the wedding was nice, but what's with all those hats?

it's nice to know that wedding came off without a hitch (i'm talking about Kate Middleton and Prince William, of course -- as if you didn't know). i only caught glimpses of it, but two things stuck on my mind: Kate's beautiful wedding gown and yes, those hats!

i don't know if it's part of some unwritten rule (or etiquette?) somewhere that female wedding guests must show up with the most outlandish, eye-catching headgear they can find and strap to their heads-- but my goodness, there's just no way you could ignore those goofy, colorful and baffling contraptions.

for one thing, it takes a while for you to actually make sense of the various shapes, colors, and sizes of hats perched on these women's heads. and when you do, you sort of have to pull yourself back a little to appreciate the whole effect.

okay, some actually look good (see two examples below, which reminds me of pricey gift wrappings)...

and as for the rest (the ones worn by Eugenie and Beatrice --- well, let's just say i'm still recovering from the unexpected spectacle), some look like inverted bowls, flying saucers, misplaced sculpted pieces, strategically angled vegetation, overgrown insects, fluffy leftovers, skewered bird parts, or overdecorated nests. well, you get the drift. great imagination on the part of their designers though.

my take? these hats deserve to have a museum of their own since there aren't that many royal weddings to provide a worthy excuse to take out these things out of their boxes.

it was nice seeing those things though, because it gave me something to chew on while waiting for things to happen.