Hats Off to Eugenia Kim

Like all great (fashion) success stories, this one has a charming start. A former glossy magazine staffer shaves a bad haircut away and then wears a hat- one she made herself in a millinery class- to keep warm as she went shopping in Soho. The hat drew attention from store owners who immediately wanted to see the rest of her collection. Soon, her hats were appearing in Soho. A month later, they were on display in Barney’s N.Y. Some more months later, Cameron Diaz, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and a slew of fashion editors were part of her client roster. This designer is Eugenia Kim and yes, I’d like to be on her client roster too.

I visited her site recently and was pleasantly, ok, ecstatically surprised to see a lot of her hats on sale! Wearing hats was a staple in the good old days. Wasn’t there a character in a Graham Greene book who said that a man wasn’t completely dressed without a hat? Hats give off an air of dashing, an extra ‘pizzazz’ to an outfit. Kim herself says, “A flattering dress can make one appear slimmer, but the right hat can change one's entire look and outlook.” With her collections, its easy to see why.

TAGS: Accessories, Barneys, Eugenia Kim, Hats, Soho