Does somebody still wear these? Boaters

[Pat_H]

In the current Orvis catalog that arrived the other day, stylishly depicted with a seersucker suit:

http://www.orvis.com/store/productc...8&group_id=16180&cat_id=16191&subcat_id=16230

Does somebody actually wear boaters now days? I'm surprised to see one listed in a catalog.

 

[kpreed]

I am very glad to see these for sale somewhere, I use mine often, but I do not often see any others.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Bogus!

That's not a real boater - a proper boater is a hard straw hat, shellacked to retain its shape, not "soft Panama".

A classic hat style, faithful to the 1920s original.

Hmmm.. I guess it is faithful to the style, but certainly not the real thing. This may look like a boater to the uninitiated, but it's essentially bogus!

Real boaters are definitely still available, though:

http://www.bencrafthats.com/product.php?pid=119&subcname=Straw+Hats

 

[Dinerman]

 

[Charlie Huang]

I'm going punting in Oxford in April and most of my friends will be in regatta blazers and boaters (which is the proper order of dress for punting).

Olney's is the only company to make proper boaters in the UK. Depending which retailer you get it from, it can cost from £40 (The Hat Company) to £107 (Locks) for the same hat!

The boater should be stiff and rigid enough to be able to take someone's eye out.

 

[dhermann1]

If you decide to order one online, be positive about the size. Since it's so rigid, it doesn't have any give. I sometimes can wear a 6 7/8 fedora, depending on the stretch. I got a nice boater on Ebay, 6 7/8, and it sits on top of my head like a pot lid. I subsequently got another on at the proper size 7, and it's great.
You can usually find excellent vintage boaters on Ebay at about a third the price of a new one.
One other thing to think about is the ribbon. By far the most common is the blue red blue, but there are many other attractive combinations avaible, if you look.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

These are most commonly referred to as 'boaters' or 'skimmers' from what I read here and on Ebay. I also recently saw an old catalog page posted by a fellow Lounger where they were called a 'sennit' or something of the sort - couldn't backtrack to find that post.

My father and his father were alive and wearing these back when they were actually still in style. They always called them "sailor straws".

Anyone else ever hear of that one?

Are the various names due to provincial differences like 'subs', 'po-boys', 'heroes', 'hoagies'?...

 

[gtdean48]

...like 'subs', 'po-boys', 'heroes', 'hoagies'?...

In Arkansas & Georgia, we call them things "samiches"!

 

[Feraud]

I also recently saw an old catalog page posted by a fellow Lounger where they were called a 'sennit' or something of the sort - couldn't backtrack to find that post.

That makes sense as sennit is a weave.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

lol lol lol

Now I'm gettin' hungry.

Back to the hats; no matter what they're called, ol' Gene Kelly looked so cool wearing his with that tux and walking stick, that it makes me wanna' have one around. Then again, I don't have his build. Mine is more like the walking stick.

 

[carouselvic]

Sailor Straw

Yes, I have heard that term used.

 

[DerMann]

This guy does on occasion.


The one listed on Orvis seems to be 'soft' and yet costs $10 less than the one I bought. Seems like a stretch...

 

[carldelo]

Logophilically speaking

My father and his father were alive and wearing these back when they were actually still in style. They always called them "sailor straws".

Anyone else ever hear of that one?

The hats were apparently originally made of sennit straw. Sennit is an interesting old word - it is a spelling variant of the source word 'sinnet'. From the Compact OED (without all the details):

sinnet - A nautical term of obscure origin. A kind of flat, braided cordage formed by pleating together several strands of rope-yarn, coarse hemp grass or other fibrous material. 1611 "A threefold rope cord string or twist, called by Mariners, a sinnet."​

As sinnet is a nautical item, I wager that the original boaters were made by sailors who happened to have some extra sinnet (or sennit) lying around. The jump from 'sennit straw' to 'sailor straw' based on who was wearing the hats seems logical.

In a recent thread it was stated that sennit is a contraction of "seven-knit", in reference to how the cordage was made. It appears that this is incorrect however. It seems sennit is also a spelling variant of a totally different word, 'sennight'. Sennight is a contraction of 'seven night' and means one week. The two definitions appear to have become blurred. I found one dictionary with the 'seven-knit' explanation, but it is a 1913 Webster's, and appears to have been dropped in later editions.

The Orvis boater copy looks like it might be a lot more forgiving as far as head size goes, and probably cooler, but it ain't a proper sennit straw, is it?

OK, enough, get ready for a pop-quiz tomorrow (Sorry about the lecture, I'm giving and grading midterm exams at the moment, so I guess I'm in the zone...)

 

[David V]

Well, since I own one I will probable wear one. hafta wait for warm weather.

 

[Nick D]

Sennight is a contraction of 'seven night' and means one week.

The only place I've ever seen this word (other than right here) is in the first volume of Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales. It's a good word, I'd use it in everyday speech, except I think people may not know what I'm talking about.

 

[carouselvic]

http://www.millerhats.com/hatcare_index/boater_hats.html

Both British and American Navy personal wore flat-top brimmed straw hats, but not nessicerly this exact style of hat.

 

[carldelo]

The only place I've ever seen this word (other than right here) is in the first volume of Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales. It's a good word, I'd use it in everyday speech, except I think people may not know what I'm talking about.

I'd never heard it before this. The dictionary gives a cross-reference to 'fortnight', a contraction of 'fourteen nights'. Funny how one word fades and one remains in common use - I guess the more punchy 'week' consigned 'sennight' to linguistic oblivion.

 

[The Elizans]

I wear one...

Apparently, one of my friends once said to another (in a concerned tone of voice): "I saw T.E. wearing a straw boater the other day... and I think he was serious!" gotta love that reaction!

 

[Mid-fogey]

Yes...

...but what of Pat H's question. I've seen a few Loungers sporting boaters, but has anyone ever seen one on the street (aside from people going to political events)?

 

[DOUGLAS]