Lincoln 1860

Lincoln 1860

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Inaugural Hat and Lincoln


Last week's inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President Of The United States Of America was memorable in many ways. Of course Obama is our nation's first African-American president. The sea of people, approximately 1.4 million in all, made it one of the most heavily attended of presidential inaugurations. Chief Justice Roberts' error in reciting the Presidential Oath was another reason this inaugural will be remembered more than most. But for me, at least, I will remember President Obama's inaugural for one reason: The Inaugural Hat.

Aretha Franklin was chosen to sing "My Country Tis Of Thee" for the inaugural ceremony. When she first stepped out on the platform that sunny morning, I was in disbelief as I saw the hat that the "Queen of Soul" was wearing. I didn't know whether to laugh or to be stunned by the downright weirdness of it. Of course, I'm not a fashion critic or fashionista, so perhaps the hat is trend-setting. It's become a hot topic on talk shows, such as Ellen, and I've read that the designer has been besieged by callers wanting to know where they can find a similar hat. Perhaps so. But it was at the very least distracting, which maybe is a good thing considering how shockingly bad her vocal performance was that day.

So what does this have to do with Abraham Lincoln? In a word, nothing. Nothing, that is, until my good friend Christy shared a photo with me today. Seems that nothing is sacred to Photoshop aficionados. I hope Abe will forgive me. He had an excellent sense of humor, so I hope he's not TOO offended by the below photo. I think he wears it quite well. Enjoy!


1 comment:

Jason M. Rubin said...

I think Aretha earns a pass. Given her age, weight, and the cold of the day, she did fine. At least she performed live, unlike Perlman, Ma, et al. As for the hat, just be glad Patti Labelle wasn't chosen to perform.

 
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