A model wears a hat from the Marni Fall/Winter 2008-2009 women's collection in Milan, Italy.

If the designer collections shown recently at Fashion Week are any indication, hats are on the way back – at least for fall. Hats floated down runways in all shapes and sizes – big, small, feathered, floppy. There were sculpted fedoras and shrunken panamas at Bill Blass, Michael Kors and G-Star Raw. At Max Azria, there were stylized caps reminiscent of railroad conductors. At Vera Wang – a sort of crushed hobo chapeau. And Badgley Mischka topped things off with hats all big brimmed, glam and clearly swiped from Faye Dunaway’s closet, circa the 1970s.

“A few years back, the trend in accessories was minimalism,” says Suze Yalof Schwartz, Glamour magazine’s executive fashion editor at large. “Now we’ve got huge necklaces, big cuffs. What comes next? Hats. They’re the ultimate luxury.”

Although Schwartz admits she’s never been a huge hat wearer – “I haven’t worn a hat since 1989,” she says – she found herself coveting headgear at a number of shows.

“They feel like pieces of art – you don’t know whether to wear them or frame them,” she says.

Granted, most women won’t wear hats this daring and drama-ed up, but Schwartz thinks they’ll give more toned-down versions a try.

As for the dreaded “hat hair,” Jeannie Gesthalter, owner of Jeannie’s Dream, in Cedarhurst, N.Y., sells a special elastic band that “can be worn in the hair, halfway up, so when you take the hat off, your hair has lift,” she says.

“Some women feel like they’ll stand out in a hat but, honestly, it makes anything you’re wearing look new,” Gesthalter says. “Whatever is on your head – feather headbands, Swarovski crystal clips or a Philip Treacy cap – it updates the look.”