ARETHA'S HAT

DEBBIE HARRY WITH THE MAO MAGAZINE FOUNDERS--HOLDING AN ADVANCE COPY OF THE STEPHEN SPROUSE BOOK.



Frequent commenter Mitzi asked me what I thought of Aretha's headgear at the inauguratin, where she serendaded the massive crowd with MY COUNTRY 'TIS OF THEE. I love Aretha's voice so much, but the dear has never exactly been a style icon, has she? Many have scoffed at the hat, but since I'd seen Debbie Harry at an Xmas party wearing a similar chapeau, I guess I wasn't s shocked by it. I actually thought that while churchy-looking, grey with rhinestones is interesting for day and at least it matched her coat. The coat had a nice cut which raised up in front to form a collar of sorts which obscured girlfriend's chins. Gonna have to get one of those for myself! I must say that while I don't like winter scarves for myself, Barbara Bush taught me a lesson in corrective dressing--the Barney Rubble-looking thing wore a wide scarf in a contrasting color to her coat at the inaugural, effectively cutting her girth with a bold stripe down the middle. It's the old Mae West trick.

THE QUEEN OF SOUL RARELY GETS HER LOOK TOGETHER, BIT I'VE SEEN HER IN WORSE!



The Queen of Soul hates performing in the cold since it affects her voice. In fact, try to catch her act in the fall or winter, because she won't go on in an air conditioned venue. A friend in DC who was present claimed that they were "wincing" at every note. (I wouldn't go that far.) It wasn't her best performance and as this clip shows, and she feels it didn't live up to her standards either. What I think is outrageous is that she appears on Larry King the day after appearing in a hat and short wig--IN A FRESH OUT OF THE BOX LONG, GIRLISH WIG. Almost every gal wears some kind of artificial hair in show business, and I'm certainly a fan of the wig, but is't it bizarre that Aretha would choose one hair color, length and texture at the inaugural and then a completely different one the next night??? Bless her tacky heart!