How did you start wearing hats?

[Russ]

I had a nice campaign hat in boy scouts (we had to wear something on our heads, and this was the coolest choice) and a wide brim leather hat in college, but I never considered myself a hat person, and didn't go hat crazy until I saw the movie "The Shiralee" with Bryan Brown (1987). It was an Australian movie -- actually a TV mini-series that got turned into a movie. Lots of fedoras and Akubra type bush hats. All the other hat movies I had seen until then -- including the Indy Jones movies -- had no effect on me for some strange reason. Now they do.

In the first scene the hero, a city boy, finds himself walking hatless down a dusty country road in bush country. He had no recollection how he got on the train that brought him out there (he'd had a history of brawling). His first stop is a small store where he buys himself some proper country clothes. The store owner tosses down a nice Akubra hat on the counter and Bryan Brown angrily says "I don't want no hat!" The store owner sternly warns him, "you'll want a hat!" (quotes are parahrases from my memory).

I saw that movie 16 years and 19 hats ago.

 

[jake_fink]

I ran a little hat store in my family room when I was four; I was blond and pale and mostly bald so I had to wear a hat most of the time. When my store went broke (I guess my dad and his pals could only buy the same hats so many times before they got wise), and I grew some hair, I stopped wearing hats until I was a teen.

In my teens I wore a hat with my other vintage clothes, usually a stingy, and always with the brim up.

When I moved back to Canada I was doing quite a bit of couch surfing and found it inconvenient trying to dress my pomp of a morning at someone else's digs, so I needed a new look to adequately top my fabulous self. I thought of a crown, but given my circumstances at the time I thought that was too ironic, so I opted for a dress hat. I will still build my pompadour on occasion out of nostalgia for my lost youth and just because I stilll can (and my baby brother can't, ha ha), but otherwise I haven't looked back.

 

[indyjim]

Originally posted by Matt Deckard

Raiders of the lost Ark: The grey hat in this movie, the one on the steps of the federal building, the one on the sea plane... That high crown and blue suit combo... that's my favorite look, "bureaucratic fools!"

I agree Matt, GREAT LOOK! Just don't bring this observation up at COW!

 

[BrianDewey]

What got me in to hats? It's been an evolution: Like many others here, my grandfather was well known for his hats, although they were mostly simple cotton bucket hats. But that was enough to give the right positive mental association with hats. Then, during a trip abroad in college, I met a Canadian who introduced me to Tilley hats. That's what taught me the practical value of a brim. 10 years later, my Tilley is still my first choice for hiking or yardwork.

When I moved to cool, damp Seattle, I don't know what inspired me to buy a Banjo Patterson from David Morgan. But I did, and that's what got me hooked on felt. It kept my head warm, and the drizzle out of my eyes, and it looked great. It was a wonderful hat. I say "was," because I've also learned that felt hats can withstand most things -- except cats and their tendency to curl up and sleep on warm things.

I've replaced the Banjo Patterson with an Aukubra Sydney, and a custom-made 100% beaver toned-down western hat from Montichristi in Santa Fe, and an Aukubra Lightning Ridge, and then I recently discovered this forum and vintage hats and ebay and OH MY WORD, WHERE HAS ALL MY MONEY GONE??

--bkd

 

[RBH]

Greetings! Im new here and wanted to put in my 2 cents.
My grandfather [see my avatar] started me on my path to my love of fedoras. He was a farmer and I seldom saw him in a suit, but he always had crisp khakis and a fedora on. In summer he had 2 straws, one for work and one for town. In the winter he had a Dobbs felt that I would slip around and wear when he didnt have it on himself. I myself have run the gamult from western hats to caps, but I always return to the ''good ol' fedora''. I have a Fortune and Glory Adventurebilt by Steve Delk that I should recieve soon. It seems to have that look of the great hats of old. Im sure Im like alot of others here, when I put on a really great looking fedora, it takes me back to another time and place. It dont get no better than that.

RBH

 

[Mycroft]

Well first I have always loved history, especially military history. Then, I got into suits from this Barnes and Nobles Gentleman book and Sherlock Holmes too. Then, I saw Indian Jones, not really focused on the hat. Then, I got more and more into suits etc. and saw the Untouchables. I decided when I was older I would wear hats. Then, I was flipping through a magazine one day and I saw the wool Dorfman Pascific Indy Fedora. I waited for a while and saved up my allowence and bought it when I went to Disney World with my family at the Indy Shop there. Then, I found a crushable Bogart and bought it. I then went to Ecuador and bought a "tweese" or tradtional Otivalo hat which is like a stingy brim. Finally, I found the lounge since I wanted to find an awsome online board and I found Fedora Lounge and then I got my first real fedora after about a year.

