How do folks react to your hat wearing?

[GHT]

My hats do get noticed, but don't draw many comments. Sometimes I can see them thinking about saying something, but they never quite get there. However, having hair to the bottom of my ribcage, a gorilla face mask for the pandemic, and a 5" goatee protruding from the bottom of it, the hat might not necessarily be the standout feature...

Any style of two tone shoes will almost always draw a comment, in fact it's rare to see leather shoes at all. The ubiquitous trainer dominates.

 

[Zombie_61]

I wore my new Akubra Hampton while running errands yesterday, and had two different encounters. The first was with a thirty-something man with (I presume) his wife and two sons, and as I was walking through the local Target store he stopped to inquire about my hat. His interest suddenly dissipated when I told him it came from Australia and the price, but you never know.

The second was with a young Asian gent trying to sell something out in the parking lot. Using my hat as a method of engagement he asked, "Isn't that one of those hats they wear in France?" Nice try, kid. I mean, someone somewhere in France might be wearing one, but...

 

[GLewis]

I wore my new Akubra Hampton while running errands yesterday, and had two different encounters. The first was with a thirty-something man with (I presume) his wife and two sons, and as I was walking through the local Target store he stopped to inquire about my hat. His interest suddenly dissipated when I told him it came from Australia and the price, but you never know.

The second was with a young Asian gent trying to sell something out in the parking lot. Using my hat as a method of engagement he asked, "Isn't that one of those hats they wear in France?" Nice try, kid. I mean, someone somewhere in France might be wearing one, but...

I think it’s interesting that people will buy a pair of shoes that la

I wore my new Akubra Hampton while running errands yesterday, and had two different encounters. The first was with a thirty-something man with (I presume) his wife and two sons, and as I was walking through the local Target store he stopped to inquire about my hat. His interest suddenly dissipated when I told him it came from Australia and the price, but you never know.

The second was with a young Asian gent trying to sell something out in the parking lot. Using my hat as a method of engagement he asked, "Isn't that one of those hats they wear in France?" Nice try, kid. I mean, someone somewhere in France might be wearing one, but...

I find it remarkable that people will buy a pair of basketball shoes for $2-300 that will last a year, but won’t buy a high quality hat for $150. They’re shocked to find that you’ll have to pay that much.

 

[WonkyBloke]

I find it remarkable that people will buy a pair of basketball shoes for $2-300 that will last a year, but won’t buy a high quality hat for $150. They’re shocked to find that you’ll have to pay that much.

That's one of the reasons I like cotton so much, the affordability. I won't pay that much for a hat. Even my new Christy Epsom fur only cost £62 delivered. Most of my hats have been under £40, and will give me many years of service.

 

[glider]

That's one of the reasons I like cotton so much, the affordability. I won't pay that much for a hat. Even my new Christy Epsom fur only cost £62 delivered. Most of my hats have been under £40, and will give me many years of service.

Everything is relative and it really comes down to what something {a hat} is worth to you. I have found a few pretty nice used hats for very attractive prices but I don't mind paying around 200 bucks or so if I really like the hat. I'm not able to spend a thousand bucks on a hat and I don't think I would anyway so I guess everyone has there limit. Back on subject, I get way more comments from woman than men.

 

[BJC88]

That's one of the reasons I like cotton so much, the affordability. I won't pay that much for a hat. Even my new Christy Epsom fur only cost £62 delivered. Most of my hats have been under £40, and will give me many years of service.

As someone who paid somewhere around that for a Burma Adventurer just to have it fall apart within the year with minimal wear... Well, I wish you good luck.

After buying two hats that were within that price range and having them shrink within the year (The Christy's Adventurer and an Indy hat sold by Todd's Costumes), I made a significant investment into a Penman Raiders Fedora in Beaver Felt. Nine years and two reblocks later (one to get back its shape, the other to change size due to weight loss) it is still going strong.

 

[belfastboy]

As someone who paid somewhere around that for a Burma Adventurer just to have it fall apart within the year with minimal wear... Well, I wish you good luck.

After buying two hats that were within that price range and having them shrink within the year (The Christy's Adventurer and an Indy hat sold by Todd's Costumes), I made a significant investment into a Penman Raiders Fedora in Beaver Felt. Nine years and two reblocks later (one to get back its shape, the other to change size due to weight loss) it is still going strong.

Just prior to Covid I met a guy on the hiking trail wearing a Penman. It was his only hat and he had worn it everyday for the last 15 years and it still looked great. Whatever he paid for it he got his monies worth and it will continue for many more years to come.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

That's one of the reasons I like cotton so much, the affordability. I won't pay that much for a hat. Even my new Christy Epsom fur only cost £62 delivered. Most of my hats have been under £40, and will give me many years of service.

