Explore: Hats At The Peabody Essex Museum

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Back in September I shared with you my list of must-visit art exhibits and events coming to the Boston area this fall. One of those exhibits was "Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones" at the Peabody Essex Museum. This weekend my mother was in town from Miami and I suggested that we take Saturday and head north to see "Hats."

Fun fact about the Peabody Essex Museum: though it has the word Peabody in its name, the museum is  actually located in Salem. Who knew?

I have to admit, the drive to the museum was a bit of a pain. There is no direct way to get to Salem from the city; it really takes multiple highways, multiple local routes and then poorly pointed signs in the town of Salem.

After a long drive, we finally arrived at the museum. The "Hats" exhibit was being showcased in magnificent grandeur above the front doors.

Once in the museum, the "Hats" promotions continued with this sophisticated poster in the museum's atrium.

Entrance to the museum costs $15 for adults and there is an additional fee if you want to tour the Chinese house. Apparently the museum imported an entire house from China. Again, who knew?

My mother and I met my aunt at the museum and together the three of us headed up to the top floor of the museum for the much anticipated exhibit.

Outside the doors to "Hats" was a beautiful introduction in the shape of a mirror. I loved this styling.

Before we even entered, I noticed that the doors to the exhibit were decorated with regal decals, setting the tone for what we were about to see.

The "Hats" exhibit was curated in a multitude of genius ways. In the first room there were grouping of hats behind glass, including this first group which housed a stunning, black feather head piece (front left).

In the center of the first room the curators created a faux hat shop! It was spectacular. Each window of that hat shop displayed six - ten pieces.

The inside of the hat shop was set up to look like an authentic atelier. There were work stations, sketches, fabric samples, scissors and more. It was such a fun and creative way to bring the designers' stories to life.

When you exit the first room of the exhibit, you enter a short hallway to cross over to the second room. The curators set up an interactive display where you could try on hats and take pictures. Everyone who walked through this area, no matter their gender or their age, stopped to pose.

In the second room, some of the wildest hats were showcased on mannequins posing with attitude!

A different set of hats were displayed in a faux dressing room that felt very old Hollywood. I loved the tufted gray walls.

Toward the end of the exhibit there was a section of hats all recently worn by celebrities, including the buttery fly hat worn by Sarah Jessica Parker to the "Sex and the City" movie premiere! Squeal!

Before leaving the exhibit I noticed a sign on the wall that asked, "How do you wear it?" To the right of the question there was a digital display of rotating photographs. As I got closer I realized I was standing next to the digital photobooth! You could sit in a chair, take your photo and then have one of ten exhibit hats placed on your digital head. It was so fun!

After you took your photo, you could email it to yourself. I did and I got a notification on my phone less than 60 seconds later. Impressive!

The obsession with hats was not confined to the exhibit, the Peabody Essex Museum has set up a hat shop in their gift shop!

There are hats of all styles on display and the staff are more than happy to let you try them and answer any questions.

If you purchase a hat, you go home with a beautiful, black and white Peabody Essex Museum hat box. I wanted to buy one just for the box!

They even set up a dressing table in the gift shop. The mirrored vanity was very glamourous.

Though I didn't wind up buying a hat, I killed a good fifteen minutes having a ball trying them on.

The "Hats" exhibit was a genuine delight. My mother, my aunt and I continually marveled at the remarkably creative ways the exhibit was curated. The mock hat shop and atelier were truly spectacular. The try on station between rooms brought out everyone's inner child (dress up, anyone?) and the photobooth at the close of the exhibit was fun and left you with a great digital takeaway.

In a video interview that is part of the exhibit, Stephen Jones describes the role of a milliner as, "We provide the apostrophes, the question marks and the exclamation points."

"Hats" at the Peabody Essex Museum was definitely the exclamation point of my weekend.

Visit "Hats" for yourself now through February 3, 2013.