Aretha Franklin had said she wasn’t sure if she could bear to part with the precious bow hat she wore on Inauguration Day. But she has finally confirmed she will loan The Hat to the Smithsonian, where Michelle Obama’s inauguration clothes are going. The Hat will then go to Barack Obama’s presidential library, where it shall remain. If Barack needs to center himself in this tumultuous time, we hope he shares many moments of quiet contemplation with The Hat. We can think of no better object on which to meditate.
Franklin said she was shocked by the feverish interest in her hat. She had been searching for the perfect hat to go with her coat and even looked in fashion houses in Paris, but then decided on milliner Luke Song’s shop in Detroit “down on Woodward … on the main strip.” You have to love a rich woman who, when shopping in Paris thinks, “Damn, I gotta get back to Detroit.”
Aretha Franklin To Loan Inauguration Hat to Smithsonian [Flypaper/Bluefly]
