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Easter Bonnets Bring Bright Colors and Traditional Styles to Harlem

By Patrick Michael Hughes | April 9, 2012 3:08pm

HARLEM — Street Chic ventured uptown on Easter Sunday to round up the most interesting hats worn to Harlem's historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, where the lines for services stretched around the block and spilled into the street.

Aside from the importance of the religious celebration, the fashion message of the day was one of traditional millinery confection, in both vibrant and muted springtime hues — with salmon, aqua, orange, lavender and red all highly visible.

Trims made of satin, gold, pearls and knotted scarves adorned medium to wide brimmed looks, with mostly rounded crowns. Decoration was crafted in straw in tinted tones ranging from sunny yellow to grassy green. Organza-crystalline hats were also a serious fashion statement.

Valerie B. magnificent violet bonnet confection of satin rusching and a rhinestone brooch.
Valerie B. magnificent violet bonnet confection of satin rusching and a rhinestone brooch.
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DNAinfo/Patrick Michael Hughes

Street Chic spotted a few cloche silhouettes, similar to the spring 2012 collection of Ralph Lauren and the autumn/winter 2012 collection of Cacharel.

Modern hat silhouettes tend to have a softer, less constructed or sheer brim line. Small hat silhouettes and fascinators featured feathers and net veil details. Street Chic note the diminished number of hats, probably due to generational changes as well as the diminishing art and craft of millinery as a vocation.