Boaters and Gingham and Plaid! Oh My!

From Top Left to Bottom Right: Ali Michael in Issue 7 of Lula; Alix from the Cherry Blossom Girl; Anne of Green Gables; picture from an online store I lost the link to when all my bookmarks got deleted ; Marc Jacobs; The always inspring Effie from The Snail and the Cyclops; Mary Pickford and a perfectly handsome boater toting gentleman; inspiration for the outfit below from Teen Vogue, scan thanks to the Fashion Spot; Rudyard Kipling looking perfectly English; (behind): men carrying a stack of boaters found via Corbis; Alexa Chung wearing a mini version of the boater for New Look found here. From the universally adored Lover SS09 collection.

I think it's safe to say there is no lack of inspiration when it comes to the boater hat trend which seems to be taking over the world - or at least the world of vintage fashion bloggers!
I have seen pictures popping up all over my favourite blogs, Flickr accounts, magazines...the list goes on...
It goes without saying, that all of this boater hype has left me with an increasing desire to wear mine out of the house! Well, it just so happens that yesterday was one of the warmest days we've had yet (I keep saying that! That's a good sign!) and I finally decided to dust off the box labeled "Summer Clothes" in my storage room and see what treasures I would find!

It felt a little bit like fate when I opened up the box and saw, lying right on the top, a wonderful green and white gingham print skirt with buttons up the side, and an old plaid blouse I bought sometime when I was in high school! Visions of Teen Vogue editorials raced through my head and I got incredibly excited about pairing the two patterns together with my boater hat just like in the magazine spread!
I realize I'm probably playing the whole thing up a little...the gingham print on the skirt is so tiny you can barely tell it's a print at all, and the patterns don't clash quite as beautifully as they do in the editorial, but I felt giddy about my inspired outfit none the less!!!

I have two more boater hats that I found on some of my thrift store adventures recently, and will be putting them up in the store this weekend! So if you're still on the hunt for one, stop by and check it out!!

Have the loveliest weekend! For the first time in a long time, I'm actually wishing mine will fly by so Monday can come quickly and I can hold my bearded beauty of a man in my arms again!!!