A hat fit for a future king

[Atticus Finch]

I see also that they call their Open Road clone the Open Road. Perhaps one of you lawyers out there (Atticus?) might offer an opinion on the kosher-ness of that. Might Hatco's lawyers be sending a cease-and-desist letter? Or might some other hatmaker take it as an invitation to use the Open Road name as well? Isn't there some doctrine about defending one's trademarks, that if you stand back and do nothing while one entity walks all over your property you can't very well decide that you'll sue some other entity for doing the same?

I once knew just enough about copyright and trademark law to pass the North Carolina State Bar Exam. I'm happy to report that I've since forgotten what little I knew. I would guess (and this is only a guess) that Hatco has somehow not preserved its Open Road trademark in Canada. Or maybe the trademark expired during the shuffle when Stetson sold out to the company that eventually sold out to Hatco. I have often wondered why Akubra doesn't sell the Camp Draft in the USA. It isn’t the same hat as the Open Road and, of course, it is named something else. I speculate that it is because of a contractual agreement between Akubra and Hatco that did survive the sell out.

But, yes, you are correct. If one fails to defend a trademark, when one has a legal right to do so, the trademark can be lost. It is sort of like the trademark law equivalent of property law’s theory of adverse possession.

AF

 

[MissLaurieMarie]

Being originally from Calgary I noticed they did not try on the hats when they were given to them. I did not think it was a snub myself. They are royalty after all, they can do what they want. What impressed me, not only did they wear the hats for the rest of the time they were in Calgary but they got dressed up like everyone else for the Stampede. My two cents worth.
Johnny

Kate was also fighting to keep her dress down - maybe they were scared that they hats would take off? (which the more snobby Canadians would think just as horrible, I'm sure).

OT: *waves from Alberta to JohnnyCanuck​.

 

[Lefty]

google provides - Open Road was inactivated 8-11-98

but...
a new filing was made on 8-24-09 which appears to be active

They went from protecting "The Open Road" to "Stetson Open Road" and the registrant went from being JBS, Canada to just JBS (in Jersey).

 

[Hoyt Clagwell]

Kate was also fighting to keep her dress down - maybe they were scared that they hats would take off? (which the more snobby Canadians would think just as horrible, I'm sure).

Which reminds me of a story.
A guy was walking down the street on a very windy day,when he met an elderly lady with a large hat.
She was holding on to her hat tightly with both hands, while the strong winds caused her dress to rise well above her waist, revealing that she was not wearing underwear. The guy said "lady, your dress is blowin up, can't you hold it down?".
"I need both hands to hang on to my hat" was her reply.
"Yeah" the guy said, "but your not wearin underwear and I can see everything!"
"Sonny" she said, "anything yer a seein is 87 years old, but I just got this hat last week!"

 

[Captain Neon]

It is painfully obvious that the young prince has a thinning head of hair. Is there a reason why he has not adopted the habit of his forebears of wearing a hat? He's not the type to be out and about in a t-shirt and jeans so a proper hat would serve him well. Comments?

 

[Edward]

It is painfully obvious that the young prince has a thinning head of hair. Is there a reason why he has not adopted the habit of his forebears of wearing a hat? He's not the type to be out and about in a t-shirt and jeans so a proper hat would serve him well. Comments?

"Painfully obvious"? The boy's balder than I am. Genetics (or inbreeding). I doubt we'll see him in a hat anytime soon - the..... what are they the Duke and Duchess of? Whatever they're referred to as now... they're considered to be the future of the monarchy, so their image will be very carefully controlled. Unless hats become the norm for civilians again, outside of the sort of occasion where hat wear is the appropriate norm, you'll not see them in one either, I should think.

 

[davidraphael]

I'm not a fan of 'cowboy' hats, but it'll sure beat the hell out that fruity comb-over of his...

 

[Captain Neon]

Precisely for the reason you mention, carefully controlled image, I would think they would consider that he begin wearing a hat. When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in Canada, it is reported that Catherine commented on how much she liked him wearing a Stetson. His mother, and now his wife, was considered a style-setter, perhaps he could popularise the wearing of hats again.

 

[Oldsarge]

One can hope! Given his fair skin, if he has to jaunt around the Commonwealth and run into Australian and South African summers, he'll be wishing he had!

 

[scottyrocks]

Heh, heh. I know what you mean. I recently attended a bankruptcy auction wherein some poor guy's huge custom guitar collection was liquidated. When we pulled into the auction house parking lot, everyone I saw there was fiftyish, white and male and was driving a fifty-thousand dollar pickup truck loaded with farm implements. I knew right then there would be no guitar deals that day. Sure enough, almost every guitar auctioned sold for fifteen to twenty percent above its retail price. And everybody thought they got a “bargain”!

