Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats

Countless black women would rather attend church naked than hatless. For these women, a church hat, flamboyant as it may be, is no mere fashion accessory;  it's a cherished African American custom, one observed with boundless passion by black women of various religious denominations. A woman's hat speaks long before its wearer utters a word.  It's what Deirdre Guion calls "hattitude...there's a little more strut in your carriage when you wear a nice hat. There's something special about you." If a hat says a lot about a person, it says even more about a people-the customs they observe, the symbols they prize, and the fashions they fancy.

Photographer Michael Cunningham beautifully captures the self-expressions of women of all ages-from young glamorous women to serene but stylish grandmothers. Award-winning journalist Craig Marberry provides an intimate look at the women and their lives. Together they've captured a captivating custom, this wearing of church hats, a peculiar convergence of faith and fashion that keeps the Sabbath both holy and glamorous.

Countless black women would rather attend church naked than hatless. For these women, a church hat, flamboyant as it may be, is no mere fashion accessory;  it's a cherished African American custom, one observed with boundless passion by black women of various religious denominations. A woman's hat speaks long before its wearer utters a word.  It's what Deirdre Guion calls "hattitude...there's a little more strut in your carriage when you wear a nice hat. There's something special about you." If a hat says a lot about a person, it says even more about a people-the customs they observe, the symbols they prize, and the fashions they fancy.

Photographer Michael Cunningham beautifully captures the self-expressions of women of all ages-from young glamorous women to serene but stylish grandmothers. Award-winning journalist Craig Marberry provides an intimate look at the women and their lives. Together they've captured a captivating custom, this wearing of church hats, a peculiar convergence of faith and fashion that keeps the Sabbath both holy and glamorous.

USA Today - Deirdre Donahue

For writer Craig Marberry, "there's a lot of history under those hats." He and photographer Michael Cunningham have documented a fascinating African American tradition in the book Crowns: A Portrait of Black Women in Church Hats.

Featuring an introduction by Maya Angelou, Crowns presents 50 photos of black women arrayed in the hats they wear on Sunday. Each woman has a story. Some are funny. Some are heartbreaking. Some deal with department stores where black women couldn't try on hats. All of them illuminate an aspect of black life. Marberry says Crowns is "everything that is strong and loving and beautiful about black women.

From his critically-acclaimed debut novel A Home at the End of the World to his Pulitzer Prize-winning homage to Virginia Woolf, The Hours, Michael Cunningham has earned a reputation for using his particular way with words to bring out a story's soul.