Hats?

[Arinbjorn]

Is there anyone here who enjoys hats?

I'm getting in to it a bit myself. Looking at acquiring a black wool John Hanly from Ireland for my bald head. My black princeton is about to give up the ghost, and is not well made

I also need to find a wide brimmed at at some point, preferably one that is good for all year wear in somewhat rugged environments. I'm thinking of something that Gandalf would wear as a travelling hat. Like Odin, the Scandinavian God of war/death/sorcery - sort of a grizzled old man. Curmudgeonly Gandalf esque. I have no idea where to start looking for that hat, though.

Maybe shopping online would be a good starting point?

What hats do you wear? Favorite styles, manufactorers? Talk 'em up!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

You're not alone in enjoying proper headwear. I myself own three or four straw hats for summer use & I currently own half a dozen felts that I wear for certain occasions. I own an ink colored porkpie as a casual hat. I own two brown Adventurebilits that are a little dressier & I own a black derby as well as an oxblood 4-point diamond crease as well as an Oxblood Dillinger model. The Oxbloods, derby, & ink porkpie all came from Optimo on the south side of Chicago. But be prepared to pay good money for an Optimo.

You also have Falcon Park Hattery in the suburbs as well as Vintage Sillouettes out in Oregon run by Art Fawcett. When you are ready, head over to Thefedoralounge.com for all the info of proper headwear that you can stand & then some.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

 

[Isaac]

I love all sorts of hats. I have a few baseball caps (GO YANKEES), more than a few newsboys, and four Art Fawcett fedoras.

 

[mark the shoeshine boy]

who's Art Fawcett ????

 

[Niles]

I have a few hats since I don't have much hair up top. Mainly wear a straw fedora or one of two flat caps.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

who's Art Fawcett ????

http://www.vintagesilhouettes.com/

 

[Lmarkow]

I have a number of felt and straw Borsalino fedoras. If you're ever in Cincinnati, check out Batsakes. Best shop I've ever been in.

 

[rushchairman]

i've been wearing the donegal-tweed that cap my grandmother brought back from ireland, about 30 years ago (yikes). it was intended for my dad, but was too big.
lucky for me, i've got a big head. i've never seen another like it - it's really beautiful.

i also have a thing lately for bucket hats. i have a stetson which i'm not thrilled with, but i have a barbour wax hat on the way and am considering the seminal
bucket hat from j press:

 

[aihpcfl]

I would say I appreciate hats. I've used several over the years but have settled on a waxed cotton Tilley that I wear on most days. I have a wool felt Tilley I wear on the rare occasion it is cold here or I travel somewhere where it is cold. I guess I've settled on Tilley.

 

[Doc4]

I have a few inexpensive hats. Bailey's of Hollywood "litefelt" hats fit me well enough and look good ... and are "packable"; not that I'd pack them in a suitcase or anything, but ... I need more than one hand to count the number of times my young son has done things to my hats that a non-packable hat would not have survived. I like the Fairbanks model.

I also have one of their "litestraw" models for the summer, as well as a "real" panama.

Then there is my Filson tin cloth hat for wet-weather camping, hiking and labouring, as well as a Tilley for sunny adventuring.



I'd love to get a hat like the one Lee Marvin wore in The Professionals.

I'd love

 

[Doc4]

PS ... her name is Claudia Cardinale.

You're welcome.

 

[strop]

Here you go Doc. Official Boy Scouts of America, circa 1980.

 

[jpakstis]

I bought some cheap fedora as a gag but it turns out to be a great rain hat. Unless we are getting biblical rains I can just wear it and a trench and no need for an umbrella.

 

[StylinLA]

I have some Optimo fedoras and a homburg. I like them a lot, but haven't worn them a lot lately.

Hats had once been so commonsplace, the price of good fedoras is a bit shocking to most. I'm going to be a bit of a hat snob here and say wool fedoras, and any fedora that is sized S M L XL is junk if you're looking for a dress hat.

if you think you want to try wearing hats, I recommend buying a fairly nice quality Stetson or maybe Selentino to start with and see if you can pull it off before you pop for a really pricey one. Not everybody can be comfortable with the fact that a lot people will think you're a tool. I realize we have a lot of iconoclasts and manly men here, but be prepard for the occasional snicker if you wear a fedora. I'm not talking aout the hipsters wearing the stingy brims, but any guy over 30 who puts on a nice fedora.

Optimo and Village Silhouettes are the Rolls Royce and Bently of hats. They're awesome quality and it shows.

I wear them on occasion and out here in LA, where hats were eschewed early on, it does garner a lot of attention and smart *** cracks. But oddly, when fully dressed up, the homburg doesn't quite elicit the disdain of the fedoras.

As noted by jpakstis, there is something very cool about wearing a fedora in the rain.

 

[djh]

Lots of good advice in this thread already. I am a hat wearer as well and would love to visit one of these stores. Goorin Bros.

 

[Yellowstone]

Rands Custom Hats in Billings, Montana makes primarily cowboy hats, but he also makes fedoras and safari hats. He has a device, a conformature I believe, that goes around your head and makes an outline on a card. This is used to form the hat to your exact shape and measurements. I'm not sure it was a compliment when he looked at my head shape and said, "Something going on here." He, too, has a website.

 

[Doc4]

I'm going to be a bit of a hat snob here and say wool fedoras, and any fedora that is sized S M L XL is junk if you're looking for a dress hat.

Oh man, you just trashed every hat I own. (Well, except for the straw ones.)



I don't disagree, per se, although given my child-proof hat requirements (see above), as well as because I live in a hatless world where anything with a brim is considered "fancy", I do okay with what I have. (Yes, it'd be lovely to have nicer hats, but ...)

They say that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King. The same goes for nowadays and the one chap who wears a (cheap) fedora.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

...I don't disagree, per se, although given my child-proof hat requirements (see above)...

That is why you keep them out of said child's reach, such as on top of a cabinet or on the top shelf of the closet.

 

[jpakstis]

Lots of good advice in this thread already. I am a hat wearer as well and would love to visit one of these stores. Goorin Bros.

They are nice stores. A little hipster-y for me (I live in the suburbs and love my minivan), but at least they're committed to putting out nice looking hats. My wife was going to get me one for Christmas but then got me a portable crock-pot instead. The crock-pot doesn't fit over my large head.

 

[Doc4]

That is why you keep them out of said child's reach, such as on top of a cabinet or on the top shelf of the closet.

What about when it's on my noggin and he decides it's time to Climb Mount Daddy?