Patricia Underwood

Hats have transformative powers: they can provoke a reaction, protect, hide, illuminate, and endow the wearer with confidence and allure. Patricia Underwood: The Way You Wear Your Hat celebrates the magic and mystery, status, and style that hats can offer by the top milliner in the business.

The true character of a hat is how it is worn. According to Underwood, a hat should be personal and the wearer needs to be comfortable about attracting the attention of strangers. In this book, the designer considers not only the message a hat might telegraph, but what is inside the head upon which the hat might sit: does she want to look alluring or demure? She also focuses on significant factors such as proportion, colour, texture, the shape of the face, and the silhouette. Eminently modern and practical, Underwood maintains that the role of a hat is not to call attention to itself, but rather, to complement the clothes—to finish a look.

The book features her many years of collaborations with top-notch designers such as Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Isaac Mizrahi, and a host of others. Lavishly illustrated, with many photographs from the designer's own archive as well as editorial work from some of the world's greatest fashion photographers, including Richard Avedon, Norman Parkinson, and Bruce Weber, this book will be a must-have for any fashionista.