Hats Off to Us! – a guest post by Gerda Besteman

Talking with Sheila and my sister Els about Jean’s suggestion of a 3G Kili striptease in her guest blog of May 14^th, we had some ideas about our own Calendar Girls’ moments.  Sheila was very outspoken about mine: “hats, of course it will be hats for you!”.

Els and Sheila have to tell themselves about their own moments – here is mine.

I have always loved hats. At the end of the sixties as a student I had a few. When I married in 1969, in a Bordeaux suit with a miniskirt, I was wearing a pink one.

In the seventies, busy with study and children, I just had some cotton summer ones and crocheted, practical  ones, especially in winter. At the end of the eighties I lost a job, was a little bit depressed and worried about never finding a job again. Solution?  I decided to start wearing hats again: when depressed to cheer myself up and when feeling good to put an exclamation mark next to me (on my appearance).

In the course of the years I bought lots of hats: daily summer and winter hats, special occasion hats for funerals, weddings and other festivities.

Every spring and autumn I like buying a new one. In every town that I visit, I will easily find the hat shop. At the moment I own about 90 hats. Those for the current season are in my hallway. The rest are in boxes in every room in my home. And another possibility: open any cupboard, except in the kitchen, and find more hats!

–   just a cloud of 3 layers of pinkish straw, worn on one occasion, which was a photo shoot for the hat shop on the steps of the big church in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where I live.

Just before coming to England this spring for a walking holiday, I decided that I needed a new hat that would go with my walking coat – but it also went with a red cardigan, when I was  playing cymbals in an exhibition in the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate.

I love all my hats and, as long as I have got the guts, the money and pleasure in wearing them, I won’t stop buying them!

Jean has thrown the gauntlet down!  I am looking forward to seeing the other 3gkiliclimb.com bloggers’ Calendar Girls’ Moments.  Can we get twelve pictures together to make a calendar to raise funds for the great charities Oscar, Jae and Sheila are supporting?

Note from Jae: Goodness Gerda – you look totally amazing – happy, and classy, and naked! I feel like both gloves are well and truly on the floor now. Hats off! Eek!