My favourite childhood outfit: I loved my homemade hat the strong papal vibes were unintentional'

"I would love to have picked something super cute: a sparkly tutu; an adorable pair of Mary Janes. Or something cool: an oversized denim jacket with the collar popped, perhaps. But no. Here is an entirely unhinged photograph of me aged four wearing a homemade (obviously) hat strong papal vibes unintentional embellished with drawings of my teddy (name: Ted) and with actual Ted himself affixed to the hat. I am also wearing two anchoring hair slides because of the weight of this magnificent creation."

"This is a look that speaks to the boundless creativity of childhood, of making your own fun as the rest of the family snoozes in the late afternoon sun, in a time before the attention economy was monopolised by algorithms. I am holding my favourite stuffed toy, an elephant named Elephant (shut up). Elephant is wearing his own similarly styled hat, but he has his own likeness on it."

A four-year-old wears a homemade, elaborately decorated hat that includes drawings of a teddy named Ted and the actual toy affixed to the hat, held down by two hair slides. The photograph conveys childhood inventiveness and solitary play during a lazy family afternoon, predating the influence of contemporary attention economies. The child holds a favourite stuffed elephant, which sports its own matching hat featuring the elephant's likeness. The image is positioned as unmatched whimsical fashion, contrasted with later tastes, vintage cycles, and current casual hat preferences such as Carhartt beanies and a newly adopted 'Cap Era.'

Read at www.theguardian.com