How did you start wearing hats?

[okbrewer]

I started wearing snap-bill newsboy type hats in high school back in the '70's and continue to wear them today. However, I wanted to have a more 'dressy' look, so a couple of years ago started to wear fedora styles. Also, as I've gotten older, and the noggin has gotten less full of hair, and I've been warned to be sure to cover up while in the sun, hats have become more of a necessity. So, why not wear nice ones instead of ball caps all the time!?

Bob R in OKC

 

[alanfgag]

My true story... I had one hat. It was a Tilley hat that I bought in Florida when I realized I would be toast without something on my head. I wore it pretty much all the time for a decade. This picture of me in the Tilley was taken for a book that celebrated the visit of the Dalai Lama to the University of Buffalo. Then one day I lost it. In the process of getting a replacement, I thought maybe I should have two or three hats. Just in case. Then the whole thing became a Bartholomew Cubbins experience. Every time I tried to take my hat off, another one took its place.

 

[hatsRme]

Long ago and far away... my Mom copied a Moriarty ski hat in a store window, then knitted it nicely.

My first fedora, bought when I helped to renovate a men's clothing store in the summer of 1971. My precious Lee private label. I bought it because I wanted it. It's still in the rotation! I'm the guy with the hat, in the middle...

 

[suitedcboy]

When I was about 2 years old I picked up one of my dad's fedoras and dropped it over my head. I was fascinated by it and every time I was missing they would find me trying to get to one of the hats.
My older sisters discovered when they were charged with babysitting me all they had to stop me from crying was to go get one of my dad's hats and hand it to me. It has been pretty much that way for 53 years since then.
Oh, my sisters also figured out that his straw hats didn't shut me up, it had to be felt. That also hasn't changed in 53 years either.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I've always worn hats because growing up, well...that was just what you wore when you left the house. Kind of like shoes.

I started wearing them more as an adult when my hair started to thin on top. Nothing is worse than a sunburned head.

 

[Zombie_61]

Copied from my post in the "Why do you wear a fedora or cap?" thread:

I've only started wearing hats in the last five years or so. I had an occasional hat here and there growing up--a flat cap or a cheap wool felt "western style" hat--but never wore them regularly because I never felt I looked "right" in a hat of any type. In 2008 I got a Wested "Raiders of the Lost Ark" style brown leather jacket and decided I wanted to get a hat to wear with it, so I sought out and found a decent "newsboy" flat cap. I liked the cap but soon realized it wasn't rain-proof, so I got a brown Akubra Federation IV; except for being similar in height I look nothing like Harrison Ford, so I figured I was safe (and I was right--I've never once heard an "Indiana Jones" comment). Then another newsboy...and another...and another.

Having grown up as a "member of the working class" in a decidedly "blue collar" family, flat caps suit me right down to the ground. But they're not as efficient as a wide-brimmed hat when it comes to sun protection, which has become a more serious issue in my life. In January of this year I had my first bout with skin cancer. It was ridiculously minor by comparison to just about every other cancer story; in fact, the scar on my nose (where they removed the malignant cells) is so small that you'd really have to look closely to see it. But it made me realize it's never too soon to start protecting one's self from further sun damage. I love my Fed IV but, since it's dark brown, it gets quite hot when I wear it during summer months, so I've ordered a wider-brimmed Akubra Campdraft in Silverbelly (a nice light color) for double duty as a sun hat and a rain hat.

So, for me, what started as "I'd like to get a hat" has become "I'll need to wear a hat". In retrospect, since I don't believe in coincidence, I think my "sudden" desire to start wearing hats five years ago was the universe's way of telling me I'd better get used to it.

 

[george]

I had had a cursory interest in hats for a long time. The "last straw," as it were, that got me off my butt to go get a hat was the game LA Noire. That game is pure atmosphere and style.

The first hat was a panama (Bigalli Unique) that I got on sale because autumn was upon us. It's always been my best hat. I still wear it when the weather is nice, I've had it almost two years.

When it got colder that same year, I got myself a somewhat cheaper, wool felt fedora. Yes it was cheap, but it was a decent hat still, it suited me. It drew compliments.

Why am I using the past tense? Because one night at the bar, a "friend" of mine took it off the top of my head... and then I never saw it again.
She said some friend of hers had taken it, and then lost in in her drunkenness. Alas.

