6 Ways to Give Your Favorite Hats New Life

As much as I love my hats and enjoy expanding my mini hat collection, I realize that I could have worn them more. Wearing hats is just like wearing clothes, after wearing them for a while; you get bored with the same old looks. I’ve found adding accessories into your looks can create a million different outfits. This style hack can also be used with hats and I’ve followed this strategy. Some of you probably know it already and accessorize your hats from time to time, but if it hasn’t occurred to you…let me tell you that with the help of accessories you can give your hats a whole new look without breaking a bank.

The best part about accessorizing is that it is not permanent; basically you’re interchanging accessories depending on the look you want so you’re not committing to any particular look and you can change as many as you want.

When it comes to accessorizing, the possibilities are endless! Here are some suggestions that I think you would love. In addition, I shared some of my favorite shops with you!

Pins and Brooches

Let’s dust off your brooches, dive into your parent’s collection or start a collection your own. Originally brooches were invented to hold clothes together or make them fit better. Actually, the brooch is one of the most fun and versatile accessories and it is not limited to one body part and can be placed anywhere on your outfits; including and especially hats. Attaching a pin or brooch to your hat can add some personality and a little bit of edge.

Extra tips of how to wear your pins and brooches:

1. The more intricate and unique of your brooch is, the more your hat will stand out.
2. For a fedora, attach the brooch on the trim or hat band. Don’t attach the brooch directly to your felt or straw. You don’t want to damage the shape of your hat when you force your brooch to stay or keep making holes on the hat when you constantly change the look of your hat. And if your felt hat is hard, it might break your pin.
3. Brooches and pins are more noticeable if they contrast with the background.
4. Styling rule: bright colored hats (for fedora, you consider the part that you’re going to attach the brooch) go best with black, dark colored brooches. Silver, gold and diamante brooches go best with black or dark colored outfits.
5. Experiment with one statement or unusual brooch or combine several ones into cluster.

Here are some of my favorite shops:

1. JewelryDesignG for jewelry lover – this shop is INCREDIBLE and has some of the most unique estate brooches (all is fine jewelry).
2. VintageJewelryNatali has beautiful costume brooches from the 60’s to the 80’s. Great prices and really amazing options!
3. Dreemskerryvintage – for a slightly feminine costume jewelry. Think the 60’s to the 90’s jewelry.

Headbands

I think most of hat lovers know how to upgrade their hats with a handkerchief, a thin fabric belt from a dress, or a thin lace trim, so I won’t highlight this option (I know it’s too easy peasy for you, right?). On the other hand, I think elastic headbands might be fun to make a two-in-one accessory. Besides wearing it directly on top of the hat as a headband, placing an elastic headband around the brim of your hat can completely change its effect. For example, an animal printed headband can turn your casual cozy hat into a chic statement piece. A wide variety of headbands can create the look from hippy to Hepburn. There’s no rule – so you can get as much as creative in your styling.

Here are some of my favorite shops:

1. SeamsSewJulie – a girly headband dream shop. Lots of floral prints and plaids, polka dots and bandanas!
2. PolinaCouture – two words…Japanese inspired exotic. They have some really cool piece from obi waist belts, infinity scarfs, skinny wrist scarfs to elastic turban headwraps.
3. BohoJangles – a free spirit boho headbands from solid colors to statement prints.

Horsehair Hat Bands

Whether you live on a ranch or in the middle of the Big Apple, a western inspired accessory is a wonderful fashion statement to add a cool visual effect to your hat. From braided horsehair bands to stylish sterling silver varieties, no matter which hatband you choose, it’s how you wear it.

Two ways to put it on your hats:

1. Conservative style: the knots and tassels are worn on the left side.
2. Free style: The tassels hang off the back of your brim.

Either way is good – wear it as the spirit moves you.

Here are some of my favorite shops:

1. Knotatail – EXTRAORDINARY horsehair accessories.
2. CountryClassicsShop – they have a huge selection of genuine western leather hat bands to horsehair hat bands.

Feathers

We can’t deny that adding a feather is a classic way to add a touch of natural elegance and statement to your hat. Extra tip: the more elaborate and unique the feather, the more your hat will stand out. Find the area of the hatband that can handle the weight of feather (in case you go with a dramatic one). If the feather is too big, you might want to use a pin to make the feather stays on the hat.

Here are some of my favorite shops:

1. countrycraftydesign – ready-to-wear pheasant feather brooches. They sell cut eponchos and earrings too.
2. PeterShams – a millinery supplies. It can be absolutely overwhelming to search for this shop as there is so much stuff listed from trims, embellishments to feathers (and even fur felt cones and straw capelines!).
3. LamplightFeather – one stop destination for premium decorative feathers.

Scarves

Scarves are one of the most versatile accessories you can have in your closet and perhaps you received a lot of them as gifts and you don’t use them enough. Good news: you can use them as a hat accessory. How exactly can you do it? Tie a headscarf to the base of the hat to add a pop of character or wrap your head with beautiful scarf and top off a hat on your head. Extra tips: play with color and pattern harmony either matching or contrasting. Experiment and see which one you like. For instance, if your hat is taupe, you can use either a solid-color or a pattern scarf and you can add some of the accents of your outfit to match with your scarf so your outfit looks very sharp and versatile.

Here are some of my favorite shops:

1. CoralsChicBoutique – for that cool girl vintage style you see on Instagram.
2. MiaBohe – two words…cuteness overloads. They have some really cute pins and scarves.
3. SilkPaintingWithLove – for bold and unique style, hand-painted silk and batik scarves.

Veil

With the rise in popularity of vintage fashion, and the influence of royal British weddings like that of Kate Middleton, adding a veil to your hat would be perfect for the daring woman who wants glamour, ultra-chic and a little fun in her look.

Here are some extra tips to consider:

1. Pick your veil length depending on what you what to get from the look; so the longer the veil, the more dramatic.
2. If you wear glasses, be aware of the length of the veil you choose. If the length of the veil is long for instance covering you entire face, your glasses may get caught when you take them on and off.
3. Attach the veil on the hat using a beautiful pin to give your hat personal touch and tell a story.

Here are some of my favorite shops:

1. PeterShams – millinery supplies. They offer different colors of the veils.
2. APinkSwan – millinery flowers, leaves and supplies.

Hope this post inspired you to style your old hats and give them new life. What is your favorite hat accessory to try on your hat? Let me know in comment below.