The Cloche - A Timeless Hat

I have a fascination for many of the classic fashion trends of the past.  I love, for instance rockabilly style and "wiggle" dresses from the 1950s, the suits and elegant evening gowns from the 1940s, and the  shoes and the hats of the 1920s.   All are styles I really enjoy looking at and and contemplating wearing.  After the release of the movie Chicago, it seemed as if Catherine Zeta-Jones realized that she could really rock a cloche, and soon, it seemed, she turned up everywhere in one.

I recently read an article about cloches as a great choice of hat for pretty much any face shape and hairstyle, and thought I could whip one out with the persimmon yarn that remained from my fingerless gloves.  

It took a couple of evenings of working at it pretty steadily, but here it is: 

 

It's cute with the brim rolled up or down.

After I finished the main part of the hat, I decided that a couple of flowers to embellish it were just the ticket.

On another note, the reason I have been so quiet for the past few days is that I have been gone on a business trip to eastern Montana.  It's pretty lonesome country, and I had a couple of experiences I want to share with you - things that are really indicative of small-town life.  

First, every car I met, the driver waved to me. I live in a town of about 35,000 people, and if you start waving at folks, that's about all you'd get done.  We just don't wave.  But I'm from eastern Montana, and there are towns there where everyone waves to everyone.  We're talking about communities of just 300 people or so.  If you meet another driver, you wave.  I used to do this, long ago.  Of course, in my current community, it's impractical, and I've fallen out of the habit.  So it caught me by surprise when it started happening.  I mean, these folks don't know me from Adam.  But they wave to everyone.  Everyone.  Even perfect strangers get a friendly wave.  My first reaction is to be somewhat startled: 

Oh!  That guy waved to me! Should I know him?  Hmmm....?  Oh, wait - -  I'm in Winnett, Montana - population 165!  They're waving because they're friendly!  Oh, yeah, I forgot about friendly!

The next small town experience happened in Jordan.  Unfortun- ately, most of the world only knows Jordan because that's where the Freeman standoff happened.  

On a side note:  We workaday Montanans hate it when some goofy story like the the Freeman standoff blows up big in the news.  These kinds of stories feel like a reflection on the rest of us.  There are so few folks here, and it makes us feel like the rest of the world thinks of Montana as the kind of place where we grow or harbor a lot of crazies.  We don't at all, but by virtue of our lonesomeness, we seem to attract a lot of them.  *Sigh*

In any case, Jordan is a wonderful little town.  Population? 337.  It's the county seat of Garfield County and it's a lo-o-o-ong ways from anywhere.  You'd have to drive a couple of hours to go to a movie if you lived in Jordan.  But the people there are very nice, and they know how to care about each other.  I had breakfast at a little cafe on the west end of town - the Hilltop Cafe.  As I went to pay my bill, I noticed a blank book of checks from the Garfield County Bank, just sitting by the register.  If local patrons show up and have forgotten their checkbooks, there's a handy book of checks there, and they can just fill one of those out.  A signature and an account number will get the job done.  Everyone knows everyone else, so no problemo!  That's so small town.  I loved it.  

I know that most of you will think that my city of 35,000 is a small town, but now you know what a really small town is.  And I guess I'm just a small town girl at heart.

Love,

Sass