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The Upper West Side’s ‘Masked Hatter’ Makes Fashion Statements, and Public Health Ones Too

December 27, 2020 | 7:18 PM
in ART, NEWS
36

By Amelia Roth-Dishy

With nearly nine months of mask-wearing under our belts, most of us have experimented with the style, fabric, or pattern of this newly mandatory face accessory in some way.

But one Upper West Sider has turned the art of masking up into just that: a genuinely artistic enterprise.

Elizabeth Sobieski, who goes by @themaskedhatter on Instagram, began posting selfies of herself wearing assorted masks back in early May. She coordinates each unique mask with a fabulous hat and a pair of sunglasses. Effusive captions detailing the mask and other garments being modeled accompany each image. To date, she has shared 140 looks on her page, all taken by hand— the account has a self-imposed “no selfie sticks allowed” rule. The Rag caught up with Sobieski to discuss the project and its origins.

“When the pandemic began, I started to find myself all alone and isolated and I started to entertain myself by shooting these selfies,” she said. “It’s kind of grown and grown into a big project.”

Sobieski, an arts writer and novelist, has an extensive vintage hat collection that includes pieces from designers such as Phil Tracy, Eric Javits, and Marie Marcié. She also had a drawer full of sunglasses on hand, but once she began the account in earnest, she noted, “I admit I began to acquire more.” Flying Tiger was a favored spot for cheap, fanciful glasses until it closed last month. 

And in terms of the all-important masks? “I’ve gotten them from all over the place,” she said. “I get a lot from Etsy, and I’ve got some from New York designers like Dizzy Lizzy, Michael Kay, and Batsheva Hay, who’s an Upper West Sider. And I just put them together in various combinations.”

She purchased her first face coverings in January. “Even though our government didn’t understand that we were going to need them, for some reason or another, I knew we were going to need them,” she said. But they were more or less gas masks and generated some strange looks when she would go shopping at Barzini’s. Since then, her masked stylings, and unexpected accessory pairings, have flourished, catching the attention of admirers both on and offline.

“Usually people say very nice things, like oh, what a great look, or that’s cool,” she added. The Masked Hatter has only gotten one negative reaction on the street, in Riverside Park: “This man walks by me and says ‘rat lady.’ I was wearing a nice hat and a nice mask with a pattern on it that was not a rat,” she chuckled, “but maybe he was just a mad rat himself.”

The masks run the gamut from cheetah prints to sequins, Groucho Marx moustaches to textured blue feathers and more sculptural pieces.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Elizabeth Sobieski (@themaskedhatter)

She’s currently awaiting a mask from St. Petersburg that allegedly glows with black light.

One of her favorites, though she struggles to isolate just one, is a simple number with an important message: “DR Fauci said so.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Elizabeth Sobieski (@themaskedhatter)

“It’s written in bold letters,” she said. “And people will ask ‘what did he say?’ Wear a mask.” Sobieski is pleased with the masking diligence on the Upper West Side, which has increased since the start of the pandemic, but she has her concerns. “Little kids are great and keep their masks on really well, and adults are terrific,” she said, “but teenagers I find are problematic mask-wearers.” She takes care to actively promote masks as public health guidance on her account, imploring her readers to follow her lead.

But the Masked Hatter is more than just a clever PSA or an Instagram handle— it’s a persona, a fashionable and mysterious pandemic-era figure with a truly killer hat collection on standby.

“It’s basically this character I’ve created, this kind of secret identity,” Sobieski said, adding with a laugh, “I think I read too many comic books when I was growing up.

“But it gave me a certain freedom, with this invisibility— because you couldn’t see my face, it was just a hat, a mask, and sunglasses— I felt very comfortable walking around taking these selfies.”

You may have seen Sobieski traversing the Upper West Side in her glamorous looks over the past few months. Of the roughly 140 selfies on her account, all but one were taken in the neighborhood, between Lincoln Center and Straus Park on 107th Street. (The outlier is in a swimming pool, from a two-day trip out of the city in July— the caption reads, “For the first time in 4 and a half months, the Masked Hatter has emerged from the Upper West Side.”)  Sobieski often dispatches from local landmarks and gives some corresponding history in the caption. Among her many photos, she’s posed in front of Zabars, Harry’s Shoes, the Shade Store, Riverside Park tennis courts, and the Dakota; and with (the statues of) Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

“It’s very much about the Upper West Side,” Sobieski said, “and very much about these COVID-19 times in which we live.”

Indeed, the conceptual, time-capsule potential of The Masked Hatter has not gone unnoticed. The account was recently featured in a digital gallery show at the University of Massachusetts, in a gallery in Denver, and in the International Center of Photography on Essex Street.

“What I’m hoping to do eventually is to turn it into a little book,” Sobieski said. “ I do describe what’s going on, like last week I had one up where I’m under one of the outside restaurant structures on Amsterdam Avenue. I think it would be an interesting gift book and also a kind of a memory of this very strange time we’re living in.”

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Zeus
Zeus
2 years ago

Creativity taken to the max!
Congratulation and thanks for bringing a smile to an aching heart.
God bless.

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Zeus

Thank you Zeus. I’m happy you are smiling. God Bless You.

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Lillian Gilden
Lillian Gilden
2 years ago

So brilliantly innovative and fun at a time when we all need a chuckle. Thank you Elizabeth Sobieski.

What a great cover for Vogue

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Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Lillian Gilden

Thank you Lillian,
I shall await call from Anna!
Happy New Year.

0
Reply
Anna
Anna
2 years ago

That’s delightful.
Count on a New Yorker to turn a miserable, frightening year into a creative sartorial display.

