Trina Turk Swimwear 2011 – Miami Swimwear Fashion Week

Just two weeks ago the temperature in NYC reached the boiling hot benchmark of 103 degrees. While I was able to solve my cats’ problem by padding their hangout spots with bags of frozen pees, I myself, seeing how I’m the one with opposable thumbs, had the unsolvable problem of needing to go out into the scorching heat to run errands (you know, like buying food and shoes). Armed with SPF 30 sunscreen and my dependable Ray-Bans, I bravely said goodbye to the A/C and stepped outside.

That’s all fine and dandy, but what if you’re keen on spending longer periods in the sun? With sunscreen SPFs flirting with the triple digits zone, it’s clear that a yet another lotion is not a reliable solution. It doesn’t even help guarding you against the eye wrinkles situation (my personal anti wrinkle secret is smile less, protect yourself against the sun more!). Enter the Hat.

For a long time now, women and even more so men, have been treating the hat as a pure fashion accessory, and while a fedora can look cool (can it? really?), in the sun, it’s pretty useless. What we need is a good wide brim sun hat, and luckily, as global warming gets nastier, those brims get wider! Just look at Trina Turk’s sun hats for summer 2011, shown at the Miami Swimwear 2011 fashion week just a few days ago. Aren’t they fabulous? If this summer any indication for what’s to come next year, I’m getting myself one of those as soon as they hit the market. Remember, if you choose the right hat, it will not only elevate your look to a new chic level, it will be your best ally in the battle against sun damage.

While this summer’s brims were kept at more modest widths, you can still find a hat to help you with the remaining summer weeks.

Take a look at my 5 picks:

Eugenia Kim – $125 from TheOutnet | Melissa Odabash – $135 from Net-A-Porter | Y-3 – $36 from TheOutnet | Topshop – $40 | Rosa Cha – $125 from shopbop.com