zh5

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to wear hats.My mom used to put them on my sisters and me on special occasions when we were little. My fondest hat-related memory of that era: the flat brimmed Natural Straw Hat topper trimmed in fabric flowers I wore the Easter we all worked a 1930s theme.I also wore them in high school during my Annie Hall-meets-Molly Ringwald phase of wearing slouchy, oversized suits and vintage dresses. I thought I was the bee’s knees when I convinced my parents to buy me the very same straw Laura Ashley cloche encircled by a wide pink satin ribbon that Molly wore on the cover of Time magazine in 1985. I wore it to school almost every day for a month, often with my Granddaddy’s formal white dinner jacket and baggy second-hand men’s pants.When I was in college, I used to buy cheapie straw sun hats at K-Mart that I’d festoon with flowers and scraps of fabric and ribbon, flowers and even large pieces of fake fruit. I’d wear my creations unapologetically — and, in retrospect, totally inappropriately. (I’m sure none of my classmates really appreciated watching a gawky 5’10’’ girl in a vintage polyester mini dress, platform clogs and a hat with an foot-wide brim heavy with clusters of faux grapes schlepping her books to class at 8 a.m. on a Monday morning.)Today, I have few favorite numbers I pull out each season. During the summer, my chapeau of choice is a dark brown sun hat my dad got for me in Australia. It’s woven from native grasses and colored using natural dyes. The brim naturally curls up, but if you mist it with water you can mold it into any shape you want. This is hat I’ve worn to the last four horse races I’ve attended – including the Iroquois Steeplechase, back in 2004.Even though I’m not much of a tailgater or a horse watcher, I love to study people in this kind of situation, meaning one where the going tradition is dressing up from your shoes (white bucks for the men, flats for the ladies – who wants your heels to stick in the grass?) to the top of your head.Of course, that’s where hats come in.Steeplechase is, bar none, the best hat watching to be done in Nashville.Despite the predominance of preppy seersucker suits on the men and floral Lilly Pulitzer shifts on the ladies, the hat styles tend to run the gamut from super flashy (sequins and feathers are not uncommon; I even saw someone wearing a hat that lit up the year I attended!) to super safe (think a small-brimmed straw number with a black grosgrain ribbon – the industry standard as far as look and wearability).I personally prefer those that fall somewhere in the middle.As women’s hats go, a perfect horse race number needs to be both functional and eye-catching.You’re going to be out in the sun all day, so make sure the brim offers enough shade to cover your entire face (SPF 60 alone will not keep a burn away!). Also, don’t choose a hat that’s too tight — it might cause a literal headache and will also leave an ugly temporary indention in your forehead when you take it off.That said, if you’re going to be in a crowded area, make sure you’re going to be able to take your hat off for a spell. At the very least, make sure you are aware of others’ personal space and don’t allow your brim to repeatedly invade it. There is nothing more frustrating than being hit in the back of the head repeatedly by a drunk or oblivious race goer.Ideally, your Steeplechase hat’s color and accoutrements — think bows, beading and other neat details — will coordinate with your outfit. I love the idea of a woman in a floral dress wearing one with the 3D version of the flowers in the fabric pinned to her hat.To pull that kind of matching off, you really need to have some advance planning.Since Steeplechase is less than 24 hours away, I decided to show you some of my personal hat picks to consider if you’re last-minute race shopping. I threw in some dress ideas if you’re keen on coordinating your hat with your dress, but not sure how to make it happen.