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Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Anna

Thank you Anna,
I appreciate your kind words.
Elizabeth

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Reply
MAD
MAD
2 years ago

I find these masks frightening. I understand the purpose, but many of them feel too much like the invisible man. Not for me. And the plague mask is really too much, very scary, and not appropriate to Covid.

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Reply
Nani
Nani
2 years ago
Reply to  MAD

“Mad” , I agree with you, thank you for voicing your opinion. Even though the different looks are creative, what I find a bit frightening and unsettling about them is the absence of a face and human expression. The masks remind me of the masked party in the movie “eyes wide shut” . Anonymous, alienating, incognito,. And the logo “Fauci said so” certainly makes me feel sarcastic, because Fauci at one point during the pandemic proclaimed that masks should not be worn- maybe the word “lately” should be added. “ Fauci lately said so”.

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Ken
Ken
2 years ago
Reply to  MAD

If a plague mask is not appropriate for Covid19, then what on earth is?

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Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Ken

Agree Absolutely. Thank you Ken.

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Reply
MAD
MAD
2 years ago
Reply to  Ken

Corona virus is not transmitted in the same way as the bubonic plague. These masks were specific to a time and place — and probably were not effective then either — and are just plain frightening right now.

0
Reply
Kat French
Kat French
2 years ago
Reply to  MAD

“Not for me” ?!?!

No one says it is. It’s her body, her choice. Your choice, too. But you don’t get to be the fashion police about what she wears.

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Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Kat French

Thank you Kat. I most appreciate your defense.

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Reply
Boris
Boris
2 years ago
Reply to  Kat French

Is this really an issue for which you want to play the “her body, her choice” card? Seems trivial and misguided to to compare medical/health choices with fashion choices in terms of innate rights.

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Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Boris

Agreed, Boris!

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Reply
MAD
MAD
2 years ago
Reply to  Kat French

No, I certainly don’t get to be the fashion police, and neither do you. But I certainly DO get to comment on what is posted here on this public blog.

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Reply
Diane Booth
Diane Booth
2 years ago

This is terrific…bringing many smiles I’m sure. So clever and creative…would make a wonderful book

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Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Diane Booth

Thank you Diane. I hope a publisher agrees!

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Reply
MLM
MLM
2 years ago

Amazing! Some beautiful, some scary! Great to find a new obsession that’s entirely positive in these strange days. NOTE: hat designer is not “Phil Tracy”–he’s the incredibly famous and award-winning Irish designer Philip Treacy, whose creations are in museum collections! He’s a big deal! Look him up!

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Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  MLM

Thank you MLM. I am wild for Philip Treacy. And Marie Mercie. Also, the late Jack McConnell, who did so many glamorous hats mid-century. I wish I had a William J (Bill Cunningham)!

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Lorene
Lorene
2 years ago

Love it!

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Lorene

Thank you Lorene!

0
Reply
Maria Pankin
Maria Pankin
2 years ago

A bit corny but- “when you get lemons-make lemonade!!
so fabulous.
Maria

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Maria Pankin

Love lemonade! Thank you Maria.

0
Reply
Help Save Our Constitution...Please
Help Save Our Constitution...Please
2 years ago

I applaud the creativity and entrepreneurship.

I am horrified by what we are doing to our Constitution by being frightened into wearing masks to protect us from the same strain of virus as the common cold.

Please take a moment and think critically: what is different about a virus in 2020?

Were we told to wear them when Norovirus was rampant? When 45M Americans had the flu in 2017?
With the H1N1 and SARS and Ebola scares?
As 1.2M people die each year from TB?
As 90K die in the US each year from alcoholism do we close liquor stores?
Has the mask helped at all with this virus?

What is different about 2020? Hint: A high stakes election.

(Please help protect our Constitution by not censoring this comment)

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Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Help Save Our Constitution...Please

Not censoring. And thank you for the applause.

0
Reply
Stuart
Stuart
2 years ago

Great blog you have got here.. It’s difficult to find excellent writing
like yours these days. I truly appreciate individuals like you!
Take care!!

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Stuart

Thank you Stuart. I very much appreciate your comments! You take care too.

0
Reply
Janis Totham-Davies
Janis Totham-Davies
2 years ago

How wonderful they all are, such creativity and pazzas! Thank for making masks, hats and eye covers such fabulous fun for all, now I am inspired to have a go!

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Janis Totham-Davies

Thank you , Janis. I hope you have fun with your ensembles.

0
Reply
Ofelia
Ofelia
2 years ago

I love it, great idea 👏👏👏😁😁😁💞💞💞

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Ofelia

Thank you, Ofelia!

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Reply
Tim Geoo
Tim Geoo
2 years ago

You brightened up my day. For a few moments I was able to forget about the gravity of this whole situation. And you look fabulous! Hope I get the privilege of seeing you in person on the UWS.

Thank you.

0
Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Tim Geoo

I am honored, Tim. Thank you.

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Reply
Corliss B
Corliss B
2 years ago

You’re a woman after my own heart- a hat collector as well, with a few fancy masks too! Though I live in a little Upstate town, I’m now inspired to pull out all the glitter & glam I’ve left in my closet. You’re the BEST inspiration I’ve seen all year. THANK YOU from Woodstock. I can’t wait to get dressed tomorrow. XOXOX
(I had an instagram account, CorkyBe but think it expired before I could post much of my Art

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Reply
Elizabeth Sobieski
Elizabeth Sobieski
2 years ago
Reply to  Corliss B

Thank you, Corky. Woodstock is a divine town, but it will definitely benefit from your sparkle.

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Reply

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