There is definitely a point where you get into significant diminishing returns, and there is also the possibility of paying for a brand name rather than quality. In my experience, you should be getting significantly better quality hats at 2-4 times the price of the Christys’. It makes even more sense (to me) to invest in high quality hats if you’re going to own just one hat or even just a few. There’s also the issue that most of the less expensive hat makers don’t make hats in the styles, shapes, or proportions many prefer.

 

[WonkyBloke]

There is definitely a point where you get into significant diminishing returns, and there is also the possibility of paying for a brand name rather than quality. In my experience, you should be getting significantly better quality hats at 2-4 times the price of the Christys’. It makes even more sense (to me) to invest in high quality hats if you’re going to own just one hat or even just a few. There’s also the issue that most of the less expensive hat makers don’t make hats in the styles, shapes, or proportions many prefer.

I was happy to pay for a hat at roughly half of Christy's usual retail price, but would be rather reluctant to pay full price, never mind two to four times the cost. I fully appreciate that other folks will take a very different stance.

I would also expect that other people here have significantly different standards to me of what to expect from a hat. I personally would probably fail to identify the benefit of the additional cost. That's not to say either of us are right or wrong, of course. We just have different tastes and expectations.

Every other hat (not necessarily the same style or materials), that I've bought for equivalent prices in the past, has served me well enough for the money, and I'm fairly confident this Christy hat will be the same. The same applies with my cotton and leather hats.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I was happy to pay for a hat at roughly half of Christy's usual retail price, but would be rather reluctant to pay full price, never mind two to four times the cost. I fully appreciate that other folks will take a very different stance.

I would also expect that other people here have significantly different standards to me of what to expect from a hat. I personally would probably fail to identify the benefit of the additional cost. That's not to say either of us are right or wrong, of course. We just have different tastes and expectations.

Every other hat (not necessarily the same style or materials), that I've bought for equivalent prices in the past, has served me well enough for the money, and I'm fairly confident this Christy hat will be the same. The same applies with my cotton and leather hats.

I hear you. There are different ways to approach hat wearing and a small selection, or even just one hat, is all some people want. You’re also lucky if you like the styling of modern hats. I feel grateful that I don’t care for Optimo’s styling as the prices are above what I can afford. My couple experiences with modern Christys’ hats, all were fur felt hats, weren’t what I had hoped for and they just weren’t for me. There’s a reason that Akubra owns it’s price point as they are rugged, hard wearing, and at least certain models are more classically styled than most makers’ offerings.

I don’t want to come across as trying to up-sale you or push you to think my way. The thing is, we have seen certain patterns repeat here often enough that we try to offer help in avoiding pitfalls. I didn’t avoid them and ended up throwing money away or not being happy with my purchases. New folks either dip a toe in and then fade away or they become regulars. The new people, myself included, sometimes look for shortcuts or less expensive options and often end up with hats that just aren’t what we wanted (e.g.: the Christys’ I mentioned earlier).

All that said, the great majority of the hat wearing public are in your camp. Cotton summer hats outsell real Panama hats and wool fedoras outsell fur felt hats. Low tapered crowns and shorter brims outsell 1940s style large proportioned hats. Most of those folks don’t think about a hat “collection” and just buy what they think looks good or what fills a need without much any thought. Their purchases serve their function and they see no need to invest time in studying hats or making large investments to buy hats when they are fully satisfied with what they already have. Nothing wrong with that at all. Hats are functional after all. However, groups dedicated to the study and acquisition of a particular thing always have a aspect of snobbery. This is true across interests. Some of the old members here used to bury the Akubra threads to keep the focus on vintage. Some members have gotten upset with the focus on 1950s hats (not being old enough etc.) and have left. I’m sure that my large and growing collection of 1960s-90s westerns aren’t to the liking of lots of the purists either. This place was made for the appreciation of the Golden Era after all and some of my favorite hats don’t have any such pedigree. I guess I’m wanting to let you know that I appreciate your position and perspective, but I’m still going to give mine too. The last thing I’d want to do is to give offense and I hope you can take whatever I may say in the spirit intended.

Brent

 

[WonkyBloke]

I hear you. There are different ways to approach hat wearing and a small selection, or even just one hat, is all some people want. You’re also lucky if you like the styling of modern hats. I feel grateful that I don’t care for Optimo’s styling as the prices are above what I can afford. My couple experiences with modern Christys’ hats, all were fur felt hats, weren’t what I had hoped for and they just weren’t for me. There’s a reason that Akubra owns it’s price point as they are rugged, hard wearing, and at least certain models are more classically styled than most makers’ offerings.

