Ebony Magazine's 12-page Icon Spread

If you've checked out the November 2010 issue of Ebony magazine (based out of Chicago), then you've seen the beautiful collection of re-created magazine covers with celebrities Mary J. Blige, Omar Epps, Nia Long, Usher Raymond, Yolanda Adams, Blair Underwood, Jurnee Smollett, Lamman Rucker, Regina King, Taraji P. Henson, John Legend and Samuel L. Jackson. What stuck out the most was how beautiful Mary J. Blige mimicked Diana Ross and Jurnee Smollett mimicked Lena Horne. Even hidden under the hats, their hair was fierce.

If you're going to an event where it's polite to take the hat off, you'll really want to make sure your hair is neat when that hat comes off. No surface hairdos! The trick with keeping your hair sharp while wearing a hat is to not only mold your hair so it matches the feel of the hat but also pay special attention to the hair that is showing.

In the white beaded hats that Diana Ross and Mary J. Blige wear with bird-feather like decor around it, the hat is tilted to the side, which brings more attention to the right side of their faces. Both women have peek-a-boo curls and hoop earrings decorating their right-hand side. The curls compliment the hat instead of overpowering it, but judging from the way it's twirled into perfect letter O's, viewers are almost positive that the rest of the hair is pretty, too.

Jurnee Smollett and Lena Horne kept their hair a little more simple. In a short-cropped cut, their hair circles their face with a small, whipped bang and a tickle of hair around the ears. The orange cap is huge, and when you wear a huge hat, huge hair is a no-no. The green eyeshadow and bright red lipstick don't match their orange tops, but the makeup certainly compliments their caramel complexions, along with the beaded earrings.

However, their hairstyles are neat and easy to style should they have hat hair. You have to have a certain head shape, preferably almond or slightly round, to pull off an acorn hairstyle like Smollett's and Horne's.

Whatever hairstyle you choose, keep this in mind. The bigger the hat, the smaller the hairstyle. Don't make your hair compete with your hat. Let your hair compliment the hat's decor, and keep light hairspray and a feather comb handy, too.

For more info:

Ebony magazine

"Thespian actors and graduates of the Negro Ensemble Company"