Hats you like all out of proportion to their quality

[deadlyhandsome]

I suspect that most of us have hats that we like for reasons that have little to do with their overall quality. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s just comfortable, or maybe it fits you just right. I invite all to share there favorite hats that they like all out of proportion to their quality.

My offering:
This is a common 1970s or ‘80s Resistol 3X Beaver western in granite. It was an nondescript western, but I trimmed the brim and sent it to VS where it received brim binding, reblocking, and a new ribbon. It’s still a cheap and unrefined hat, but I really love it. It’s just right, and I don’t really know why.

 

[RossRYoung]

Probably cause it looks good on ya!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Probably cause it looks good on ya!

That might account for it.

 

[1967Cougar390]

I know some hats just feel right. This is definitely where my lost cost ivory Silver Creek hat fits in. I was not pleased with it’s outback style, so I trimmed the brim to 2 1/2” gave it a sharp diamond crease. After that I changed the brim so it would have a classic fedora look.

Steven

 

[Rmccamey]

Beaver Brand OR clone. Typical of the 70s. Felt is decent but not vintage. A little heavier than it needs to be. The brim is wonky and wavy. It fits like a dream and it's just fun to wear

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This Thoroughbred 10X has coarse stiff felt, a badly stained ribbon, and plenty of stray marks on the felt. And I love it. It fits perfectly and it always makes me smile when I put it on.

 

[belfastboy]

Beaver Brand OR clone. Typical of the 70s. Felt is decent but not vintage. A little heavier than it needs to be. The brim is wonky and wavy. It fits like a dream and it's just fun to wear



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I had two Beaver Brand hats and the felts both a bit coarse and they could have used more pouncing but they did have a charm to them. Ended up giving them away as they were black and never worn. I do regret not keeping one as I really liked the hat and I guess lamented the closing of long lived American manufacturer. I have still one Beaver brand western as my last one....alas it is black as well.

 

[Rmccamey]

It's about time we see that hat on some hunting and fishing expeditions, eh Brent?

This Thoroughbred 10X has coarse stiff felt, a badly stained ribbon, and plenty of stray marks on the felt. And I love it. It fits perfectly and it always makes me smile when I put it on.

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[deadlyhandsome]

It's about time we see that hat on some hunting and fishing expeditions, eh Brent?

Turkey season opens soon. I see them daily and usually hit one with my car ever other month, but come season they disappear. I’ll get a photo this year with a hat and a tom.

 

[Rmccamey]

Sounds like a plan!!!

Sorry, I posted incorrectly. I should have said, huntin' and fishin'

Turkey season opens soon. I see them daily and usually hit one with my car ever other month, but come season they disappear. I’ll get a photo this year with a hat and a tom.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This Bailey 3X Beaver is the embodiment of a hat that I like all out of proportion to its quality. It’s a fairly recent Bailey after all! However, as I sort through hats to sell to get my “collection” under control this hat has never been endangered. I just like it. And to be honest, it’s as nice as the 3X Stetsons and Resistols of its time.

 

[Tukwila]

I was given this old straw hat by a coworker who was ready to throw it out. Clearly made in Cuenca, it's semi-calado with cracked straw at the top/front of the crown, and has a wide brim. It has a Greg Norman tag on the fabric sweatband and came with a severely faded pug. I replaced the pug, but gave up on trying to salvage the cracked straw.

It's a beater, but somehow I really like this old hat. It's comfortable, cool on a breezy, hot day, the price was right, and I don't worry about damaging or losing it.

 

[Tukwila]

I picked this up in Mt. Angel, Oregon, while attending the local Oktoberfest last year. A 50s Mallory Ten with heathered felt, made in the Trachten Hut style that is so popular in the little Bavarian styled town. I find myself grabbing it more often than I ever thought I would. It has a fairly stingy brim and a relatively short, tapered crown, but - oddly enough - I really like this one even though it has none of the features I usually look for in a vintage or custom fedora.

 

[Zombie_61]

Some of you have seen this one before:

No name, no liner, no frills of any kind, it's just a cheap cotton Trilby that was made in China. Got it through evilBay a little over a year ago, and it cost me a whopping $3.58 shipped. It was sent to me in a durable plastic pouch that was inflated (to protect the hat) and sealed...

...so I'm sure someone somewhere lost a little money on this deal. I got it as a bit of a goof because I knew wearing it would annoy all of the right people, but I ended up liking the hat quite a lot. And when the inevitable day comes when it gets lost, damaged, or otherwise can no longer be worn, I won't be out a lot of money. It's a win/win/winwinwinwinwinwinwin.

 

[tropicalbob]

This is a great thread, as I it gets right to the heart of our hat obsessions. Whenever somebody asks me why I wear a hat all the time I think of a line from a James Joyce short story, in which a young man at a party asks an old girl why she drinks so much: she replies, "I think I like it."

 

[Rumad]

I suspect that most of us have hats that we like for reasons that have little to do with their overall quality. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s just comfortable, or maybe it fits you just right. I invite all to share there favorite hats that they like all out of proportion to their quality.

My offering:
This is a common 1970s or ‘80s Resistol 3X Beaver western in granite. It was an nondescript western, but I trimmed the brim and sent it to VS where it received brim binding, reblocking, and a new ribbon. It’s still a cheap and unrefined hat, but I really love it. It’s just right, and I don’t really know why.

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Good lookin hat, and it looks good on you. What’s not to like.

 

[Boomerang]

I bought this Bushman in Nullarbor Tan at the David Morgan Bothell store in July 2019. It was the first open crown hat I purchased with the intent of bashing myself, so I went in with the mindset of this being my Guinea Pig Hat. Zero attachment: this one is bound to suffer. Lacking confidence, I asked Will Morgan to get the foundation of a cattleman's crease started for me.

I beat the crap out of the poor felt for a couple weeks with my ham-handed trial and error, but I finally got the crease I was after. The damage/wear is visible on the front of the crown. Again, no undue concern for the sacrificial tan hat.

Months later I decided to drop the brim down dramatically, and this would serve as my first effort in reshaping a brim with distilled water. This tired soldier had become my work hat. It acquired some mystery stains but started to get really comfortable, and I found myself wearing it around the house a lot.

The next "first" this hat suffered was just last week when I soaked it with distilled water, took it back to open crown (fairly successfully, using only my fingernails) and allowed it to dry for a few hours. I applied the bash seen below, and gave it another good spritz with distilled water to set the crease.

Presently this is the first hat I reach for every morning. I use it when I need something to stave-off the chill air, or when I just need to wear a comfortable hat and find some calm. It is kind of an enigma for me. I tell myself that it is the hat I care the least about, but in reality it is the last one I'd get rid of.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I bought this “Anchorman” a while back. It is a strange hat for sure. It has a feminine quality to it, and while breezy and light, it doesn’t block as much sun as a “straw” hat should. It’s huge crown and swoopy deeply flanged brim are also a bit odd. I don’t wear it, but I can’t bring myself to sell it either (I’ve listed 23 hats for sale in the last couple days with another 30+ to go). Such an unusual hat, and at size 7 5/8 I’m assuming that it was intended for men.

 

[belfastboy]

I bought this “Anchorman” a while back. It is a strange hat for sure. It has a feminine quality to it, and while breezy and light, it doesn’t block as much sun as a “straw” hat should. It’s huge crown and swoopy deeply flanged brim are also a bit odd. I don’t wear it, but I can’t bring myself to sell it either (I’ve listed 23 hats for sale in the last couple days with another 30+ to go). Such an unusual hat, and at size 7 5/8 I’m assuming that it was intended for men.

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That is a very strange animal!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

That is a very strange animal!

No truer words....