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Hats - tilt to left or right?

Spellflower

Practically Family
Messages
511
Location
Brooklyn
I tend to tilt to the left, unless I'm adjusting for the sun. If you watch a lot of old movies, you'll start to notice more lefties. Just the other day we were watching "The Bells of St. Mary's" and I noticed that Bing Crosby tilted to the left.
 

Boris K

One of the Regulars
Messages
156
Location
USA
.

I always thought the tilt should be high on the side of your dominant eye. For me, then, the tilt is to the right.
 

Lensmaster

One of the Regulars
Messages
177
Location
Saginaw, Michigan
Pilgrim said:
Every time I settle a hat on my head, I remember one line from the song "Style" (You've Either Got Or You Haven't Got Style) from the movie Robin and the Seven Hoods, a classic of the Rat Pack.

"...a hat's not a hat till it's - tilted...."

Check it here. This song should be the anthem of the FL.

And I tilt mine a bit to the right. :D

I just watched my dvd of that movie yesterday. Some of the greatest singers of our time in one movie. Oh, I tilt my hat to the right. Since I'm right handed it is the most natural. The same reason when I parted my hair on the side it was the left, because my right hand would pull the hair to the right.
 

Pilgrim

One Too Many
Messages
1,719
Location
Fort Collins, CO
Boris K said:
I always thought the tilt should be high on the side of your dominant eye. For me, then, the tilt is to the right.

Now THAT'S a different take! Never heard that before. But as it happens, my dominant eye is left...so perhaps that does incline me to tilt to the right.

Any commentary from others with a dominant left eye?

Actually, when I was a kid my left eye was much more dominant - I automatically shouldered a rifle on the left side the first time I picked one up - but as time passed, I found that with handguns and some other motor-skill tasks I was close to, or fully, ambidexterous. At the same time, it seemed that my left eye dominance moderated.

I have NO idea what any of that might mean. [huh]
 

Gil

New in Town
Messages
10
Location
Jefferson, La (near New Orleans)
The Jaunty Slant,
I tilt mine to the left as well. i recently bought a waxed cotton cavas packer hat from Eddie Baur online, and I find it just looks and feels a lot better tilted to the left. I've also noticed that my left ear is just ever so slightly lower than my right ear, so when I tilt to the left, my hat doesn't scrape to top of my right ear. There's nothing goofier looking than a guy having his ears folded down by his hat brim, ala "Festus" from "Gunsmoke". I wonder if Jimmy Stewart had the same predicament, as I notice he'd jam his hat on and then pull it into a tilt. By the way, I love my Baur canvas packer hat. It's basically a very tough canvas Fedora that's rainproof. The brim is just the right width, so it doesn't need a wire around the edge to keep its shape.
Gil
 
Messages
10,584
Location
Boston area
As a youngster, I tilted left, because that's what I was shown to do. But following a recent surgery on my ear (mastoidectomy) I now tip right, because the right ear is now significantly lower.
I think I like how that ear came out. May have him do the other...
But for most hats, I have always felt a tilt is critical for proper swag.

To reiterate the song;
(Bing Crosby) [Dean Martin]

Some people dress 'cause they dress when they dress,
But he gets dressed to get dressed.
(It's only a hunch but I bet you a bunch)
(He wears suspenders, a belt and a vest,)
[From the tip of his toes to his head,]
[He looks like an unmade bed.]

You've either got or you haven't got style.
(If you got it, you stand out a mile.)
A flower's not a flower if it's wilted,
(A hat's not a hat till it's tilted.)
[You either got or you haven't got class.]
[How it draws the applause of the masses.]


(You either got, or you haven't got,)
[Got or you haven't got,] ,

You've either got or you haven't got style, (got or you haven't got style).
[If you got it, it stands out a mile,] (if you got it, it stands out a mile.).
With mother of pearl kind of buttons,
(You look like the Astors and Huttons.)
[You either got or you haven't got class,] (got or you haven't got class.)
How it draws the applause of the masses.


(You've either got, or you haven't style) [got or you haven't got style}
(Style and charm seem to go arm in arm,) [seem togo arm in arm.].
[A flower's not a flower] (if it's wilted,)
[A hat's not a hat till it's tilted.]
(You've either got or you haven't got style,) [got or you haven't got style,]
[If you got it, you stands out a mile,] if you got it, you stand out a mile
(Got it you stand out,) got it you stand out a mile.


You've either got or you haven't got, (got or you haven't got,)
[Got or you haven't got,]

Come on , get some clothes on, we're gonna be late for breakfast.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,081
Location
London, UK
Caps sit as they fall on me. I have noticed a tendency with some esp my Bwear to wear the peak up on the right, matching the eyebrow I habitually raise. Brimmed hats I tend to throw on with my left hand, possibly why they lean to my left and are more comfortable that way. I imagine I'd gave to change that if I was in the gabit of using a gun, but fortunately that's not something that has ever been necessary.
 

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