91制片厂

It鈥檚 not exactly Michael Jackson鈥檚 white glove, but at 91制片厂, the red hat worn by professor Nancy Kinner 鈥� a rock star in her own right 鈥� has become iconic.

There aren鈥檛 any sequins, but there is a feather. And a red satin ribbon. Kinner has been wearing the hat (if not the same exact one, a variation) for the last 30 years. It has gotten so she doesn鈥檛 feel like herself, or look like herself, without it.

It all started with a colleague who loved to shop. The pair met in England while Kinner was doing a fellowship. They later applied for a grant together that brought him to the United States, where they conducted wastewater treatment studies along the East Coast.

鈥淓very time we went on a trip, he shopped,鈥� says Kinner. One excursion here in New Hampshire took them into a little store on Route 4. A red hat was hanging on the wall. 鈥淗e saw it and said, 鈥極h, Nancy, you have to get that, it鈥檚 you.鈥� I鈥檝e worn it ever since.鈥�

Or one very much like it. Kinner has accumulated a collection that includes a couple of baseball hats, a knit beanie, a few variations of the felt fedora, and the red tasseled tam that she wears at commencement. She also has a red bike helmet.

On a few rare occasions, Kinner has been somewhere off campus bareheaded and run into a student that she doesn鈥檛 know but who will say, 鈥淥h, I know you 鈥� you wear the red hat.鈥� It鈥檚 her signature. Just like those white sequin gloves.

Originally published in