I don’t want to come across as trying to up-sale you or push you to think my way. The thing is, we have seen certain patterns repeat here often enough that we try to offer help in avoiding pitfalls. I didn’t avoid them and ended up throwing money away or not being happy with my purchases. New folks either dip a toe in and then fade away or they become regulars. The new people, myself included, sometimes look for shortcuts or less expensive options and often end up with hats that just aren’t what we wanted (e.g.: the Christys’ I mentioned earlier).

All that said, the great majority of the hat wearing public are in your camp. Cotton summer hats outsell real Panama hats and wool fedoras outsell fur felt hats. Low tapered crowns and shorter brims outsell 1940s style large proportioned hats. Most of those folks don’t think about a hat “collection” and just buy what they think looks good or what fills a need without much any thought. Their purchases serve their function and they see no need to invest time in studying hats or making large investments to buy hats when they are fully satisfied with what they already have. Nothing wrong with that at all. Hats are functional after all. However, groups dedicated to the study and acquisition of a particular thing always have a aspect of snobbery. This is true across interests. Some of the old members here used to bury the Akubra threads to keep the focus on vintage. Some members have gotten upset with the focus on 1950s hats (not being old enough etc.) and have left. I’m sure that my large and growing collection of 1960s-90s westerns aren’t to the liking of lots of the purists either. This place was made for the appreciation of the Golden Era after all and some of my favorite hats don’t have any such pedigree. I guess I’m wanting to let you know that I appreciate your position and perspective, but I’m still going to give mine too. The last thing I’d want to do is to give offense and I hope you can take whatever I may say in the spirit intended.

Brent

No offence taken, Brent. I get it, I really do. I know I'm a token outsider in this realm, and don't expect many here to see things through my eyes.

I also don't ever expect to wear out a hat. Even a cheap one. I expect "life" to happen. Some scroat nicks it, a gust of wind has it outrun me, I fail to see a "wet paint" sign, a friend's dog decides to "play" with it, or one of my nephews and nieces do... and when "life" does happen, I'll buy another, for less than the price of repair or reblocking. No tears, no upset, no regrets. I'll just have a steady lifetime of acquisitions on an "as needed" basis. So long as folks here don't mind me tagging along, I'll quite happily enjoy paddling in the shallow end of the pool

 

[deadlyhandsome]

No offence taken, Brent. I get it, I really do. I know I'm a token outsider in this realm, and don't expect many here to see things through my eyes.

I also don't ever expect to wear out a hat. Even a cheap one. I expect "life" to happen. Some scroat nicks it, a gust of wind has it outrun me, I fail to see a "wet paint" sign, a friend's dog decides to "play" with it, or one of my nephews and nieces do... and when "life" does happen, I'll buy another, for less than the price of repair or reblocking. No tears, no upset, no regrets. I'll just have a steady lifetime of acquisitions on an "as needed" basis. So long as folks here don't mind me tagging along, I'll quite happily enjoy paddling in the shallow end of the pool

You’re more than welcome here! I always enjoy other perspectives.

 

[WonkyBloke]

You’re more than welcome here! I always enjoy other perspectives.

Thanks buddy. Me too. That's why I'm here

 

[glider]

Hat collecting kinda slips up on ya. I never really intended to have more than 1 nice hat, I now have 20 something and growing, that's nothing compared to some of the guys here. Trust me, you are bit, you just don't know it yet.

 

[WonkyBloke]

Hat collecting kinda slips up on ya. I never really intended to have more than 1 nice hat, I now have 20 something and growing, that's nothing compared to some of the guys here. Trust me, you are bit, you just don't know it yet.

Oh, I have several hats, in wool, cotton, fur, and leather, they're just all at the lower price end of the spectrum.

 

[Rmccamey]

I got a "nice hat" for my Sunbody fedora last weekend.

 

[Blare]

A gentleman in a barbecue place stopped by our table to inquire about my hat… a 1960s Adam Mainliner. Where could he get one like it. I explained this one was made in the 60s and that maybe the closest thing to it today would be a Stetson Stratoliner. He then told me how the proportions were just right for what he was looking for and that everything today he found was too wide a brim for going indoors and again wanted to know where to get this exact hat. I again said the hat was 50 or 60 years old. But he wanted to know what store……… eBay… I replied. I really wanted to help… but I still don’t think he understood it was a vintage hat.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Strange that he thought most modern fedoras have brims that are too wide: that hasn’t been my experience.

 

[Blare]

Strange that he thought most modern fedoras have brims that are too wide: that hasn’t been my experience.

Yeah… I was assuming he was thinking of westerns. But then he said… and the tops as so soft they get all smooshed up. That threw me.

 

[GHT]

A gentleman in a barbecue place stopped by our table to inquire about my hat… a 1960s Adam Mainliner. Where could he get one like it. I explained this one was made in the 60s and that maybe the closest thing to it today would be a Stetson Stratoliner.

I know where he can get one like it. From a hat fairy in North Belgium. She is a real talent at making hats.