Fierce Friday: Gigantic Hats, Church Ladies, and The Royal Ascot

Fashion designer Isabell Kristensen in the most ginormous flower-shaped hat ever.

Let's talk for a minute about gigantic hats. I absolutely ADORE them. When you think of giant hats, what do you think of? I tend to think of two things: church ladies (especially black church ladies) and the women at the British Royal Ascot (aka the most bizarrely glamorous event in horse racing).

My family dressed nicely for church every week but we REALLY got decked out on Easter, Christmas, Mother's day, Father's day, and the like. That's when the church hats (and gloves, and frilly dresses, and suits and ties) came out. This is the moment when I'd dig up awkward family photos to share, but the internet doesn't need to see that level of embarrassment.

On the subject of black women in church lady hats: I just read an interesting article by Nicole Kidder called The Fascinating History Behind Black Women's Church Hat Cultural Tradition. It's worth a read if you want to learn a bit about how black church ladies got their "hattitude."

Another thing that's worth seeing the gospel musical Crowns, written by Regina Taylor. It's based on the book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Both the book and the musical are wonderful.

A black woman in a red and white outfit with an amazing gigantic red and white church hat.

The Royal Ascot is also a sight of wondrous hats. For whatever reason, British royalty seem very fond of hats. The Royal Ascot has a dress code that dictates wearing a hat for both women and men who want to visit the royal enclosure, so pictures of the event are the perfect place to see some amazing (and occasionally ridiculous) hats.

Ok, enough about everyone else's hats. Here's my gigantic hat outfit:

Me in my giant hat.

I'm wearing a giant black and white striped floppy hat, a yellow shirt, a steampunk bee necklace, black pants, and black shoes. You can't see the pants and the shoes in this selfie, though.

You might have guessed from the lockers in the back of my selfie that today was my first day back at school. The break seemed too short to me, but the sooner I'm back the sooner I can graduate! I had class in the morning and after class I went to visit Love Bug.

Vineyard Day 3

Today was my last day on Martha's Vineyard with my dad. After dad had his morning coffee, we started the day off right with a kayaking trip! I wore a blue and white striped shirt, my same pink shorts, an anchor necklace, and a blue baseball cap that says "Martha's Vineyard Shark Week." My dad was relieved that I was wearing a more normal hat today.

My dad drinking his coffee out of a grumpy cup.

Me in my outfit of the day.

Me in the kayak wearing a life vest like a responsible guy.

My dad in his kayak paddling ahead of me.

After that we headed to Aquinnah to see the clay cliffs. The cliffs are my favorite view on Martha's Vineyard.

Me and my dad in front of the cliffs.

Photo of the cliffs and the lighthouse.

We stopped at the beach on the way back to the house. Then later that afternoon I dragged Dad into a bookstore in Edgartown so I'd have something to read on the ferry. Before we knew it, I had to board the ferry back home. I was sad to leave, but the sunset over the water was gorgeous!

Me on the boat in front of the sunset.

Sunset photo.

Second sunset photo.

Last sunset photo.

Vineyard Day 2

Today was my second day at the Vineyard with my dad and I decided to pull out my most ridiculous hat: the shark hat. Why? Because Martha's Vineyard is the filming location for the movie Jaws. And the famous bridge from the Jaws movie was our first stop for the day.

Jaws movie poster.

In addition to my shark hat, I wore a fish bone necklace, a blue shirt, and the same pink shorts and sparkly sandals as yesterday. Here I am in my hat by the Jaws bridge in Edgartown:

Me making a grrr face on the Jaws bridge.

My dad apparently thought I was just going to wear my shark hat for the Jaws bridge photo op and then take it off. Sadly for him, he was mistaken. I was determined to wear the hat all day. Next up was a trip to Chappaquiddick - a tiny island that is part of the bigger island of Martha's Vineyard. We got there via the Chappy Ferry, a small two-car ferry.

They have a Japanese Mytoi Botannical Garden that we decided to explore. They had my favorite plant ever - ghost pipe. They also had a fish pond with fish and turtles and dragonflies.

