After taking on J-Hope’s fortune cookie purse and creating custom “distressed” jeans, it is time to take my third and final K-Pop fashion idea straight to the top… of the head.
Here are two completely different, yet both pretty simple, hat mods that reflect two sides of the K-Pop idol: the edgy, punky, gothy, mysterious mood, and the cute, perky, and cuddly happy world.
The Chained Brimmed Hat
My oldest call these “Hala Hala” hats inspired by the song from her favorite guys from ATEEZ (although technically they kept their hats pretty plain). They aren’t the only ones sport these hats. A lot of idols are trying wearing rimmed fedoras, boleros, cowboy hats, or even bucket hats embellished with silver chains and loops, rhinestone broaches, safety pins, or other sparkly, shiny goodness.
I’m going with an old brimmed black hat, although I have seen some idols use white or bright colors, if you’d rather go in that direction. I like the classic mysterious feel of a noir era black hat.
Dig through old chain necklaces you or an older relative might have, or find something cool at a thrift shop or garage sale. Using a large yarn needle or hobby knife and poke a two holes on either side of the inside brim, just about in the middle. Using a large chain link, attach the ends of the chain to the links, so they can hang down in front of the face. Use two or three chains of different lengths, but all long enough to hang down lower than the chin. These aren’t mean as functional chinstraps, so keep them pretty loose. If you have any little jewelry charm to hang from them, this will fill out the look.
Add more links or safety pins around the edge of the brim, as well as whatever embellishment you like. I like the idea of a big, sparkly broach on the hatband.
For a more mysterious option, try using a glue gun to attach long silver or black fringe around the outside edge of the hat instead. This will help protect your identity from those throngs of fans… who will recognize you anyway.
Now, let’s get a little fluffier!
New Jeans-Inspired “Bunny Ears” Hat
Taking a suggestion from my youngest, who really wants one of these, is the big floppy bunny-eared baseball caps worn by groups like New Jeans.
For this you need an old (or new), plain baseball cap and an old grey t-shirt or pair of sweat pants.
Cut four big bunny ear shapes (as shown below). Sew two of them together (back of cloth facing out), leaving one end open. Turn them inside out, so the front side of the cloth is now on the outside.
Depending on how “floppity” you want them, you can leave them empty or fill them with a small amount of simple fiberfill stuffing.
Stitch around the shape of the ears, a little less than an inch from the edge. This will give the ears a little more shape.
Fold in the open end of the ear, and sew it closed. Fold that end of the ear in half, and sew the halves together. It is even more of an “ear” now.
Sew the folded ends to the sides of the hat, towards the back. “open end” facing forward. Now, it looks like a pair of big goofy ears hanging off the hat.
Leave them plain, or draw some big black stars or other designs on them with felt tip marker. You can also sew or iron some patches on them, add earrings or make them as fun as you want.
Wear these out and make someone happy!
Be on the lookout for a fun K-Pop birthday idea in two weeks. In the meantime, I hope everyone has been able to get into their cool fashions for their favorite idols!
