Six Six Sick: Head Games Pt. II

Yestadt Millinery bowler hat

As I mentioned earlier, I'm heading on a road trip down to the Kentucky Derby tomorrow with Jimmy, and our good friend Forrest (the man behind the excellent Loading Dock restaurant in Brooklyn). While I'm definitely excited for the trip, I have to admit the main motivation for going was the opportunity to wear an awesome hat. I immediately went on a dedicated hunt, contacting my friends who are hat designers, and combing through the hat section of vintage and mass retailers a like. I ended up picking up a few--even though the Derby is only a day, I think I have enough for several changes, as well as the ride there and back!

My favorite is the fur-felt bowler hat that I got from Molly at Yestadt Millinery. I met Molly a few months ago while working at the D&A tradeshow, and immediately fell in love with her impeccably executed work. She often takes classic styles like bowlers, fedoras, turbans, etc., and gives them her distinctive spin. My bowler has a slight tilt in the front of the brim, giving it a jaunty little lilt. I already have my eye on a few other hats of hers for fall, and her signature high trilby hat makes me swoon.

Of course a bowler hat isn't traditional derby wear, so I also picked up a wide-brimmed straw sun hat with a velvet ribbon from my favorite charity shop, The Vintage Thrift Store. It's around the corner from me, so I literally stop there every other day to try on their never-ending rotation of hats. The one I picked is a little banged up, but it fits perfectly, and also serves as a good base if I want to pin on some millinery flowers! For that purpose, I stopped by Forever 21, where I found an oversized fabric flower hair clip, perfect for pinning to a hat, as well as couple of adorable headbands, which I'll be bringing along as well. And just in case I get tired of these options, I'm taking a couple of pieces that I already had in the closet...Now I just have to figure out a way to get them all to Kentucky and back in one piece!