Confessions of a Hat Hoarder

Ok, so I have a confession to make. My name is Emma Cook and I am a hat hoarder. I love hats. I stare at them through shop windows, browse them for hours online, stroke them as I walk past them in a shop. I find it hard to leave a store without trying on a hat. I'll pretend it's a joke to hide my problem, asking my friends 'don't I look ridiculous in this hat?' in an attempt hide my true urge to buy it. But some times I crack. Usually when I'm alone. And I buy the hat. But the initial post purchase happiness is replaced about thirty seconds later with undeniable regret.

See the heart of my problem is that I buy hats, but I never wear them. I gaze in admiration at those on the street brave enough to wear a hat. Because really, it's not an easy look to pull off. Unless you're a 2014 fashion blogger in a floppy black hat, or a Queen's guard it's just not really acceptable to wear a hat in public nowadays. But oh how I wish it was.

Some of the best hat wearing inspiration there ever was and the main reasons for my ongoing problem:

Images- Pinterest

My collection is getting so large now that it's hard to hide it any longer in the drawer that I once designated to my secret problem. There, the baker boy, the fedora and their siblings have layed for years, but they're getting harder to contain as the new additions slowly pry open the drawer to display my problem to the world. The other week my sister asked me 'is that a new hat?' at one that had made its way to a hook in my bedroom. 'No' I answered embarrassed. It wasn't a lie, I'd had the hat for literally years, but it had yet to make an appearance on my head.

Despite probably being a brilliant way to hide unwashed hair, a relentless spot or the grey under-eye bags of a hangover I feel as if as soon as I put a hat on, my head doubles in size, somehow I am suddenly so much more noticeable to every single person in the world. And nobody wants that. So until I can actually muster up the confidence to put a bloody hat on my head, keep going hat wearers of the world! I have endless respect for you and your headwear. And for those out there like me, the hat hoarders, I want you to know: you are not alone.