How did you start wearing hats?

[Socrets]

I guess it sort of all started during the summer of 2000 when I went on a People to People trip to Australia. During our visit to a small reserve, I saw Jackaroo (I think that was the brand, I'll have to check) leather hat that are sold to tourists and something in me just clicked and said I had to have this hat. So I bought it and pretty much wore it through out the entire trip. Previous to the trip, I'd either go hatless (which is impossible for me now. I feel naked without hat on.) or wear a baseball cap. Then came the period I like to call the dark years (middle school) and I stopped wearing the hat full time and only wore it when it rained. Then came sophomore year of high school and started to wear it again during the winter and rain for the rest of high school. Freshman year at W&M, I'd wear a cheap wool fedora that I bought in Argentina.

Now a sophomore, I'm rarely seen without a Stetson or my Akubra. Heck, sometimes I purposely go out hatless just to see the looks on my friends' faces. And even though my hats have changed daily, I've pretty much worn them since. In fact I've even got my dad wearing a gray pork pie (he can't stand being the second good looking male in the house) . Oh and I still have that old leather hat but it looks so beat up and so small for my head that I may just keep it around for sentimentality.

 

[Marcus Brody]

I was wearing a fedora before I had even entered elementary school. Most likely the reason was because I was already a huge Indiana Jones and Michael Jackson fan. By the end of elementary school that fedora was super beaten up because I wore it everywhere, including in the rain. I didn't actually have another fedora until high school then, at which time I had a Federation, which I also really beat up and left myself hatless for a couple of years. It wasn't until this year, at the tail end of my college career that I got into vintage fedoras though. However, it only made sense considering my love for the clothing and hats of the 20s through the 40s.

 

[MississippiLong]

my story

About a year and a half ago I got a really REALLY REALLY bad haircut. I had been growing my hair for over a year and I wanted a TRIM. The barber (my first time in his shop) asked if I wanted my bangs trimmed, "yes," I say...he proceeds to chop off the bangs up to the hairline leaving the rest as long as it had been....I looked like the little dutch boy!

some "hair pictures"

so I went home and shaved my head immediately. About a week or 2 later I was at K-mart and saw this for 6 dollars

I had grown up in the DELTA and knew what a bluesman could look like and decided that I could get away with it, being a blues musician...

I started looking for nicer hats and found VHS and then the FL....I realized the hats I want will not be 6 dollars, so I lurked for months and began building a collection of hats and now my addiction is now full on!

 

[Desdinova721]

I have a general headgear fetish.

Pretty much whenever I went playing as a kid, I was wearing an old M1 army helmet. As a teenager, I bought an HGU-33 flight helmet, adapted the avionics to my computer, and wore it while playing flight sims. I've always liked fedoras; if I'd had any source of real hats back then, I would've started much earlier; I realized I looked terrible in a baseball cap or a boonie hat, so I never wore one.

So, the idea of wearing a hat all the time slipped from my mind until recently, when I found a couple hats I don't look terrible in.

 

[ortega76]

I think I may have answered this before.

My family, being tried-and-true South Siders (of Chicago) live and die in their apple caps and ivy caps. I loved the look of a fedora in the classic movies I would watch with my grandmother. Gangster flicks or Bogart films and the like. I tried to rock a cheap wool fedora in Jr. High but it just didn't work for me. I didn't have the confidence. In my later college years, the swing revival was in full bloom and I was active in the lounge scene (I can't dance for anything).

As stupid as it sounds, the thing that inspired me to wear my first real fedora outside these weekly "swing nights" was watching a very bad Bruce Willis movie- Hudson Hawk. I thought it was cool that he mixed a black fedora and overcoat with a black tee underneath. As dumb as the movie came off, it certainly has its moments of brilliant slapstick. Sheesh, is that last comment an oxymoron?

On a dumb note, I was rewatching this the other day and noticed that the hat band on his fedora changes places throughout the movie but I found the opening scenes fascinating because the bow was at the back of the hat.

 

[Pat_H]

About a year ago I was in Philadelphia to see The Pogues. While walking around town my girlfriend and I passed a hat shop. On a whim I

The Pogues! One of my favorite bands.

