Little Hat, Big Price

The combination of invalids recovering from yesterday's bruises, the need to clean house, pressing work needs back home for Laura and the need to wait around for a repairman kept us home today. But we did manage to sneak out in the late afternoon for a few hours to take Grandma Dorothy to a couple of interesting places. First stop was the hat shop. Grandma Dorothy is a big fan of hats, but finding stylish ones can be a challenge in the essentially hatless USA. No so here. This is the land of the Ascot Races and Buckingham Palace garden parties where hats not just an accessory--they are required. Grandma tried on all kinds of amazing and fanciful creations before finally settling on a sober and appropriate little pill box. Once she had chosen her hat, we got our next education in the millinary arts: the price! These hats were basically some felt or straw, a few feathers and a lot of ribbon. Some of them barely covered the head. Yet the pricetag on these one-of-a-kind creations was anywhere from 90 to 500 pounds! Grandma didn't end up paying that kind of a price (and courtesy prevents me from revealing the price she did eventually pay) but let's just say I have a whole new respect for this industry.