AF

Ya gotta know yer audience!

 

[Edward]

Precisely for the reason you mention, carefully controlled image, I would think they would consider that he begin wearing a hat. When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in Canada, it is reported that Catherine commented on how much she liked him wearing a Stetson. His mother, and now his wife, was considered a style-setter, perhaps he could popularise the wearing of hats again.

I've never claimed to be an expert on ladies' fashions so I may be wrong, but it did always seem to me that Diana's fashion influence has been rather over-stated by the media. To be fair, when she was in her prime, in the early eighties, I wasn't yet ten, so I didn't much notice these things. I can only remember hating the colour of her wedding dress.... for some reason, even as a six year old child I thought it looked awful. lol

Regarding the boy Wales, he really should be wearing a hat, both in Winter for warmth and Summer for sun protection, especially given his thinning hair. Thing is, the wearing of hats nowadays - aside from maybe a wool beany in the worst of Winter or a baseball cap at other times is typically considered at best rather eccentric over here. Long, long gone are the days when the male royals, certainly, could be fashion leaders. For it to survive, the monarchy will have to bet on appearing as much as possible to be just like the common people, and that ain't going to happen in a hat. Bit of a pity for him, as I think he could pull off a decent fedora, maybe also an eight panel cap. In my opinion he looks more than a little gormless in the cowboy hat and in photos of him in a bowler, but he's far from alone in being able to carry off neither of those - I'm the same myself. I wouldn't have said no to a gift of that Stetson either, but as soon as I got home it would be out with the kettle and the brim cutter! Such an obviously cowboy style is never going to be considered as other than costume over here. More likely if he did wear a felt hat he'd be mocked for it, as he already has been down the years for turning up at pop concerts by the likes of the Spice Girls wearing a collar and tie instead of jeans, "like a normal person".


In any case, while I'd very much like to see more hats around, I'd abandon that ambition if it can only come as bovine imitation of a celebrity rather than enjoying hats as hats, for their own sake, for personal style or utility. [huh] Too much to ask in today's celebrity-obsessed world, I know.

 

[monbla256]

From what I can find, picture wise, it seems the last monarch of Great Britain to wear civilian headgear on a regular basis was Edward VIII. George V, and George VI seem to have only worn the military headgear that went with the uniforms they wore and an occasional Topper at the races or formal civilian affairs and an occasional tweed cap when in the country. Seems going hatless is a family tradition going way back

 

[Tomasso]

 

[RBH]

Prince Philip.

 

[Edward]

From what I can find, picture wise, it seems the last monarch of Great Britain to wear civilian headgear on a regular basis was Edward VIII. George V, and George VI seem to have only worn the military headgear that went with the uniforms they wore and an occasional Topper at the races or formal civilian affairs and an occasional tweed cap when in the country. Seems going hatless is a family tradition going way back

Both Phillip and Chuck have been known to wear a panama as a Sun hat, but I would be inclined to view that as something rather different than being a hat wearer. I know many people who adopt a hat in the extremes of sun, but would never be seen dead in a felt hat. On this side of the Atlantic, the hatless trend was already in full swing in some of the more happening parties of town as far back as the early Thirties, so it's not really surprising if the Windsors follow that trend.

 

[Hal]

More likely if he did wear a felt hat he'd be mocked for it, as he already has been down the years for turning up at pop concerts by the likes of the Spice Girls wearing a collar and tie instead of jeans, "like a normal person".

I'm sure this is true, though at the memorial concert for their mother, Princes William and Harry both wore sports jackets, open-necked shirts, and jeans. I think this is a horrid look, but they probably had to appear like that.

On this side of the Atlantic, the hatless trend was already in full swing in some of the more happening parties of town as far back as the early Thirties, so it's not really surprising if the Windsors follow that trend.

From what I can find, picture wise, it seems the last monarch of Great Britain to wear civilian headgear on a regular basis was Edward VIII. George V, and George VI seem to have only worn the military headgear that went with the uniforms they wore and an occasional Topper at the races or formal civilian affairs and an occasional tweed cap when in the country. Seems going hatless is a family tradition going way back

Both these statements are absolutely correct. There are very few pictures of George VI with a civilian hat, and he is carrying it, not wearing it; and Prince Philip was sometimes castigated by sections of the press for not wearing a hat - the only picture I know of shows him carrying a trilby (in the British sense of that word) and a cream trench-coat.