“When I think about the design of a hat, I consider what the message might be and what is inside the head upon which the hat might sit. For it is with our minds that we manage and manipulate the world.”
So said Patricia Underwood in her millinery manifesto in “Patricia Underwood: The Way You Wear Your Hat,” the Rizzoli-published tome by Jeffrey Banks and Doria de La Chapelle.
The book offers a fascinating – and visually stimulating – look into the CFDA Member’s exquisite millinery work that has topped the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Annette Bening and Toukie Smith in editorial stories by the likes of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Bruce Weber.
It also puts Underwood’s creations in the context of Hollywood’s fascination with headwear from Marlene Dietrich’s classic top hat in “Morocco” to Faye Dunaway’s beret in “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Another highlight is the index of Underwood’s favorite hats — from the beret and the boater to the Doo’lander, the trilby and the turban.
“Her hats are more than material and technique,” Isaac Mizrahi offered in the foreword. “They are expressions of Patricia’s life. Every time you put one of her hats on your head you can rest assured that the right amount of craft, neuroses, joy and pain went into that hat.”
It’s well worth it, as demonstrated in the book.
Jeffrey Banks, also a CFDA Member, traced the origin of book back to the moment he showed Underwood his other book “Perry Ellis: An American Original,” which featured one of her hats in the cover image. She showed it to her husband Jon Moynihan and before long, the trio hatched the idea of the book timed for her milestone 40th Anniversary in business.
“Having been friends with Patricia for over 30 years, I thought this was a great idea,” Banks said, noting that unlike the other two great milliners of our time, Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones, Underwood “believes a hat is the finishing touch to the outfit. It serves to compliment the woman.”
Throughout her career, Underwood worked with many designers, including Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta, and created hats for screen and stage, the latter including toppers for “After Midnight” and “Bullets over Broadway: The Musical.”
Asked for his personal favorite photograph in the book, Banks pointed to one of Underwood wearing a burgundy hat and sitting in her green Bentley, which filled with flowers. “I absolutely love the image of Patricia at the Chelsea Flower Market,” he said. “It says everything about the way she lives. She loves gardens. She loves cars. And she loves hats.”