Wednesday, August 1, 2012

California Sun



"I found this straw hat at a farmers’ market in Sonoma, California. The only other people I'd seen wearing it before were the workers in the vineyards. I’d always assumed the hat was from Mexico because most of the vineyard labourers are Mexican. It turns out the hat is from Ghana, Africa. It is handmade and comes only in ‘natural’ with a variety of colours striped on the brim and base of the hat.
I've had the hat for four years and it keeps getting better with age. It's been in the ocean and the pool several times, yet refuses to be destroyed. The shape only improved with weathering. I bought several for my storefront in NYC, but it felt like a fish out of water in the city. It cries out for the California coastline and the arid deserts of Africa."


At times I feel like I'm Jack's hat ... a fish out of water in the city, crying out for the California coastline. In less than a week I'll be back.  If I'm being responsible I'll search for a hat, but most likely I'll welcome the sun, worry about wrinkles another day.