That Darn Hat

Besides the fact that January 20th brought us a new President and a new era of change, it brought us something more. Something that none of us could have ever imagined to impact our lives forever. That, my friends, is the shining beacon of hope to America, Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat.


Now my guess is that the Queen of Soul had no idea her accessory was going to cause this much of a commotion. For all she knew, this is what her mother and her mother's mother wore for a Sunday church service or special event (see Crowns, Lyric Stage 2004). That or she just found the hat next to a Bedazzler in her attic and decided President Obama would be mighty impressed with not only her singing skills, but her excellent craftiness as well.

My favorite thing about this hat is that since then, it has become a worldwide PHENOMENON. Soon after the Inauguration, everyone from Ellen (who was relieved she didn't wear the same hat on Inauguration day too) to bloggers, who especially have taken their own shots at Ms. Franklin's hat.

My favorite blog, ONTD, has had its history with integrating outside pop culture references into their own blogging world. For example, when The Dark Knight was about to come out, everyone's posts and user icons suddenly seemed to have gone through MS Paint involuntarily and Heath Ledger's joker face was 'spraypainted' all over the faces of stars like Britney and Zanessa. The phrase 'Y So Srs' was plastered all over Brangelina walking down the red carpet. Just like TDK, today it's difficult to not see a post without an icon dedicated to that glorious hat.

An example of LiveJournal User Icons

But my favorite AFIH moment is when I saw on my FB News Feed that 5 of my friends had just become fans of "Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat." After LOLing for approx 5.3 minutes, I became a fan immediately. The greatest part of this fan page is the description of said hat:

"A glimmering vision of hope outshining the sun on a certain cold wintry day in January, tears of joy and the swell of optimism bursting from two million citizens' hearts as they focus their expectant gaze in one direction... you know what we are talking about and that is why you are here. To celebrate this vision of change, this paradigm shift, this sparkling, glittering vision, yes... Aretha Franklin's inauguration hat."

I would say that every 5 minutes after joining the fan club, more and more people became a part of the movement. Even now, I see it's growing by the thousands. People from across the world are taking advantage of Photoshop and posting their own pictures of their favorite people and inanimate objects with the hat.

Who could ever predict that in 2009, as we welcome in a new administration, that the stand out of this incredible journey was not necessarily the fact that the United States has its first African American President, or even that [Former] President Bush left behind the biggest mess in the history with two wars and the worst economy since the Great Depression, but in fact it is a shining, glimmering, headpiece that no one could take their eyes or minds off of that stole the show. At this rate, we might have our very first silver bow hat as President in 2012. I'm just sayin if it was between a celebrity hat and a certain Governor of Alaska, I just might need to breakout the Beadazzler in the attic of my own.