The weather finally turned winter-like here in NYC. It's been positively, weirdly, balmy up until last week or so. A Canadian Clipper descended on us and has lingered on a bit. The colder weather seems to bring out Hat Fever. I love hats and wear them all the time myself. And since returning to my daily walk again, I keep seeing interesting hats all over the place. I sketch them as soon as I get back to the office (or as soon as humanly possible) and I'll be posting a few over the next couple of weeks.

On the way to work one ordinary, chilly, gray, Thursday morning, this woman passed me as I was crossing the street. She looked like she'd just walked off the set of Doctor Zhivago (the one with Julie Christie, not the one with Kiera Knightly, which may have been truer to the book, but just wasn't nearly as sumptuous). Her black fur hat was dramatic, as was the marvelous coat she was wearing. The sketch cannot convey how lovely it -- or she -- was. A rich silky blue with criss-cross stitching and what looked like little pearls at intervals. The cuffs of the coat, collar and hem were all the same gorgeous fur as the hat -- it looked like she was wearing a muff, but she wasn't. And either the coat had an underpanel, or she was wearing some sort of long dress that was a rich rust color with shimmering blue highlights. Highlighter cannot do justice to how magical she looked first thing in the morning.

As she passed by, she looked at me and smiled -- totally secure in the knowledge that she was the brightest thing on a winter day.

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