 

[Stewart Field]

Two words - Film Noir. I'm a big fan of this genre of movies and once you've seen Bogart in Casablanca, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon or Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity, it's just something that sort of grips you. Thankfully I look half way decent in a low crown fedora so that became my head wear of choice.

 

[-30-]

One, a black Knox Homburg, just "growed" on my head during '69, with another, this time in '72, a Stetson Panama.

None since the mid 70's, but after my retirement the "problem" not only began again, but became manifold!

A Stetson Panama, a black Borsalino Fedora, (We're not going to go there.) a black Leon Drexler Fedora,

a dark blue Manleigh Custom Hatters - 1950's (Toronto) Fedora, and last but not the least, a black

Grandiose Homburg by Cappelli - 1950s?.

So there you, actually I, have them; they seem to be "seeking me out".


Regards,
-30-

 

[VTporkpie]

I had had a cursory interest in hats for a long time. The "last straw," as it were, that got me off my butt to go get a hat was the game LA Noire. That game is pure atmosphere and style.

I was wondering if anyone on here had played that. Excellent reference and glad to see I am not the only one!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?67180-L-A-Noir-TNT/page2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[tealseal]

Then the whole thing became a Bartholomew Cubbins experience. Every time I tried to take my hat off, another one took its place.

This is probably one of the best hat-wearing/hat-buying/hat-owning quotes I've ever read!

 

[GamaH]

Became religious.

Before that, I wore hats, but only occasionally. I always thought that people were so much more well dressed in the earlier half of the century.

 

[bowlerman]

This is probably one of the best hat-wearing/hat-buying/hat-owning quotes I've ever read!

I was just accused of this two days ago!

 

[frussell]

Cowboy hats (and boots) since right after birth, got a sassy shot in baby book with only cowboy boots, rearview, that I won't post here, about 7 months old. These two photos are somewhere around 3 years old, 1966-67 or so. Around the same time, found a soft old grey Stratoliner-type in my grandfather's closet, never had my photo taken in it, as I only wore it when at their house. Wore that old hat from when it covered my eyes until it was too tight for my head. Bought my first proper fedora (made for me, had lots of hand me downs before) about 18 years old, from The Hat Store in Houston, about 1980 or so. Still in the garage somewhere, way too tight now. Frank.



Noticed after posting that my grandfather is breaking the rule against squatting with your spurs on.

 

[winter_joe]

When I was a kid it was cowboy hats, but after watching the untouchables I gained a fondness for fedoras. My dad always called them pimp hats, he's an old school cowboy hat wearer so that's why he teases me about it lol

 

[totallyfrozen]

Hi gang! I'm new here and have been a periodic lurker at FL for a few years. This is my first post here. Anyway...

I used to absolutely HATE hats! I never wore hats unless it was a safety issue and then I couldn't wait to get it off my head! Eventually, I joined the Army and they made us wear hats of one type or other any time we were outside. Being frequently in the cold, hot, and/or wet environments the Army prefers to train troops in I began to appreciate the protective qualities of various types of head wear. Sometime in those 7 years, I got over my hatred for hats. I'm still not too fond ball caps; although, I own a couple. I have one ball cap that I actually DO like. It's an oil skin cotton cap that I got while in Alaska. It's nice in the rain in certain situations; however, being a ball cap it offers very little rain protection overall and none for my ears or neck. It's more of a souvenir, really.

The first hat that I "discovered" (the first hat that I actually liked) was a wool herringbone ivy cap. Unfortunately, it was on my friend's head...not mine. I though that hat looked great and I really wanted one. From that day on, I've really become a fan of stylish hats. I don't have too many yet because I'm selective about what hats I'll buy. Well...that and my wife is very selective about what hats she thinks look good. She usually tries to get me to "fix my hair" for us to go out, but I'd much prefer to forego that time consuming process and be able to still look good with a stylish lid. I look forward to finding excuses to get a few more hats.

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

THEY made me do it!

 

[Michaelshane]

I started a long time ago....

I've always believed,too big is better than too small.

 

[HamilcarBarca3]

After being in the Army I appreciated hats more. I always liked the fedora. I started off with cheap cloth hats then some cheap wool felt and then I moved on to vintage hats. I like them for their utility and here in Houston a good hat is a good investment.