“Where did you get your boina vasca?”
I turned to face a smiling gentleman. When he stopped me, my friend Susanna and I were enjoying the fantastic A Wish With Wings Kitchen Tour, which benefits children with life-threatening diseases. I’m used to people stopping me when I’m wearing a hat. Regardless of the style, hats seem to engage people, which is one of the reasons I love wearing them.
“It was a gift from my mother.” I replied. “It’s from Spain.”
My second statement was really unnecessary, since he had already called my hat by its proper name: boina (hat) vasca (refers to the Basque region in Spain, from which it comes).
Everyone else had assumed my hat was a French beret, but the gentleman who spoke to me also spoke the language of my clothing. We had a lovely conversation initiated by the hat (his wife happened to be wearing one, too) and I tried to learn the correct pronunciation, but failed to match the melodic softness of his accent.
The clothing we wear can do more than just cover our bodies. It can open doors, tell our stories and make important business and personal connections. Saturday, my boina vasca did just that.
How has your clothing connected you?
Sharon Batts Style 