Aretha Franklin sings at President Obama's Inauguration on January 20, 2009Aretha Franklin had the honor of singing at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, and she made big-time news with her hat. The gray chapeau with the enormous bow outlined in Swarovski crystals was made by Luke Song of Mr. Song Millinery in Detroit.
When I first saw Aretha Franklin at the inauguration ceremony, all I could think of was that she was wearing an African-American lady's classic Sunday hat. A long time ago, the TV documentary show Sixty Minutes did one of its more light-hearted segments on the elaborate hats that many African-American women wear to church on Sundays. The hats were wonderful, and the broadcast was an education for a white, upstate New York Catholic kid who grew up in the black lace mantilla era of church going millinery or-- God forbid, the piece of Kleenex held down by a bobby pin when you had to go to church and didn't have a scarf or some other approved headgear to put on. Who knew there was such a thing as a church hat? In fact, CBS seems to have a thing about hats. In 2000, Sunday Morning did a piece on African American "hat queens." They also covered Queen Elizabeth's hats when she visited the USA in 2007.
Anyway, when I saw Aretha's hat, I knew for sure that this was a special day, even if Ellen DeGeneres later made fun of it. What does she know anyway? It was a gorgeous hat and perfect for the occasion. Apparently I wasn't the only person who thought so, because Mr. Song's telephone was ringing off the hook even before the swearing-in ceremony was over, although some people might not want to pay $500+ for the hat, assuming they could get one. They probably couldn't, because it was made espcially for Ms. Franklin, but I'm sure people will be wearing Aretha-hat knockoffs before you know it. In fact, Mr. Song will sell you one for $179.
I couldn't be bothered sitting through the agonizingly slow parade that followed the swearing-in and inaugural luncheon in the Statuary Hall at the Capitol (which took out two senators, Byrd and Kennedy, before it ended), but I didn't need to. Next to the satisfaction of seeing Mr. Obama replace Mr. Bush, Aretha's hat was a highpoint that couldn't be surpassed.
1 comment:
I had forgotten about putting a kleenex on my head to go inside church when I didn't have a hat. I remember that we called the small, round lace head coverings (in white or black) "chapel veils". They came in a small plastic pouch with a snap to carry in your purse.
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