Some of the first items you’ll notice upon entering Store for All Seasons are the fetching hats made by Mich Dulce. Perched upon two large and rather disarming vintage doll’s heads that she bought in a Parisian flea market, only a few pieces are on display at a time, since Mich usually makes hats to order. Because of the physically demanding and time-consuming process involved, the hats are not mass-produced – it’s evident that each piece is constructed with great care and attention to detail. Prices range from P650 for simple corner hats to P5,000 for those made with more luxe materials, and customers can choose the style, fabric and color when ordering hats. "Most of the hats I make are molded or flat," Mich says. "I make them on blocks and I alter them to fit the head."
Since completing a short course in millinery at Central Saint Martins in London last November, Mich has crafted her distinctive headpieces for a client’s "hat wedding" in Baguio, a Theater Arts play, and Inno Sotto’s "Beloved" couture show, aside from custom-made items for her fashion-forward clients’ everyday use.
Mich wants to change the perception of hats as purely functional pieces. "The stereotype is that a hat has to be big with a brim, but it’s not true," she explains. "You can have little hats, like accessory hats, that aren’t just for protection." While most of us have donned a big ugly sun bonnet when SPF just wouldn’t do enough, Mich’s hats seem to work especially well during special occasions, as striking, bold accessories that pull together a look and draw attention to the face. She herself can be spotted in black tulle veil-like hats tied around the chin and jaunty army caps perched on the corner of her head.
There are so many hat idioms out there that it’s hard to believe we don’t wear these neglected accessories more often. We wear many hats when we have several occupations or roles to play. We make quick decisions at the drop of a hat. We keep secrets under our hats. Something we do all the time becomes old hat. We take our hats off to those who impress us. We put on our thinking caps when we need to make an important decision. (Note: the origin of this phrase was supposedly the black hats judges donned to decide whether prisoners should die.)
Modern-day thinking caps come in all shapes and sizes. Many creative types wear hats to take them out of their element. One young professional admits that when she starts feeling the pressure of her advertising job, she tells herself "Wear the hat" and puts on a felt Mickey Mouse cap to relieve stress. For more than a few writers, wearing a hat while working is a vital part of their writing ritual.
These seemingly unusual uses for hats are a testament to the transformative powers of headgear. Whether you choose a military, pillbox, or floppy style, wearing one of Mich Dulce’s hats will definitely get you noticed. Since the market for decorative headpieces is, at the moment, not very big, you can rest assured that no one else will be wearing the same hat. Heads will turn and you’ll probably be referred to as "the one in that hat" when people are pointing at you (with envy!) as you walk by. This leaves little room for self-consciousness, but as many a hat lover can attest, the effects of the perfect hat can be intoxicating. At the moment, only a brave few are comfortable with the attention they attract when accessorizing with these sculptural, almost theatrical headpieces.
This wasn’t always the case. As Christian Dior, the designer who started his fashion career selling sketches of hats, once declared, "Without hats, we would have no civilization." Cecile Van Straten recalls, "In the ’80s we wore hats all the time. And in the ’40s we wore hats every day." She predicts a resurgence of the trend once people start looking to a more formal era for sartorial inspiration.
But Mich says that even when she was studying in London last year, she didn’t see too many people donning hats. "That’s why everyone is saying millinery is like a dying art. So I don’t think anyone else does millinery in this country." With the increase in demand for her headpieces as elaborate styling props for runways, fashion editorials and theater stages, she’s found a niche that’s completely her own. Now that she’s making well-constructed custom-made headpieces available (and affordable) locally, her felt and buckram concoctions are slowly inching their way to the mainstream.
Mich hopes that people will eventually incorporate her "little hats" in their daily wardrobes. Right now she’s working on constructing and shooting samples for a catalog of hat styles clients can peruse at Store for All Seasons. Don’t expect anything too outrageous, though – Mich emphasizes the wearability of her pieces. "I’m not into beading and feathering," she discloses. Her work dispels the common notion that hats have to be huge and obnoxious to make a statement. "Even a headpiece is a hat," she says. "We’re trying to spark the trend again, to get people to wear hats on a day-to-day basis by starting small, with something discreet." Considering the formal hat’s loaded history as a requirement that represented social standing (among other things), it’s about time for it to become just another habitual, playful element of individual expression.