 

[Michael Mallory]

I grew up at the end of the hat era, when all comedians, TV cowboys and detectives were defined by their hats. I've been a hat guy since the age of 2. I had a beat-up grey adult fedora that I wore everywhere back then -- no idea how I acquired it -- and then I branched out with a green pointy number like the one Cantinflas wore in "Pepe" (wretched film, but a great hat) and a women's wide-brimmed hat that I convinced myself looked like Baba Louie's sombrero on "Quick Draw McGraw." While other kids were making paper airplanes, I used to make Harpo Marx top hats hats from cottage cheese cartons and paper plates, and Sherlock Holmes deerstalkers out of newspaper. These days it's more of an imperative than a conceit, since I don't have a lot of natural protection from the elements anymore. The deciding factor was on my 45th birthday, some years ago, when I woke up and decided that I was old enough to dress myself, and if someone else didn't like what I wore, they could lump it.

 

[Bayern]

The Parker Clan

Well I'm just trying to carry on an old family tradition. This is my Great Grandfather (Center) and Grandfather (Bottom Right). As a kid I always loved their hats. Forturatly, one of my Aunts collected several of these hats plus numerous others and gave them all to me.

 

[Mojopresley]

My entry into the universe of more fashionable headwear was due to a very recent event. My wife asked me to volunteer as a cub scout leader, and while I was doing some basic research on what kind of effort that entailed, I came across an interesting uniform fact that completely captivated me.

The classic campaign hat (lemon squeezer) is still an approved uniform component in the Boy Scouts. I had a life long dream (unfulfilled) of being a US Army Drill Sergeant - and here was an opportunity to wear the Smokey the Bear hat without reenlisting my already aged butt back in to the fields of green.

Made my wife a deal - if I could spring for the Smokey, and wear it - then I was into the Scouting thing. The Lemon Squeezer led to the purchase of a felt "Indiana Jones" style hat approved 3 years ago for BSA wear - which I Camp Dry-ed the snot out of and now sheds water like a duck's arse; even better than a Tilley (I liked the Tilley reference earlier - my father and Mr. Tilley were friends when I grew up - we still have some very early Tilley's floating around the family).

The wife, upon seeing me in the Indy hat said "Hey baby, you look really good in a hat!" - And there ends the story - my chick digs the hat. Therefore, I must collect even more of them.

Richard B

 

[tonyb]

That's a great shot, Bayern.

 

[Naphtali]

I wear spectacles. When SHE WHO AT ONE TIME HAD TO HAVE BEEN OBEYED decided we would live in extreme northwest Washington state, I discovered I was nearly blind minutes after leaving the house -- rain. . . .

All the time, RAIN.

For $2.50 I picked up a junker fedora at a thrift shop. It was useless. Brim was small. I gave it to her first husband and resigned myself to umbrellas.

A friend who switches hemispheres when he sees his breath sent me an Australian-market Akubra Coober Peady with opal-leather hat band. I immediately went outside and stood in the rain for about 30 minutes.

I could see!

The rest is history.

 

[Tyto]

Necessity

I'm fair-skinned and began wearing brimmed hats on hikes as a boy scout, then continued doing so in the field as an archaeologist and outdoors in general as I began to lose my hair. However, Samuel Spade and Nick Blaine hooked me on nicer fedoras for dress wear.

 

[riccardo]

My first hat was an Alpin Hat, a true hat used by the "Alpini" Esercito Italiano.
My father and my mother bought it for me; i was just 6 or 7 years old.
I've it in my house until today, but it don't wear me.
Then I continued love hat, but I don't wore it becouse I was afraid to look like a joke.
When I was 30 years old I bought my first hat,an inexpensive wool hat. I'd loved it very much, after that i bought some other inexpensive hats...and after those I begun to choose better hats than those.
Today I wear fedoras everyday, it keep me very warm during the winter and very cool during the summer. Today I don't know headache or cervical ache.
Sometimes I said " Hat what a wonderful invention!"
...but I need some English language lesson...

Best regards.
Riccardo.

 

[J.B.]

Faithful to the Fifties

As a guy who grew up in the Midwest during the late 40's and early 50's -- I observed that every man and most women wore a hat. Period. It was just part of dressing and wearing one came with its own little etiquette ritual as well...

