Where did you get that hat??

I have always had an inability to place a hat on my head without looking totally daft. I regularly see people sporting all kinds of hats and looking completely fabulous, sadly I am not one of them.

As soon as I put on any kind of headgear I know I am headed for that look where I could very easily look like I have been allowed to dress myself despite an inability to do so. My look screams “escaped from the asylum and grabbed someone else's hat on the way out”

Now this is really not an exaggeration as anyone who has been unlucky enough to be in my hat wearing presence will tell you. Yes, I do have a tendency to pull a daft face as soon as I put a hat on but I don’t think it would make the slightest bit of difference if I didn’t.

I have actually asked the opinion of the man working in the hat department of M&S in regard to whether a hat suited me. His face said it all while he continued to make polite platitudes until I explained that I needed an honest opinion and would not be offended. He then very politely pointed out the flaws in each hat I tried on.

There are friends of mine who look fabulous in woolly hats, others who suit the baker boy style and some who seem to be able to pull of any kind of headgear. You see women all the time with all manner of things perched on their heads who look glamorous and confident and totally fabulous.

Where some look kooky and cool in a woolly hat, I just look like the girl in the advert for the Blair Witch project crossed with Benny from Crossroads. Woolly hats also tend to plaster my hair to my head in an attractive “just been caught in a deluge” kind of way.

Of course I have tried other kinds of hat but every style I try, whether it is baker boy, baseball or straw hat, they always look wrong like I have borrowed someone else’s hat. As for wearing a fascinator, well the something dropped on your head look is just not cool. I have not got the style to pull off the jaunty side of the head look so it looks like I am wearing a hat for a doll instead of a fascinator.

I wonder if an Australian cork hat swag man style would suit me then I realise that I would probably be the first person ever to take out an eye or get a fat lip from a swinging cork from a piece of headgear and this would really not enhance my image in the slightest.

So I know I can't get away with a bonnet, ( too horrific) a turban, ( too high) a sombrero, ( too wide) a stetson,  ( still too wide) a crown, ( too common) a tiara ( too fussy) or a bandanna. ( I am just not cool enough).

To be honest I have come to the conclusion that the only style of hat I could get away with would be the SAS/ bank robber style balaclava with the eye holes. These ski masks totally hide the identity of the wearer so I could walk round anonymously and everyone would be oblivious to the fact that it would be me. Sorted for next winter then......watch out for me on the news after my inevitable capture by armed police. J

My Filofax collection..... Blog Filofax set up.

Filofaxes have so many uses besides the normal diary/ address book set up. As a collector with quite a few planners in my collection, I have the luxury of using different ones for different purposes.

The planners I want to talk about today are the ones I use for my blog. I have one two identical black A5 Filofaxes which my daughter was given at a clearance at a previous firm she worked at. I believe that they are Metropol’s but it does not say. There is a small black embossed logo on the front of each one but it doesn't notice. (In the front it says Filofax A5 organiser deluxe leather)

I would have liked orange Filofaxes for my blog notes but am using what I have and have added an orange, striped coffee cup charm to each one. They are each made from mobile phone charm cords from the craft shop and a tiny china mug which I ordered on-line

I started with one but soon separated into both Filofaxes as I print a copy of each post. I know it’s an on line blog but I like to have a printed copy. That is just me I suppose. I print on A5, punch the holes down the short side and fold over.

The other organiser is full of notes, diary inserts of my posts and ideas. I have a Paperchase, week on two pages diary and write the name of the blog post on the date it was published.

Some of my blog post ideas are on a list and some are scraps of paper half written and tucked in the front. I sometimes brainstorm and come up with potential ideas for my rather diverse blog. Other times I just start typing or writing and thinking about it as I go along.

The A5 dividers have are particularly nice and very eclectic, so go well with my blog. I bought them on-line a few years ago from very nice lady with a little business making planner accessories. I can’t find her now but the dividers are rather good.

I also have an A5 personal flex in purple which I take to Nero’s coffee shop to write in. For some reason their atmosphere is very conducive to writing. (They do a mean cappuccino cake too)

I do have blog business cards that I give out to people who ask where they can find the blog. These are good for a bit of self promotion and they fit nicely into the front card slots of my blog Filofax.