A Midsummer Day’s Floppy Hat

With all the gorgeous fall fashions pouring into the shopbop offices, the new wool sweaters, knit tights, and leather boots make me forget it’s still one of the hottest months of the year. But I was reminded this weekend while watching an outdoor Shakespeare play in unbearable, scorching sunlight where even the sweaty actors were distracted from their ‘thines’ and ‘thou arts.’ The majority of the audience whipped out baseball caps to shield their poor, burnable skin from the 85 degree rays, but I was looking for a solution that was a bit more chic. I was wearing a lightweight silk scarf around my waist as a belt, so I took if off and rearranged it over my hair a la Grace Kelly and paired it with oversized sunglasses. Voila, it was suddenly ten degrees cooler and my face, neck, and shoulders were protected from the sun. But I wished I’d had a big floppy hat like this yellow or print number by Virginia Johnson rolled up in my handbag—it would have been perfect!

Image courtesy of American Players Theatre.