InStyle USA – August 2019

136 InSTYLE AUGUST 2019

n May Diane Keaton posted a particu-

larly quirky video on her Instagram

account that pretty much served as

the impetus for this shoot. In it she

is descending a stairwell in her 8,000-square-foot Los

Angeles home, wearing a checked blazer cinched by a

thick black belt, black pants, loosely tied combat boots,

and not one but maybe 10 hats stacked on top of each

other. “Which hat do you think I should wear?” she asks no

one in particular. “No, I’m serious. Because I

kinda like... But, seriously, what do you think?

Or should I wear them all? Maybe I should just

wear all the hats. I think that might be good.”

The five-second clip has since accrued

600,000-plus views and nearly 3,500 comments

from supportive fans and friends like Michelle

Pfeiffer and Candice Bergen.

Of course, over the past several decades,

Keaton, forever our Annie Hall, has worn

many chapeaus—as an Oscar-winning actress,

a prolific author, a style connoisseur, a wine-

maker, a constant house flipper, and a mom to

two (Dexter, 23, and Duke, 18, both of whom

she adopted in her 50s).

Sitting in that same house a month later for

this interview, Keaton, 73, is wearing a black

turtleneck and wool herringbone pants despite

the sweltering 80-degree heat. “I didn’t get

dressed up,” she admits while settling into a

black leather couch. Her manner is friendly and

inviting. She gets animated over things like her

black-and-white polka-dot manicure (they’re

stickers), her neighbor’s horses, and the Tony

Award–winning musical Oklahoma! But ask her

anything remotely to do with the word “icon” or

“legacy” and she’ll start deflecting. And therein

lies the paradox: Keaton is a leading lady who’d

rather talk about the bricks she handpicked to

build her dream home than about how hard she

worked to secure its contents. But what can you

do? She’s a Holly wood original, and that’s why

she gets to wear all the hats.

You styled yourself for this shoot. Is it

empowering to have a certain look that you’ve

been able to cultivate? I don’t think of it

as empowering.

Protective then, maybe? Yes, it’s very protective.

It hides a multitude of sins. Flaws, anxiety—

things like that. I would not feel comfortable in a short

skirt or something cut off with my arms hanging out there.

And I’ve always liked hats. They just frame a head. But,

of course, nobody really thinks they’re as great as I do. And,

you know, hats also protect you from the sun—I’ve had so

many skin cancers.

You have? Oh, it’s a serious problem. Today I’m going to the

doctor. I think I have one here [points to her nose]. That’s

not good. I’ve had a lot of operations. So, the sun, I love it, you

know? But I really have to protect my head.

I read that the hat you wore in Annie Hall [1977] was inspired

by a French actress you met on set? The truth is, it was on

The Godfather [1972]. Dean Tavoularis was the [production]

designer, and he was with this beautiful French girl. She had

on a hat that was like something

I

I’m fearless

about what I

like. In other

words, I’ll take

it wherever I

want to go.Ó

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