March 19, 2009

Aretha Franklin and Her Hat

I enjoyed seeing Aretha Franklin at Obama's inauguration earlier this month. I was glad that she didn't show her cleavage ... and her hat made me smile. Here is video of her inauguration performance of 'My Country 'Tis of Thee':





It turns out that the Queen of Soul wasn't satisfied according to her recent NPR interview.
"I did everything I could to guarantee my voice would be where I wanted it to be, where it should have been, but Mother Nature just said, I don’t think so," Franklin told host Michel Martin.
Sis. Franklin plans to provide the original hat worn at the inauguration to the Smithsonian to be installed in the presidential library. Villagers can pay $179 to order one directly from the hat's creator, Luke Song, who has been making hats for 25 years at Mr Song Millinery in Detroit.

For those who can't afford to spend that much money on Aretha's hat, you can make your own version at home, for about $15, using the instructions from the Lemondrop.com blog.

It could be that this whole Aretha's Hat phenomenon has gone too far. There is a Facebook group dedicated to the hat with over 103,915 fans. There is even a Twitter page for the silly hat!

I'm not sure that I would have the nerve to sit with a sister that wore that hat out in public. How about you? Would you wear such a hat out in public? Would you buy such a hat as a gift for the woman in your life?

4 comments:

msladyDeborah said...

Villager,

My mom is a hat wearing lady! She has been wearing a brim of some sort for as long as I can remember.

Aretha looked okay in the hat. But I suspect that if my mom had that same hat, she would definitely lay it out.

I am not a hat wearer. But our five year old granddaughter is definitely a hat lady. She does great-grandmother proud by insisting that she have a hat with her outfits.

Would I buy that hat for my mom. Not until it went on sale. That is her first rule about buying a bad brim. It must be on sale. That way you not only get to flaunt it. But you also get the satisfaction of knowing that you did not give up too much of your hard earned dough to acquire it.

Unknown said...

Lady D - I see that your Mom and granddaugher like a good hat. I take it that you are not one to wear hats to church and such?

SjP said...

I liked Aretha's hat. Thought it added yet another touch of class to the inauguration. But, all of the hoopla surrounding it is just so very strange to me. I mean it was fly and all but going into the Smithsonian - c'mon now!

Just goes to show you that most Americans have never visited "Second" Baptist on First Sunday or the Pastor's Anniverary.

Unknown said...

Sojourner - Yes, her hat went 'viral' quickly. It was a boon for the guy who created the hat. We should all be so lucky!