「一個有教養的女子懂得這兩件事：絕不不穿絲襪就離家，絕不不戴帽子就出門。」可可•香奈兒如是說——而又有誰會質疑這個設計出黑色小禮裙的時尚女王呢？
By Camilla Swift
柒月 選注
"A woman's education consists of two lessons: never leave the house without stockings, and never go out without a hat." So decreed Coco Chanel—and who could argue with the woman who invented the little black dress? Up until the early 1900s both men and women wore hats every day—no matter who you were, or what you did. But thanks to two world wars, rationing and the spread of car ownership—not enough headroom inside—the poor old hat gradually went out of fashion.
In the Sixties, women liked to show off their sculpted hairstyles. But far more relaxed looks have become the norm in the decades since, so why hasn't the everyday hat made a comeback? Cordelia Bradley, a Hong Kong-based milliner, blames the popularity of disposable, casual, mass-consumer fashion. She's probably right. After all, most hats—unless we're talking baseball caps—don't go that well with jeans and a T-shirt.
Luckily for benighted milliners, the more formal hats seem to be making a comeback. At smarter race meetings—both in summer and in winter—they are now a must-have item whether compulsory or not, and they are gaining a decent amount of traction at weddings, too. Just take a look at the crowds at the Cheltenham Festival or the Epsom Derby and you'll see hats galore. The fascinator—in my opinion a poor excuse for headgear, often consisting of just a small piece of sinamay and a sad, lonely feather—has fortunately fallen by the wayside and big, show-stopping hats are seen more and more. (Of course, that's not to say that all fascinators are rubbish. There are some lovely and original ones about—but the vast majority of them should be banished …or burnt.)
Winter hats and less formal styles are becoming more fashionable among the country set, too. I kept an eye on the outfits on display during the trot-ups at Badminton Horse Trials this year and noticed many younger riders, male and female, sporting jaunty trilbies or fedoras.
What makes a hat revival even more likely to gain traction is that you no longer have to go to a super-pricey milliner to get yourself a smart and stylish one. The right hat can certainly do wonders for your face—highlighting the better features, hiding the bad (not to mention dodgy hair days)—but they do also attract attention, which may not always be wanted. This, I think, goes some way towards explaining why a hat isn't part of everyone's daily attire. Because wearing one is seen—particularly among the under-30s—as a form of attention-seeking.
After hats fell out of fashion, it was mainly eccentrics and people making an active effort to stand out from the crowd who embraced the daytime hat, which helped to make them seem "edgy". If you look at the people who still wear them, it's a strange mix of country folk with an eye towards tradition or practicality and middle-class east Londoners who want a "statement" look. But the daytime hat seems to be making progress back into the mainstream and I think it's time to get rid of its social stigma.
So we are making headway. Some may think that forcing people to wear hats—inside the Royal Enclosure at Ascot, for instance- is a pain in the neck. But I think it helps the cause. Once you've been made to wear one, you catch the hat bug and there's no going back. If you don't believe me, then just try a couple on. Any milliner will be glad to see you, and you'll probably end up buying three or four. And what's wrong with that?
After all, you need a hat for every outfit, don't you?
Vocabulary
1. revival: 復興，重新流行。
2. decree: 裁定，頒布。
3. rationing: 定量配給。
4. sculpted: 使成雕塑的，此處指做了造型的。
5. norm: 標準，行為準則。
6. milliner: 女帽製造商；disposable: 用後即丟棄的，一次性的；mass-consumer: 大眾消費的。
7. benighted: 陷入黑暗的，這裡形容前景黯淡的。
8. smart: （衣服）漂亮的，時髦的；race meeting: （通常延續數天的、多項目的）賽馬大會；compulsory: 強制的；decent: 相當不錯的；traction: 吸引力，魅力。
9. Cheltenham Festival: 切爾騰漢姆音樂節，以英國當代音樂為主，每年夏季在英國的切爾騰漢姆溫泉舉行；Epsom Derby: 葉森打吡大賽，在英國葉森馬場舉行，是英國馬壇最重要的賽事之一，也被視為世界上所有打吡大賽的鼻祖；galore: 大量地。
10. 慶幸的是，網眼毛披巾——在我看來就是對帽子的一個可笑的稱謂，通常只有一小片西納梅麻布和一根可憐兮兮的羽毛——漸漸銷聲匿跡，而又大又惹眼的帽子則風生水起。headgear: 帽子，頭飾；sinamay: 西納梅麻布；show-stopping: 引人注目的，給人留下深刻印象的。
11. banish: 趕走，驅除。
12. outfit: 全套服裝；trot-up: 騎馬小跑；Badminton Horse Trials: 伯明頓大賽，是於英國伯明頓莊園舉行的一年一度的國際馬術三項賽，是國際馬術三項四星級中最頂級的大賽；sport: v. 惹人注目地穿戴；jaunty: 漂亮時髦的；trilby: （男子戴的）軟氈帽；fedora: 寬邊男帽。
13. super-pricey: 超級貴的。
14. 戴對帽子的確能提升你的顏值——可以顯其精華，隱其糟粕（尤其當你髮型不佳的時候），但也能為你贏來關注，儘管有時並不那麼如你所願。dodgy: 差勁的，劣質的。
15. attire: 穿著。
16. eccentric: 行為古怪的人；embrace: 欣然接受；edgy: 奇特的，不尋常的。
17. 如果你看到那些還戴著帽子的人，會發現他們是個奇怪的組合：一些是守著傳統或講求實用的鄉下人，另一些則是倫敦東區藉此標榜自我的中產階級。country folk: 鄉下人。
18. stigma: 恥辱。
19. make headway: 取得進展。headway此處是雙關，一指本意進展，二也暗指頭、帽子。
20. Royal Enclosure at Ascot: 指皇家雅士谷馬場，位於英國伯克郡。皇家雅士谷賽馬會（Royal Ascot Racecourse）是英國年度賽馬盛事，每年六月下旬舉辦；pain in the neck: 討厭的人或事。
21. 一旦你被說動戴了一頂帽子，你從此就算是著了它的道，再也沒有回頭之路了。bug: （突然的）強烈興趣，熱衷。
（來源：英語學習雜誌 編輯：董靜）