Among my favourite images about fashion and style there is a famous photograph of Audrey Hepburn taken by Douglas Kirkland in November 1965 at the Studio de Boulogne in Paris, during the making of William Wyler's How to Steal a Million.
In the image the iconic actress was portrayed wearing a striking white "bobby" hat designed by André Courrèges characterised by a futuristic silhouette that made it look a bit like a helmet.
Space “helmets” were actually rather popular at the time: Emilio Pucci produced in the mid-60s six distinctive hostess uniforms for Braniff International Airways.
His 1965 “Gemini 4” uniform comprised a reversible coat, with print hat and scarf, lime gloves, two-colour stitched boots in the André Courrèges style, and a space helmet dubbed “Space Bubble” (officially called a “rain dome” by Braniff).
But, while in Pucci's case, it was essentially the material employed (rigid transparent plastic) that made it look like a proper helmet, in the case of the Courrèges design donned by Hepburn, it was the shape and silhouette and that blinding white (white and silver were very popular shades in the 60s, considered as references to the Space Age) that called to mind a helmet, echoing also the hostesses' attire and headdresses (originally inspired by PanAm uniforms) in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). View this photo
The infamous Courrèges' hat/helmet instantly came back to my mind as soon as I saw this hat at Philadelphia's Hats in the Belfry.
As you can guess from its name, the shop specialises in hats (you will find Hats in the Belfry branches in Baltimore, Fells Point and Annapolis, and they also have an online shop), designing and producing both men's and women's styles inspired by everyday trends or vintage styles and also selling hats by other brands.
The white hat in the window is actually part of the Autumn/Winter 2010 collection by the San Diego Hat Company and seems based on the shape of an exaggerated "bobby" hat, looking like a crossover between a cloche hat with a short slightly curled up brim and Courrèges' design (no chinstrap, though).
It looks like an interesting rendition of Courrèges' mid-60s hat as worn by Hepburn, though I must confess I would probably prefer seeing an affordable reinterpretation of Pucci's original space bubble in the shops one day soon.
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