Royal Wedding inspires stateside hat craze

Neiman Marcus downtown duyer Alison Gross tries on hats with a friend in the store’s flagship location. (Photo by Krystal Schlegel )

Kate Middleton just married her Prince, but she’s been on constant style watch since her engagement to Prince William of England, photographed everywhere she goes.

And no matter where Middleton goes, she’s almost always wearing a hat.

For British Royals, hats are always a fashion statement. With Middleton’s popularity migrating to America, hats appear to becoming a trend here. More and more, hats are seen in boutiques across Dallas and Dallas women say they

are wearing them more often.

“Kate Middleton has definitely made hats more mainstream and shown it’s stylish to wear them to all sorts of events. I am more inclined now to wear them to all sorts of events,” Jordan Kragen, SMU junior and fashion blogger for DallasStylistas.com, said.

Lauren Gale White is a Dallas socialite who has been collecting hats since 1980. She is rarely seen without a hat, no matter the occasion. “People need confidence and have been afraid to wear hats, but Kate Middleton has been making them popular and brought peoples interest to hats,” White said.

White is very proud of her collection, which includes hats from around the world in all types of colors, and bejeweled, feathered, veiled cocktail hats and big sun hats. She loves that the hats are so in style right now.

Custom hat maker Cassandra MacGregor opened House of MacGregor, a small shop in Oakliff. She will design a one of a kind hat from cowboy style and fedoras to small tea hats.

“Hats are fun and definitely mark an occasion as special. When people put on a hat they tend to stand straighter and exude more personality,” MacGregor said.

MacGregor finds that her clients are much more open to small cocktail hats, of the sort that Middleton wears. In the past they considered them too over the top. She has also had an increasing interest in hats for weddings and travel.

Courtney Grand, assistant Manager at the clothing store Scoop Dallas in Highland Park Village said wide brimmed summer hats and mini fedoras have been the most in demand in the store. Grand said hats are especially in style because, “since Princess Diana there hasn’t been a British royal figure to influence style until now with Kate… everybody wants a royal figure to influence their style.”

Hats were first made from animal skins as a protective covering. Crowns have always been a part of royal tradition to set them apart. Claudia Stephens is a costume design professor in the theatre department at SMU. Hat’s have always been an important tradition with the British, royals especially because they had to be seen in a crowd.

“That is why Queen Elizabeth is always seen wearing a big bright colorful hat and why Kate Middleton is often pictured wearing one. It has in fact been a law in the past that they wear hats to church when church and state were separate,” Stephens said. “Hats have always been worn throughout history for reasons we wear clothes. They are worn for status and protection.”

Hats have been worn throughout history as status symbols, protective coverings and fashion accessories.

Neiman Marcus downtown buyer, Alison Gross, said there is a growing demand for hats this season with Kate Middleton’s classic style influence. She says clients are wearing them for outdoor spring parties, daytime weddings, and the Kentucky Derby always brings ladies to wear hats.

Fashion enthusiasts were especially excited about the wedding, making predictions about Middleton’s dress and who would design it, and bookies were even taking bets on the color of the hat the queen would wear.

Some bet these styles will take hold.

“Many aspects of the wedding will be imitated around the world,” Gross said.