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November 4, 2011

Monsters in Hats

        I know I'm a little late for Hallowe'en, but this seems as good a time as any to share a theme D, my brother, and I were bandying about a while ago.  We were observing that werewolves seem to look quite natural and appropriate wearing top hats, and I had this idea that every sort of iconic monster must have its own favorite style of headgear.  Some of the matchings that pleased us the most were
           zombies wear boaters
           skeletons wear long nightcaps
           space aliens wear granny bonnets
           velociraptors wear backwards baseball caps

        I thought that twelve of these pairings, depicted in a campy vintage poster style, would make an amusing and enjoyable calendar.  (If anyone wants to put such a thing together, you're
welcome to my genius idea.  Just be sure to send me a copy!)  But I'm far too lazy to do that myself, so I've decided to make this post an interactive activity to get you started in the rich topic of monster millinery.

   1.  Print out the following lists and draw lines to connect them according to your own sense of what's appropriate.
   2.  Add more monsters and more headgear as desired.
   3.  Imagine how much more pleasantly and knowledgeably you'll be able to converse with the next well-dressed monster you meet.
   4.  Have fun!

     bigfoot                                              balaclava
     blob                                                    baseball cap
     chupacabra                                      beret
     ghost                                                  bishop mitre
     giant squid                                       boater
     mermaid                                           bonnet
     minotaur                                          coonskin cap
     mummy                                            cowboy hat
     Nessie                                                deerstalker
     skeleton                                             fez
     space alien                                        lamp shade
     swamp monster                               pith helmet
     Tyrannosaurus rex                          propeller beanie
     vampire                                             Robin Hood cap
     werewolf                                            sombrero
     yeti                                                      swim cap with plastic flowers
     zombie                                                top hat

        
[Pictures: Vampire in a Mae West hat, photoshop adaptation from movie posters;
Giant squid in a mitre, photoshop adaptation from an illustration by Alphonse de Neuville, wood engraving by Hildibrand, for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, 1871 ;
Ghost in a sombrero, photoshop adaptation from an illustration by Richard Westall, copperplate engraving by E. Scriven, from Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, 1802;
Monsters in hats and assorted spare hats, pen sketch on paper by AEGN and TPGrundy (TPG did the spare hats and the skull, I did the ghost, alien, and mummy, and we both think we did the velociraptor!), 2011.]

5 comments:

  1. I'm still giggling. How about a huge be-flowered Kate Greenaway bonnet on a hedge fund trader? or a sailor's cap on a giant spider? something with egret plumes on a dementor? This is fun!

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  2. This is hilarious Anne. Of course, I'll be playing match up - how fun! I may even be inspired to create a collection of creature chapeaux. My mother was a milliner and I come by my love of hats honestly. :-)

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  3. Deborah, how fun that you bring an expert eye to this. ;) If you come up with anything I'd love to see it!

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