THE EUROPEAN PRESS DECLARES CALLANAN LEGACY BOWLER A BIG DEAL

Even hatlife support_hatlife.com@bmsend.com is jumping on the bowler trend. Once again, I am ahead of the curve.

 According to Diane "I hear a lot about the rising popularity of the Bowler Hat, but I have yet to see them on any actual people (but then again I live in Florida). But according to UK Express and the Daily Mail Reporter the Bowler is hot stuff.
Some of the UK papers credit Jude Law with helping the comeback of this Chaplinesque hat. And at the same time the British retailer, Austin Reed has started stocking Bowlers for the first time in 12 years (cheers to that) because of the demand.

The press is quite annoyed that the store - that brags about it's British lineage (Design is core to our heritage, says their tagline) bowed to market forces and bought the hats from China.

"The company claims it had to look further afield to give the bowlers a retail cost of £50, as British-made hats often cost more than £200."

The bowler was created in the mid 1800s by hatters William and Thomas Bowler, after a commission from Edward Coke, brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester. By the early 1900s it had become very popular.
The bowler was made famous by Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. After the Second World War sales declined (aside from a comeback in the mid-Sixties by actor Patrick Macnee in the TV show The Avengers) it was slowly sacked into oblivion.
Austin Reed, which celebrates its 110th birthday this year, will initially stock the bowlers at its flagship Regent Street store in London before rolling them out around Britain as part of a new collection commemorating the store's anniversary. Announcing the return of the hat, the store claimed it had "brought back the bowler hat as a nod to historic British fashion".
"British design is core to our heritage. Men and women are looking to history for classic, quality design and tailoring. The bowler hat is a key piece to communicate effortless British style," said a spokesperson form Austin Reed.
But the talk about their hats being made in China has disappointed some.
"There's a real revival going on at the moment, so this was a chance for a major retailer to get behind British milliners. But everyone is so used to buying fashion on the cheap that even Austin Reed customers are not prepared to spend more than £50 for a bowler.

It's a shame, but I'm sure that if they could guarantee the demand a British company could have come up with a competitive price to supply the hats.

But at least Austin Reed is promoting the wearing of hats, so that is a positive thing," said Georgina Abbott, who runs Atelier Millinery in London."

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON

While wasting some time before going to the theater last night I watched a few minutes of Sarah Palin speaking in Anaheim. I would never vote for her to be elected to any public office but I can see how her folksy, over the back-yard-fence, way of talking appeals to middle Americans. So how apropos to see the musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON an hour later. Jackson, America's 7th president, a total populist a la Obama, uses his sex appeal a la Clinton, wins the popular vote of the people only to have the title president snatched away by the electoral college a la Gore. He does not give up and wins 4 years later on the promise of being the people's president by channeling the people voices and desires, being a maverick, a Washington outsider (OMG sounds like Palin) only to find out that people want their president to make the choices for them and that populist feelings are fickle. History is still divided on whether Jackson was America's Hitler or Moses.
On the entertainment index, I had a great night out. Bloody Bloody Jackson is on of the new genre American musicals, like Spring Awakening, that appeals to the younger theater goers. The songs will not be sang around pianos, in musical evening bars, which is fine by me.
Benjamin Walker as Jackson is a roman god and once I was able to peel my eyes away from his ever so tight fitting pants, I realized he is a very good actor with a nice voice.

 The cast was amazing and it is hard to single one out over another
 and the songs and band kept the story line moving along quite smoothly.
/http://bloodybloodyandrewjackson.com/

CALLANAN HAT GOES TO EGYPT

My friend Debra departed for Egypt this week. I suggest a burka, just in case she runs into some of the peps who might not like her natural blond highlights and blue eyes but no, she was adamant about about looking chic while getting ultimate sun protection. She went with Callanan millinery style # CR125 (double rosette brim). I suggested black a la BURKA but no she wanted white. Bon voyage and have fun belly dancing.

DERBY,BOWLER AND MELON HEADS UNITE

For those of you suffering from FEDORA FATIGUE, good news is on the way. According to the London Time's October 6th edition, John Steed's iconic headwear is back in fashion after n absence of 40 years. The come back of this British of British hats should not be a surprise to those of us that have been gleefully following the sartorial trend of th past 2 years.

Not to be outdone in the battle of fashion, the Parisians are also saying BRAVO to the return of the chapeau melon (melon hat, which is a pretty good description of a bowler's crown) but pointing out that John's sidekick in the Avengers, Emma Peel was also quite sexy looking when she donned her bowler hat. Bravo to Mr. JPG for reintroducing the Parisians to the bowler hat in his fall sartorial collection for Hermes.

Here in the good old USA we prefer to call this shape a DERBY. At Callanan Legacy we are always on trend so we offered our FERBY (derby that can be pinched to create a fedora crown), a soft wool felt derby that can be pinched into a fedora crown as an alternative shape. Style LV227-BLK can be purchased at J.J. Hat Center 310 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10016 Toll Free: 1.800.622.1911 or http://www.jjhatcenter.com/ and other great stores nationwide like http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/, http://www.hartfordyork.com/

Temptation suppressant

It had been long grueling day at work and I had to run to yoga class. Arriving in a ball of sweat, only to learn that one of my favorite teachers, Miss Chrissy Carter http://www.yogachrissy.com/ was a last minute no show. Now, I am sure her sub was wonderful, but I was just not in the mood to follow a stranger's instructions. So I decided to take my time walking  home, stopped to look at my favorite thrift store windows on 18th street, Angle Street and Housing Works before popping into Loehmann's under the guise of "I needed to cool down in their AC".
Loehmann's is not known for their mens shoe department, which is non existent, but as I made my way under the stairwell, there they were, in all their glorious temptation, a gorgeous pair of Costume National Homme boots at 399, marked down from 999.

Now, I knew that the devil was tempting me because why else would the boots have cost 999 originally, so I really had to meditate on not being tempted by the orange peel finish of the leather, the stud trim detail and the soft burnt orange lamb lining.

Thank God I have read a little and I remembered that the other wonderful Irish man Oscar Wilde said "the best way to get over temptation is to give into it", or something like that.

So off I went to the cash register where the universe happened to put a 15% discount in my way.

No regrets on this spluge and these boots really kick as(s)ana.

So move over Nancy for these boots are made for walking.......

Callanan cloche encounters

A cloche is from the French for "BELL" and refers to any bell shaped ladies hat. Cloche hats are also refered to as flapper hats and were the hight of fashion in the "Roaring 20". This Callanan Legacy cloche style SYLVIE LV191-BLK, is featured in the current Country Living September 2010 issue. This is such a timeless, sweet, stylish hat with a sequined bow and an adjustable satin head size lining.

To purchase this or other similar Callanan cloche hats shop Lord and Taylor, Macy's or other better stores nation wide.

CALLANAN CHAMBRAY MECHANIC IVY

Chino and chambray are the casual men's fabrics of the season, showing up in countless collections for spring 2011. Chambray gets up-to-the-minute washes and treatments turning this work-wear staple into a stylish sophisticated statement.
Check out the Callanan Legacy mechanic cap style CM151 as worn by Cameron, photo by KOITZ.

YOU CAN BUY THIS CAO AT

http://www.hartfordyork.com/

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/