Of rainbows, my new Tate Millinery hat, and the pairing of black + brown

  Outfit details

Black straw 1940s style platter tilt hat: Tate Millinery
Brown plastic hair barrette: Goody
Gold tone and rhinestone earrings: Either Payless or Claire's
Brown button front shirt: Banana Republic
Vintage style gold tone and rhinestone floral brooch: eBay
Black quadruple brass buckle bet: Forever 21
C. 1950s black pencil skirt: Unknown, had for ages (possibly thrifted)
C. 1960s brown patent faux leather bag: Purchased from a fellow vintage seller
Gold tone metal bangle bracelet: Payless
1950s/60s black gloves with bows: Chameleon CMC
Nude stockings with black seams: eBay
Brown 1940s style round toe pumps: Walmart (via a consignment store)
Lip colour: MAC Party Line (this is a new lippy for me and I love it to bits!)
Nail colour (seen in rainbow photo): Sally Hansen Mauve Over


Photography by Tony Cangiano

(This is the first time I've ever posed with a rainbow for my blog. I was a very happy camper to get this shot!)

♥ ♥ ♥

Sometimes, in the midst of all of summer's more free flowing, airy, casual ensembles, one starts craving the hard hitting glamour that so often accompanies the chillier half of the year. When that mood has struck me lately, I've reached instantly for this beguilingly chic 1940s style straw tilt hat, which I was recently sent as a wonderful review gift from the German brand Tate Millinery.

My favourite styles of hat in the whole wide world are tilt and platter, so when the two have the chance to come together in a singular topper like this, I start floating around merrily on the fashion accessory version of cloud nine.

Tate Millinery is helmed by designer Karen Cavallaro and each of her products is lovingly and skillfully made by hand. Today is actually Kate's birthday, so it seemed like an absolutely perfect time to debut this wonderful hat from her line.

Kate very sweetly let me pick any of her hats that my heart desired to receive as a review gift, as the moment I laid eyes on the black and sandy-pale gold coloured 1940s style gem, I was hooked instantly and knew that was the Tate Millinery chapeau for me (thank you so much for it, Karen!).

Classic, ladylike and very versatile, this black straw hat can be worn on the side, top or back of the head; is feather light, and looks the mid-century part to a tee. It's also very airy, comfortable, and well made, thus making it a perfect choice for summer and year round wear in general.

I was honoured to receive this gorgeous hat, which you can purchase from Tate Millinery's online shop for €79.90 (Euros), and knew the moment it arrived, that I was going to style it with the colour palette that you see here in these photos.

Much like I discussed regarding the pairing of black and navy blue together (in this post), one of the oldest and most oft repeated fashion myths is that black and brown can't play nicely and shouldn't be worn in the same outfit.

Balderdash, I say! Not only do the two look wildly sophisticated together, but pairing them can be a great way to breath new life into pieces that you own in both colours. The combination is also handy because while black or brown on its own might not look awesome near your face (depending on your personal colouring), chances are that one of the two will and you can sport that up top, as I've done here with brown, which is more flattering to my skin tone than black, and then the other down on the bottom and/or as accent pieces throughout.

Given the refined design of the hat and the powerful mid-century vibe it telegraphs, I opted for an understated ensemble that I thought would play well with both of those points.

On the day when these photos were taken - which included a gorgeous rainbow over Okanagan Lake, that we were able to quickly pull over on the side of the highway and a snap with, before continuing on to our intended photo shoot location in town, the end of the River Channel Parkway down by Skaha Lake - I reached for one of my all-time favourite button front shirts, a classic brown number from Banana Republic, along with a black vintage pencil skirt, and various accessories in both black and brown.

A somewhat more subdued colour palette than I often sport, I actually truly loved how black and brown brought visual interest to each other and am glad that I refrained from introducing other hues (save for a little bit of brass and gold care of my accessories) into the mix.

Summer is often two warm for a skirt suit outdoors (especially if it's not silk or linen), but a skirt and blouse or button front shirt can look nearly as dressy, yet spare you from wilting faster than a lettuce leaf under the broiler. Thus this is the kind of look I'd reach for if I had a work related meeting, important appointment, wedding, funeral, or other more formal event to attend, but (again) didn't want to bake under the weight of a suit - especially since the beautiful tilt hat helps to more than makeup for the lack of a jacket in terms of elegance here.

I've been wanting to do an outfit post to show how nicely black and brown can get along for ages upon ages now, and am delighted that this gorgeous straw hat from Tate Millinery gave me the opportunity to do so. This is my first product from the brand - who offers a wide range of handmade vintage inspired hats and fascinators - and I love it to no end.

Believe me when I say, this is a hat that I will reach for time and time again, month after month, year after year. It's both beautiful and fun, weighs next to nothing and can be styled in anywhere from a 1930s to an early 1960s direction, just depending on what you partner it with. You don't have to opt for black and brown, but given how splendidly it works with this dark colour duet, why wouldn't you want to do so at least every now and then. I know I'll certainly be continuing to, especially once we get into autumn again.

For now though, thankfully, that point is still a couple of months away and I'm going to keep on enjoying this enchantingly pretty 1940s style Tate Millinery hat with everything from office worthy attire to cocktail frocks to circle skirt, and adore that its neutral colour means that it will play nicely with - if you'll permit a bit of an intentional pun/reference - a rainbow of colours all year round! :)