Window of Curiosities – Windows on Bridge

Welcome to the Window of Curiosities where magical things are on display – but not for long!

Every couple of weeks, we’ll showcase one very special object. Think of it like a museum for the people.

We’re starting with a wonderfully marvellous hat!

When I was young, I really didn’t like hats.

I blame my mother.

She used to send me off each week to walk the four blocks to Sunday School wearing a hat. Like a proper hat – not a beret or something subtle. I was the only kid at Sunday School with a hat on.

I devised a cunning plan and took to walking down our long driveway and hiding the hat in the hedge on the street. Then I’d pick it up again on my way home.

Many years later, I rediscovered hats.

I blame my mother for that too!

Now I have a hat collection that possibly rivals Imelda Marcos’s shoes. I wear a hat every day – not often as fancy as this one of course. My favourites are the fedora, the trilby, the bowler, and the top hat, sometimes with a band that matches what I’m wearing or, for special occasions, with some feathery frippery.

I bought this hat in the 1990s from a hat maker in Devonport – I’ve forgotten her name but her brand was ‘Urban Turbans’. She was Irish and when she moved back to Ireland, she sold a few of her personal creations that weren’t practical to ship home.

I was lucky enough to score this one. It’s been worn many many times though it is now rather fragile and needs some TLC.  I hope you enjoy it!

Bronwyn Monopoli, August 2026

Many thanks to the property owners for letting us fill their window with a bit of whimsey!