“Confessions of a Head Turner ” was originally written by Lady Violette for Princess WOW! when she was primarily known as Mindy Fradkin’s Important Hats. It was published in 1995 in Breukelen Magazine in NYC with accompanying photos of Lady Violette wearing Mindy’s hats. It still holds true and it is still fun, so we decided to bring it out for contemplation if you find yourself considering wearing hats again this spring and summer as we do. (We being Lady Violette & Princess WOW! )
Over the years we became good friends through out mutual love of hats and our design work together. It is also interesting to note that, years after I originally wrote this piece, Princess WOW! met her husband, artist Roland Mousaa, because he saw her wearing one of her hats while waiting in a line to be seated at a restaurant, just as I wrote happens when you wear her hats! A real adventure!
Now Mindy Fradkin is Princess WOW! and her main focus has changed from making hats to her work for The Smile Revolution but she still makes and wears her own hats in her concerts and performances and for private clients. Lady Violette has taken good care of all her Important Hats and still wears them regularly. We love hats! And spring is coming! A new hat for easter has always been a tradition! So, it has gotten me thinking a lot about hats ~ Hats off to Princess WOW! And a stroll down memory lane with ~
“The Confessions of Head Turner”
I love to wear Mindy’s Important Hats. I never go without an Important Hat. I have two dozen of them. They make adventures happen.
I meet men. Men follow me. I feel mysterious, like a heroine in a novel. Like Zelda Fitzgerald or Greta Garbo. In an Important Hat you create an indelible impression… you become an enigma, unforgettable, memorable…
It’s evocative of romance and another time. A hat is an emphatic statement. Jewelry is more subtle, smaller, meant for close up. A hat can be seen across a street or restaurant. At a distance in a gallery or museum. It casts the wearer’s magic spell…
In giving up hats, women gave up coquetry. Mindy’s hats bring it back, but they are not vintage, not ingenue. They are totally modern & sophisticated, they’re history, too…
They’re true art, completely original form and construction. The simplest looking design transforms a face.
She is the Rodin of the sculptured hat.
When you wear her hats heads turn.
I began collecting Mindy’s hats in 1992. Now I can’t stop!! Each hat represents a different facet of my inner personality to the viewer. They allow me to express the different aspects of my character.
Together Mindy and I continue to discover more ~ a great talent in a designer for her client.
Thank you Mindy for presenting my many inner characters to me and to the the world… To love me you (I mean anyone,) must know me. Your hats project aspects of my inner soul to the outside world (when I choose to do so by wearing one.)
Lady Violet de Courcy, Ballet Dancer, Jewelry Designer, Writer and Mindy’s Muse
Mindy Fradkin-Mousaa, now The Princess of WOW! & renowned hat designer and comedienne performs using her hats, in shows and concerts and at “Hat Happenings” regularly around New York City. She currently works full time for The Smile Revolution raising conscious awareness for the healing power of a genuine smile. She is a singer, songwriter, and concert promoter but still creates wonderful extravagant hats for private clients part time . You can contact her at:
I will photograph and post pictures of Important Hats from my collection soon…
