For a while there, it seemed like the world might be turning into one big American Apparel ad: around every New York corner lurked a pair of slim slacks, a tri-blend t-shirt and a pair of those canvas slip-on sneakers from K-Mart, and that’s about where fashion and effort ended. While I understand the Gotham need not try too hard, certain neighborhoods had me feeling constantly overdressed in my (um, I thought) carefree rayon 40’s numbers.

But now, suddenly, at least one fixture of good old international dressing has returned: behold, the hat! Sarah Jessica Parker wore a green creation by Philip Treacy to the London premiere of the Sex and the City movie, complete with a giant rose and acorn-inspired base.

Treacy, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Art, burst onto the scene in the early 90’s by creating a wedding headdress for his muse, late fashion editor Isabella Blow. He (obviously) tends to go vertical with his pieces, often using feathers and butterflies (an all-butterfly headpiece was also worn by Princess Beatrice recently to the Peter Philips’s royal nuptials).

“Hats can make a boring outfit come to life,” says vintage collector Anne Schutterlin. “They’re like those beautiful flourishes on top of a cake that make it taste even better!”

Another headwear designer, editorial favorite, Patricia Underwood, takes a different approach, using the slightest of shaping tools to finish her horizontally-oriented, floppy sun hats. Underwood has been in the business 25 years, though there has definitely been a recent resurgence of her name in magazine credits. She prefers to forgo wild ornaments, rather, letting silhouettes speak for themselves.

Whichever esthetic you prefer, it is the Season of the Hat. There are no rules, of course, to combining your favorite AA ensemble with an adorable hat. Just do it. Add some fun to that wardrobe already!