 

[Pat_H]

I started as a small child. Wore just about any hat, beanies, caps, grandfathers.
.

That'd describe me too. I can't ever remember not liking hats. My mother used to kid me about it, as I've always liked them a great deal.

Here, we were always encouraged, indeed, required, to wear a hat when going outdoors to do anything substantial, so its kind of a hat wearing region.

With Fedoras, I first started liking Fedoras when I was likely in junior high. I'm not sure why. Perhaps movies like The Sting had influenced me. I didn't have one, however, until many years later. They're very unusual where I live, so it's still an unusual hat.

 

[Spats McGee]

I got my first fedora back in high school. At that time, I guess it was more of a novelty than anything. About 10 years ago, I got tired of my long-haired hippie look and went straight from that to a flat-top. Well, the flat-top kept getting shorter and shorter and pretty soon, I was just buzz-cutting my hair. Didn't take long to get tired of having my scalp get sunburned in the summer and frosty in the winter. I have never been a big fan of baseball caps, and that's just about all you see around here. The first thing I got was a winter hat with earflaps, then gradually branched out, getting hats for all seasons.

 

[kowalskt63]

Fate

Where do I even begin. Numerous things drove me to my current state of obsession. Lets begin:
- Dad was born in 1913, Mom in 1926. Hence even though I was a mistake, er, surprise and was born in 1963, my upbringing was very "old school" if you know what I mean.
- Dad was a WW2 vet, and was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed, so I had a natural love for all things military.
- Then as one would expect, I joined the Air Force, and have spent the last 20 years in both active duty, and reserve roles. So, hats are a way of life.
- About 3 years or so ago, I finally had enough of the "Monk" look, so I decided to shave the noggin completely. Big success, attracted my current wife, more confidence, look better, etc etc.
- Last year I moved up a notch on the corporate ladder, so started wearing suit and tie much more often as opposed to typical Business casual.
- I suddenly realized that my head gets cold now, and ball caps and knitted caps look ridiculous with dress clothes.
- Then one fine day last year, I was in Macy's, and viola, there she was. A black wool felt fedora made by Country Gentlemen Hats. Tried it on, and boom, the rest is history.
- So, here I am now, 7 new hats, 2 vintage, and 16 posts to this fine community.

Still a newbie , but it was destined to happen all along....

 

[Raindog]

Great to see an Akubra fan Splatt!
Some great pics


Jeff.

 

[Lon Goval]

My Hat Years

I first remember getting a new Cowboy hat every summer beginning around age 8 since my summers were spent at my Grandparents Hog farm in So. Cal. (along with a Tetanus shot because of rusty barbed wire). The hat never made it to the next year.

In 1977 I bought my first hat. It was a leather hat that I figured would be bullet-proof.

Then I got into Bluegrass and Country music and bought a few Western hats during the 80's. In the 90's I found a wool fedora (Dorfman Pacific) and got a couple other colors as well.

Here comes the Internet, eBay etc. after the turn of the century and it was all down hill from there. Most hats from eBay were purchased cheaply ($20-$30) since I didn't know what I was doing. Still don't for the most part (that's why I'm on this forum).

The addiction became this:

And this is one of my latest purchases:

Next stop will probably be custom to fit my Long Oval head.

Ralph

 

[SGT Rocket]

How did I first get into hats?

I guess the army really turned me on to wearing a hat.

Wow. That is tough. Grew up in Houston, Texas, when cowboy hats were kind of cool. They were cool in Houston before Urban Cowboy came out. Anyway, I always wanted a cowboy hat, but my mom never bought me one (my parents were divorced, my mother had custody). Many of my friends did wear hats though.

When I turned 17 I joined the army. If you are in uniform, and outside, you wear a hat in the army. After the army, I went to college and wore mostly baseball hats then.

Currently I own a few a few caps from Bailey’s and Country Gentleman. I also own one Resistol Gunfighter 8X (not sure what the 8X means). It’s not too expensive or fancy, but boy it really feels good on the head. My grandfather always wore Stetson dress cowboy hats and dress hats. The day I bought my Resistol, I couldn’t find any Stetsons in long oval that were my size.

