In the Navy

I can absolutely not swim for the life of me and I have no interest in the current day American Navy, but of course that doesn't stop me from enjoying nautical-inspired fashion and home goods! I don't know where or when my love of navy/nautical things began, but I'm happy to know I'm not all alone. For example, below you'll see famous designer Philip Stark in his navy hat looking very much like Napoleon himself (apart from the bone and flannel plaid coat). This isn't the only image I've seen of Mr.Stark in that hat and he's even designed a piece of headgear with a ship on it, which just proves that he also enjoys the nautical look.

Then there's C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian who wrote the Horatio Hornblower and Aubrey/Maturin series respectively. Granted, these two writers probably did not devote a large chunk of their writing careers to this topic because they liked the hats of the admiralty. Nevertheless, whether it was due to the enjoyment of the ship's structure or maybe a strong interest in Napoleonic naval warfare, it's clear that Forester and O'Brian greatly enjoyed nautical-ness (how's that for a made-up word!).

Of course I can't mention ships and fashion without including Marie Antoinette. Her infamous ship hat even showed up in Sophia Coppola's 2006 film - albeit in a more realistic size.


Last but not least is Ann Wood's ships made mostly out of fabric. Make sure to visit her blog and see some other ships she's been working on.

C.L.