(photo source)

I don’t want you all to think that I wasn’t paying attention to Aretha’s pillbox hat. As a Virgo, I always have to point out the errors and try my best to correct them, whether they want to be corrected or not.

I am a firm believer in wearing the outfit/accessories (hair included) and not letting the outfit/accessories wear you. In Aretha’s case, the hat, I think, damn near upstaged everyone. Queen or not, she should have known better. We were witnessing history in the making and the hat was the talk of the town? That bow reminds me of the 80′s, when Madonna wore that floppy bow on top of her head. 

To add insult to injury, her hat is actually a hit. I thought we were trying to catch up on what Michelle Obama was wearing? Who is really checking for this hat?

  
As for the hat, a gray pillbox with an oversized bow on the side, Franklin said “I bought it at a little millinery that I frequent out in Detroit.”

Well, it seems that “little millinery” has been identified and in fact its name is “Mr. Song Millinery.” And because of Aretha, the store’s phone number is blowing up with orders for that hat.

Luke Song, a South Korean immigrant, and owner of the store, said he wasn’t prepared for the hundreds of calls requesting the hat with a Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow.

“We even have a lot of men calling to get it for their wives, mothers and grandmothers,” Song said. The hat was hand-molded and would cost upward of $500 — if it were for sale, the 36-year-old designer said. Customers instead were offered a satin ribbon version for $179.

“They want the same hat, but they understand it’s for the ‘Queen’ only,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent said, ‘That’s fine. I’ll get the next best thing.’”

The family millinery has been in Detroit for about 25 years, and Franklin has been a customer for about 20 of those years. The store also sells to about 500 boutiques across the country.

“We always make hats for her for high-profile events, so for us, the inauguration really was no big deal,” Song told The Associated Press on Thursday.

 

The design for Franklin’s hat came from two different hats at the store.

“She walked through the shop and said ‘I want that bow (put) on that hat,’” he said. “She had the coat already, but she needed the hat to set it off.” (source)

Oh really? So it was her idea to put that big azz bow on the hat? I can see all the church ladies rushing to get this number.

On the bright side, at least her tig ol’ bitties weren’t out on display. Maybe she should have put a bow on them instead.