People actually liked this hat?

NY Times Caucus Blog:

While the fashion-conscious were focused on Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day, it was Aretha Franklin who pulled off the most unexpected sartorial coup.

Few people covered their heads that day, despite the cold. But the Queen of Soul did. She reached back to her gospel roots and adorned herself as if for church, topping her outfit with a dove-gray wool chapeau, dominated by a giant bow set off at a jaunty angle and ringed in sparkling Swarovski crystals.

The hat was an instant sensation. Even before Ms. Franklin had finished singing “My Country, Tis of Thee” on the inaugural podium, calls began pouring in to her hat designer, Luke Song, 36, of Mr. Song Millinery in Detroit, Ms. Franklin’s home town.

...

Apparently the calls came pouring in for copies of the hat. I am surprised. I thought Franklin's rendition of “My Country, Tis of Thee” was one of the highlights of the inauguration, but to borrow a phrase from Obama, I thought her hat was a distraction from what was otherwise an impressive performance.

I put her hat right up their with Michelle Obama's green gloves as distracting fashion mistakes of the day. They are both the kind of thing that people will look back on and wonder why anyone choose to wear them.