I’m saving up for a Fedora right now and maybe a couple of straw hats for summer.

 

[Raindog]

Hi SlyGI,
the 'x' designation is an arbitrary way of saying how good the quality of the felt is. The more 'X's the better. Trouble is the system has never been worked out properly across the board, so one hat makers '8x' could be anothers '3x' and so on.
Hope you get your fedora soon, and enjoy it



Jeff.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Ok, here's my story. To put it into perspective, I'm now 58. My first hat was some Fedora back around 1970-71. A drunk Englishman stole it around two in the morning in the Double Diamond bar in Brussels.

Around those days, I was into rock 'n roll and "country rock" music, and I soon got a western hat, which for some non-identified reason disappeared from my mind (but I have a picture of me wearing it). Pretty soon thereafter my then-time girl friend brought me a chocolate-brown Bailey back from stateside; I still have it, now some 35 years old. I disregarded that hat, had it absorb liters of water in pooring rains, pulled it hither, pushed it thither, re-steamed the crown to a more bulbous behind and a double-crease front, most recently a Russian lady cleaned it and sewed the sweatband back on (I'd glued it fast). My beater...

My western hat craze has always been paralelled with a liking for fedoras. In 1981 and again 1982 we went on holiday to Florence in Italy. Bought half a dozen Borsalino's for family, who proceeded not to wear them and most of them came back "home". I'm still wearing two of them, soft velours, daily; another one -brand new- is sitting in a box because too small. Having long hair now, my hat size has grown from 7 to 7 1/8 (actually 7 1/16), that and ...some shrinking of the hats, no doubt.

Meanwile things have accelerated. Bought a new Justin from Sheplers. And a Beaver Brand fromt the bay. And a vintage 1930's Nutria Stetson which is still to arrive. And found a very comfortable new-condition Mayser homburg around the corner for 10 euros. Hats? Love 'em, always have.

In closing, I'd like to say I feel much more comfortable wearing my hats at 58 than I did at 25. At younger age, I was much more self-conscious and, whilst that basically has not changed, I care less!

Paul

 

[MAB1]

Roy Rogers and Sky King ring any bells?

 

[KY Gentleman]

My dad and grandfathers wore hats. I liked the way they look(ed) wearing them so I too wear hats.

 

[SamReu]

Spokes Man

KY Gentleman, my story is basically the same. Both my grandfathers wore hats, so it was only natural that one of their grandchildren -- in this case, me -- would adopt the hat habit.

One grandfather only wore straw, which meant he pretty much went hatless in the cooler months. I can see him in my mind's eye. He is sitting on the porch, in a squeaky old rocker. The heat of Eastern North Carolina makes the old house's rafter expand and groan. He has, perched on the back of his head, a worn old straw fedora.

The other granddad was a full-time hatter. He had an array of brims for different tasks. Cutting the grass? A ratty old straw with a rip in the rear. Going to town to check on his bank accounts? A comfortable felt creased with use, slightly stained with sweat. Those rare occasions when he went to church? A flawless gray that he placed on his lap when everyone gathered to thank the Almighty.

Their grandson? Several straws, some stained and battered, others hardly used at all. A stack of felts of varying colors.

And even more memories of old men and their hats.

 

[KY Gentleman]

Those are nice memories. Its good to have a connection like a hat to remember them by.

 

[DrSpeed]

Don't laugh, but for me it was the Australian TV series McLeod's Daughters. My wife and daughter were watching it and I noticed the tough looking hats the characters were wearing. I don't think I'd wear a true Western hat but this was something else. I'd had to have a hat like that and ordered an Akubra Cattleman from Down Under. I've been an Akubra fan ever since.
That started me wearing hats. What's keeping me wearing them is pretty recognisable for most people here I suppose; lot's of sympathetic comments, a feeling of being naked without one etc.

The problem is once you're used to wearing a hat you gotta have more hats for different situations and outfits and now I've just ordered my first real fedora, a Federation 4. I'm afraid it won't be my last.

 

[michelezatmin]

Undertakers wear hats.

Anyone knows who is the guy in the picture?