Looks like as far as headwear goes -- I just never was able to step out of that era?!

 

[Wild Root]

As a guy who grew up in the Midwest during the late 40's and early 50's -- I observed that every man and most women wore a hat. Period. It was just part of dressing and wearing one came with its own little etiquette ritual as well...

Looks like as far as headwear goes -- I just never was able to step out of that era?!

It's good to have someone who remembers those days! We look forward to hearing some stories of your life! Always enjoy hearing from some one who has had so much experience in life.

=WR=

PS. Don't ever step out of that era!

 

[Burma Shave]

I had to

I started wearing a hat every day when I was in high school. I was doing landscaping, out in the sun for 12 hours a day in summer, and on afternoons and weekends during the rest of the year. I'm a redhead, and get scorched when not properly lidded.

Even with precautions, though, I had to have 12 "things" removed from my noggin when I was 23. Two of them were pre-cancerous. That's when I started shaving my (already balding) pate -- to be able to check for recurring growths. So now a hat of some sort is the norm, whether it be a panama or cowboy hat (Stetson), fedora (Stetson or Wormser), newsboy or watchcap. When I worked as a deckhand (in the sun all darn day, in Tennessee and Alabama, throughout the summer) I wore primarily a cream-colored boonie hat and even it didn't cover enough of my neck. That's when I started tucking a white handkerchief into the back of the hat, to cover my neck. Not a look I'd suggest for shore-side endeavors, but it worked!

A hat's a prerequisite, and I learned from my father that "No one looks more intelligent in a baseball cap." He's a stickler on many details, but he happens to be right on this one, IMHO.

 

[Pilgrim]

I've always liked hats - bought a Beaver 5X western hat for about $16 in 1966, and I still have that hat. I've worn a lot of baseball caps too - I'll wear one most of this coming weekend at an alumni board meeting, because they're good for logo wear.

But I've always liked dress hats. I bought a dark grey Beaver Major in the early 90's, and it's not bad - but not nearly the equal of the Open Road or Whippets I've acquired recently.

I like the shade in summer, the protection in winter, and I like keeping the sun out of my eyes. Maybe 13 years in Texas shooting video outdoors was good training in that...I never went on a shoot without sunglasses and a hat.

More recently, I'm finding I like dress hats for everyday wear, not just for special occasions. I'm trying to decide whether I want to stay with hats as broad-brimmed as the Whippet (2 3/4"), or like the Beaver Major at about 2".

 

[Twitch]

Back about 1970 a friend and I somehow got interest in beaver fedoras and picked up a couple at a thrift store. Of course for guys in their 20s we didn't really go over as such and soon quit the "look."

I went through some baseball caps but leaned on 3-4 styles of military fatigue caps of different eras a lot over the years. I have worn the quasi-naval skippers hat and a Greek fisherman's cap for many years too. I have worn an old straw cowboy hat to ward off strong sun for decades.

Of course this site swayed me into buying the 4 fedoras I now have on ebay.
:fedora:

 

[gekisai29]

always thought hats were cool dating back to my pseudo-hippie days. really started though after throwing away a hairpiece after about 25 years. baby, its cold outside!

 

[FLJones]

I probably have my mother to thank for starting me on hats when she bought me that yellow and blue beanie. From there is was on to cowboy hats and tricycles.
During the death to the establishment phase the european look was my thing, it had to be a fedora. Ball caps just didn't fit with the pipe. Later, and many moves, I found Parrot hatters in MA. They reinforced my predjudices when telling me about all their clients with cancer of the ear from wearing a ball cap. I had not yet learned about quality. A tilley was just fine by me. Besides, my fedoras kept flying off my head in open top sports cars!
In NM, the cowboy hat was the only way to go. Mostly because you really had to hunt for anything else. There was a great store in Abq and they had an incredible selection of hats, so I bought the widest I could find, winter and summer weight of course. Some really fine Stetson straws and some 500X beavers. The issue of quality was beginning to take root.
Now in Miami, I found Puerto Fino, a fun and deadly place for someone with a hat fetish. So after stocking up on everthing my heart could desire, I happened to think "so what about hats from yesteryear", like my youth? The one's I never paid attention to. Probably dirty and too much effort.
So here I am, learning more than I ever thought possible. Wearing stylish, wonderful to touch, interesting hats from an era I should have paid attention to about 40 years ago. At least I've finally got it before their all gone! Happy to have found some vintage hats of fine quality, wearable out of the box, or bag.
Happy to have discovered this forum.