary Manhattan-based, British milliner Patricia Underwood, also known as “America’s Queen of Hats.” Since the mid-1970s, Underwood has collaborated with esteemed fashion designers, including Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and several others. Her handmade hats have been photographed by Richard Avedon and Annie Leibovitz and made cameos in movies such as “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Austin Powers.” For all the attention they get, they are not especially flashy hats. On the contrary, they are understated, functional yet graceful. Underwood prefers a hat that is comfortably sized with a subtle, fun touch: a red ribbon, a malleable brim. She wants her hats to seamlessly become a part of people, not overwhelm them. In a 2015 Rizzoli book surveying her career, titled “The Way You Wear Your Hat,” American fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi observes, “A Patricia Underwood hat has a soul.”