I’ve always believed a great hat can elevate just about anything you put on.

And if we’re talking prairie dresses, I happen to think they need a little extra help.

I love dresses. I also love seeing people put some thought into what they wear—not because everyone needs to dress up, but because clothing can be such a fun way to express yourself.

What I don’t love is feeling like I’m wearing exactly the same thing as everyone else.

Make the Trend Your Own

Prairie dresses have come in and out of fashion more than once. Lots of prints, long skirts, ruffles, sleeves—and sometimes, to my eye anyway, an awful lot of sameness.

That doesn’t mean you can’t wear one. It just means you don’t have to wear it exactly the way everyone else does.

My first suggestion probably won’t surprise you:

Put on a great hat.

A handmade hat immediately gives the outfit some personality. Add a leather or denim jacket, a belt, boots, or great jewelry, and suddenly the look starts becoming yours instead of simply being a trend you’re wearing.

That’s really my point.

Follow the trends you love. Change the ones that don’t quite feel like you. And feel completely free to sit one out.

I May Have My Mother to Blame

I should probably admit that my feelings about prairie dresses have some history.

When I was growing up, my mom picked out a Gunne Sax dress for me to wear to a school dance.

Those of you who remember Gunne Sax probably already know where this is going.

Not only did I have to wear what I considered the original prairie dress, but Mom also sent me to Bee’s Beauty Parlor to have my hair done.

There I was: prairie dress, professionally fixed hair, and absolutely none of the boots or elephant-ear pants I would have chosen for myself.

Mom was only trying to dress me up.

I was not impressed.

So every time that prairie look comes back around, part of me is transported right back to the Gunne Sax and beauty-parlor days I didn’t particularly enjoy the first time.

Maybe some fashion memories never leave us.

In a Sea of Same, Be Yourself

The moral of the story?

Every outfit needs a great hat. Some outfits just need one more than others.

More importantly, personal style is supposed to be personal.

Fashion can give you ideas, but you get to decide what to do with them. Wear the trend from head to toe. Take one piece and completely reinvent it. Or watch that particular fashion cycle go by without you.

There is room for all of it.

In a sea of sameness, wear something that expresses your original self.

And if that something happens to be a great hat, you know where I stand.

— Dusty