Not Just A Hat Rack - Laura

"Yes, he's a nice creature."

As Laura might tell us, she’s an ordinary woman, going about her ordinary daily life, when one day, by going only slightly off course with her ordinary routine, a small event leads her into the arms of a handsome stranger.

Laura is a married housewife with two children and her romantic interest Alec, is a married professional with two children. After all this time having likely, yet unknowingly crossed paths at their shared railway station, the two continue to run into one another after their initial introduction, spending increasingly more time together on each occasion.

At first, these chance meetings seem fleeting and harmless, but something is nagging at Laura. She is becoming evidently more excited when encountering Alec, but clearly so does Alec with her, until eventually their shared feelings are fully expressed.

The shame and guilt is eating Laura up, but it is the heartbreak from a lost romance, doomed from the start, that opens the film and throughout sees her internally confiding in her husband about what she has done.

The Hat:

In terms of style, the hat serves to have Laura presented neatly and smart, but strongly indicates her class. We know she is meant to be ordinary, but she needs to be contrasted with Alec’s more upper class status. He is a doctor, and whilst Laura’s husband likely has as decent a job, it is Laura who is required to catch up. She already envisions Alec’s wife as being perhaps more sophisticated, elegant and interesting.

When the hat is off, Laura is more carefree, or as she might express “reckless and gay”.

Though during times of guilt, such as sitting contemplativley in the park at night following an interrupted tryst with Alec, the lack of a hat suggests exposure of her immoral behaviour. Though never caught in the act, or with any confirmed suspicion shown towards her, she becomes paranoid after each progressive meeting with Alec. Her hat in these instances offers some form of protection to keep that shame hidden, whether it be from strangers, acquaintances, or a clergyman.

Whilst Laura does venture into a fantastical life she may desire, the hat acts as a reminder that she is an ordinary woman, living an ordinary life and that the grass might not be greener on the other side, or at the very least, not worth risking everything to find out.

Not Just A Hat Rack - Laura reel on Instagram