The Hat Luncheon in Central Park
On Wednesday, May 4th, I attended the 29th annual Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon held in the Conservatory Garden of Central Park in New York City. You may recall my previous blogs about this important event. Frederick Law Olmsted is, of course, the famous American landscape designer and the father of American landscape architecture. He designed many renowned urban parks, including the very magnificent Central Park. This luncheon, fondly called The Hat Luncheon, is hosted by The Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy and is always so much fun. Although hats are optional, very few bare heads are seen in the crowd. You see many glamorous hats and many humorous ones, as well.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and it was rainy and cold and there were many wool suits and umbrellas. However, more than 1,200 supporters were in attendance and more than 3.2 million dollars was raised to support the Conservancy’s work in maintaining and preserving Central Park. The benefit committee has completely underwritten the event so that 100 percent of the ticket purchases went toward the operation of the Park. I hope you enjoy seeing some of those hats.
1 When I arrived, Bill Cunningham - fashion photographer - was there shooting away.
2 Unfortunately, the weather was very chilly and rainy.
3 Whenever I see Mr. Cunningham, I always take his picture. However, he has only published one photo of me!
4 Elegantly draped wearing a hat adorned with pheasant feathers
5 Mr. Cunningham loves hats and was once a milliner, himself.
6 A great black and white bonnet
7 And another
8 A lovely shade of pink
9 And such a nice pale green
10 A Chinese-style hat decorated with flowers
11 I really liked this one.
12 Particularly the braid
13 A sea of hats
14 Yaz Hernandez wearing leaves, twigs, and catkins
15 Leaves and nuts
16 Marjorie Reed Gordon with a very wide brim
17 A nicely shaped brim
18 I had a gold-theme that day and my friend, Jane Heller wore the same hat as last year, a Suzanne http://suzannemillinery.com/ hat.
19 Just before leaving for the luncheon, I found this great gold ribbon to decorate my hat.
20 Dorothy Bandier wore a summery white hat.
21 Sharon Burdick looked great.
22 Another look at her hat
23 Bryn Rose works closely with Jane in the private bank of Bank of America always looks great in her hats.
24 Gerri Kyhill looked wonderful in her black and white polka dots.
25 Stunning!
26 Susan Magrino, my publicist, wore her large black straw hat again - I love it!
27 So beautiful
28 R. Couri Hay and Thorunn Wathne
29 Blaine Trump with fun butterflies
30 Karen LeFrank in a pretty pink
31 Jamie Gregory wearing poppies
32 Love this bow
33 And this flower
34 Veiled and chic
35 Illiana Gill wore a hat with great feathers.
36 Julia Koch, me, and Peggy Siegal
37 A closer look at Julia's hat
38 A moderist design of twists and curls
39 Here I am with Glenda Bailey.
40 Navy blue and white - very nice!
41 Lizzie Tisch - co-chair of the luncheon wore a cupcake hat.
42 Amy fine Collins wearing a monarch butterfly
43 Such an elegant design with peacock feathers
44 Dori Cooperman with bright pink
45 Lydia Carlston wearing a gorgeous creation!
46 A fun copy of the hat that Princess Beatrice wore to the Royal Wedding designed by Phillip Treacy
47 Another pretty pink
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Martha, you're correct in saying some of the hats were humorous. You forgot to say that some were down-right silly, but...you were also correct in saying some were glamorous. I saw many I thought were really beautiful. I liked your hat very much.
I'm glad so much money was made for the park.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | May 12th, 2011 at 12:42 am
Thank you so much for these wonderful photos! I especially loved all the pictures of Bill Cunningham. It's impossible not to instantly adore his weekly "On the Street" slideshow in the Saturday New York Times after seeing it for the first time. His is such an example of aging with all of one's enthusiasm and zest for life intact. He has SUCH a beautiful mind. For those of your readers who may not have discovered him yet, here's my favorite "On The Street" video. It's a charming description of people having as much fun dressing like Santa Claus as these ladies are having in their hats: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/12/20/fashion/20081220-street-feature/index.html?scp=1&sq=bill%20cunningham%20santas&st=cse
Posted by: Karen | May 12th, 2011 at 3:51 am
i loved the hats, i think this is your best post ever Martha.
thanks
vm casey
Posted by: vera | May 12th, 2011 at 5:48 am
These are gorgeous. wow.
Posted by: kmd | May 12th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Hi Martha, What a fun, as well as, a charming blog post this was today!! It was so much fun to see what kind of hats those ladies wore at this year's great event for Central Park! I just love looking at these photos over and over again! My favorites were #18,19,26,36,&39 with you, Jane Heller, and Susan Magrino!!! All three of you looked fantastic in your charming hats! You reminded me very much of Doris Day when she was Callamity Jane in a movie years ago and she was beautiful just like you!! Sure has been fun seeing the reruns of your travel tours on your TV Shows on Hallmark Channel this week. I love seeing those places all over the world. Thanks so much for sharing all of these delightful blogs with us! Have a great day! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | May 12th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Oh, Martha!
I look forward to this every year. I just love hats. My Grandmother was a great hat wearer. All the ladies looked wonderful once again.
Posted by: Sharon | May 12th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Love, Love, LOVE all of the gorgeous hats, but especially the pink ones! Karen LeFrank's hat is my all-time favorite.So Parisian....
Posted by: Mary Kay | May 12th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
I always wonder what type of storage the hats are kept in. Nevada Barr wrote a wonderful book "Seeking Enlightenment...Hat by Hat". Of course it was a story of the different hats in her life and each (I think) ended up hanging on the hall hat rack.
I am pleased so much money was raised.
Posted by: Margie | May 12th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
¡Very lovely!
Posted by: Tammara | May 12th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Martha, beautiful hats glore! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | May 12th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
He also designed Deering Oaks Park in Portlland, Maine!
Posted by: Margaret in Maine | May 12th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Hats have really been on the radar lately...with the Royal wedding, the Kentucky Derby, and now this post. There are some crazy styles, but some are really beautiful! Too bad they're not part of our daily wardrobe anymore, as in the 1930's and 40's. I like the ones that have the veiled netting partially over the face..very chic and mysterious. Looked like a lot of fun!
Posted by: Judy | May 12th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
What a nice luncheon. Leave it to you Martha to find ribbon at the last moment to glamorize your hat. Your hat looked perfect on you. My favorite hat was the pink one on Karen LeFrank.
Posted by: Dee | May 13th, 2011 at 12:06 am
I REALLY enjoyed this!Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Rosa O. Clifford | May 13th, 2011 at 7:45 am
Martha, this event looks like sooo much fun, thanks for the pictures!
Posted by: Liz Warburton | May 13th, 2011 at 8:44 am
I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THE HOUNDSTOOTH HAT FOR THE KENTUCKY DERBY???? EVEN THE STATE WILL DO.
Posted by: Harriet Howard | November 2nd, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Ya didn't get The Divine Bette Midler.
Posted by: Wendy | May 3rd, 2012 at 1:45 pm