Dad at the botannical garden.

Ghost pipe plants.

Dad looking at the pond.

Me and my Dad. He convinced me to take the hat off for the photo.

Turtles and fish.

After wandering around the garden, we decided to go on a Chappy Lighthouse Tour. To my dad's dismay, the hat came along with me. The tour involves driving around the island and over sand dunes via jeep. Apparently the trick to driving on sand is to let some of the air out of your tires. As someone who has had his car stuck in the sand, I wish I'd known this information earlier in life. We saw cormorants, osprey, a northern harrier hawk, and. And we got to eat beach plums!

Going across the bridge to the restricted area.

We're driving on sand!

Photo of the sand dunes and sky.

Sand, sky, and sea.

A beach plum in my hand. They look like blueberries but taste like kind of tart plums.

Climbing the lighthouse spiral staircase.

Ladder to the top of the lighthouse.

Me at the top of the lighthouse.

View of the roads from the top of the lighthouse.

After our tour, we went back to Edgartown for ice cream at Mad Martha's. Then it was off to the beach near the Jaws Bridge!

Getting back on the ferry to Edgartown.

A picture of my cup of ice cream in front of the ice cream counter.

The path to the beach.

After the beach, we went back to the house to chill and then headed to Sharky's Cantina for dinner. I was thrilled to be able to wear my shark hat at Sharky's. My dad kept asking if I was done wearing the hat yet. Nope!

Me in my shark hat next to a shark statue at Sharky's Cantina.

After dinner, we went back to the house and dad stayed in while I made a run to Backdoor Donuts in Oak Bluffs. When I was younger, this place was more of a secret. When it started, it was just a local bakery that sold doughnuts out of their back door in the wee hours of the morning while they baked the next morning's batch. Now that people have hyped them up on the internet they've changed the entire bakery's name to Backdoor Donuts and there was a huge line of people waiting to get their doughnuts. Luckily for my dad and I, their apple fritters are still as amazing as ever.

Back door donuts!

My apple fritter. Yum!

Martha's Vineyard

Today I joined my dad who is on vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Because it's a vacation, I pulled out my best "gay on vacation" look: wide-brimmed black hat, "I don't sweat, I sparkle" a-frame shirt, light pink shorts, whale tail necklace, pearl earrings, gigantic sunglasses, and glittery flip flops.

I began my journey with a bus to the Steamship Authority. Then because I managed to miss my boat because I am disorganized so I had time to relax and read my book at a nice little coffee shop nearby.

Me on the bus.

The Steamship Authority's Ticket Office.

I was very happy to finally board my boat and head to the island.

Me on the boat!

View from the boat.

View from the boat pulling into the island.

When I got there I met up with my dad at the cottage where he was staying.

Dad sitting on the sofa and waving.

We went to Oak Bluffs for dinner and then to a little pond where we watched the sunset. The sunset itself was a bit lackluster since we didn't pick a spot with a great view. That said, we did see a fair amount of wildlife - including a bunch of crabs!

Crabs underwater - this is like a Where's Waldo puzzle since they're camouflaged.

Boats!

Can you spot the bird at the water's edge?

The sunset.

Labor Day Hat

It was nice out today so Love Bug and I went outside for a picnic and some time on the swings. I wore my straw hat with black trim, a light blue shirt with flowers, and jeans. As usual there are no photos of Love Bug, but here's a photo of my hat:

Me smiling at the camera in my Labor Day outfit.

Me making a weird face at the camera.

September is National Hat Month!!!

To celebrate National Hat Month - and also because it's about to get cold and I'm balding - I'm wearing a hat every day. Yay! Today's hat is a top hat because it seemed the most appropriate as my inaugural hat, even though it's ridiculous. I wore it with a white button down, black dress pants, black vest, and black dress shoes. I only took one photo of it, though...

Me in my top hat looking at the camera.

Love Bug thought this hat was hilarious. I put it on him and it fell right over his eyes so I took it back. Personally, I think I resemble Abe Lincoln in this getup.