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How do folks react to your hat wearing?

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,797
Location
New Forest
Have I told this tale before? It's a trait of us oldies, so indulge me if I'm boring you. The model of my car is known as a Y-Type, only about eight thousand were produced. The rear end shares a great deal with a car from it's sister company. At the end of the production run a new model was to be launched, but there were problems. So what MG did was to upgrade the Y-Type, they only built 1301 upgrades and called it the YB. When the new model arrived it was light years from the pre-war shape of the YB, in fact it was much more similar to today's cars, it looked like this:
mg-magnette.jpg
Sorry about all that trivia but you need to know that to get the gist of this story.
My car has been converted to run on unleaded, so fuel is not a problem. Just recently, whilst in the garage topping up the fuel tank, a silver haired fellow walked over from his new Jaguar and said: "It's a Y-Type," then he added, "a YB." "You've got to have had one," I replied. "About twelve I think, no make that fifteen," he answered, and before I could say anything he explained that his Father had a Jaguar dealership in the fifties, which he took over in 1958. He said that whenever customers traded in a Y-Type it would never be on the forecourt more than a week.

He and his sales team all loved the model. He knew that it had different size wheels than the original Y-Type, he also knew that the rear end shared a body with the Morris Eight and he was also aware that the MG TD sports car shared most of it's DNA with the YB.

He finished by saying that I dressed like his customers did, back in the day, adding that he couldn't remember a single customer who didn't wear a hat. So taken was he that he photographed me and then, at my request, texted me a copy.
blazer and mg 001.JPG
 

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,853
Have I told this tale before? It's a trait of us oldies, so indulge me if I'm boring you. The model of my car is known as a Y-Type, only about eight thousand were produced. The rear end shares a great deal with a car from it's sister company. At the end of the production run a new model was to be launched, but there were problems. So what MG did was to upgrade the Y-Type, they only built 1301 upgrades and called it the YB. When the new model arrived it was light years from the pre-war shape of the YB, in fact it was much more similar to today's cars, it looked like this:
View attachment 170919
Sorry about all that trivia but you need to know that to get the gist of this story.
My car has been converted to run on unleaded, so fuel is not a problem. Just recently, whilst in the garage topping up the fuel tank, a silver haired fellow walked over from his new Jaguar and said: "It's a Y-Type," then he added, "a YB." "You've got to have had one," I replied. "About twelve I think, no make that fifteen," he answered, and before I could say anything he explained that his Father had a Jaguar dealership in the fifties, which he took over in 1958. He said that whenever customers traded in a Y-Type it would never be on the forecourt more than a week.

He and his sales team all loved the model. He knew that it had different size wheels than the original Y-Type, he also knew that the rear end shared a body with the Morris Eight and he was also aware that the MG TD sports car shared most of it's DNA with the YB.

He finished by saying that I dressed like his customers did, back in the day, adding that he couldn't remember a single customer who didn't wear a hat. So taken was he that he photographed me and then, at my request, texted me a copy.
View attachment 170923
Not boring...not boring at all!
Great story...great legacy!
Bowen
 

Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
:eek:
Goodness gracious...your wife is so talented!!!
My grandmother was a seamstress, worked in a shop in downtown manhattan and regularly made outfits for Lena Horne. I even got to meet her one time...set my little 10 year old heart fluttering for months. Still love hearing her voice to this day...it was even more amazing, sultry and alluring in person.....Ahhhhh....

But I digress.
My grandmother was a seamstress and made clothes, the way your wife does, from scratch. She could take measurements on us grandkids, get fabric from her basement stash, and make a full outfit for any of us within 2 hours. With just a day of notice, she would have brand new sunday outfits for all of us stitched up by saturday night.
Simply amazing. With the clothes she had us wearing, you would never know from looking at us that we ever knew anything of the word "Poor".
She made my grandfather a leather jacket that fit me (and him) like it was made for me. And thick durable leather too. I wore it until I got married and gained weight and started working out. Passed the jacket along to another that had their eye on it...probably should have kept it though. Ah well, too late now...
Amazing woman...miss her.
View attachment 169382
Great story!
My grandmother didn't sew that I remember, but she had an eye for clothes. She dressed my grandfather, always dapper, all his life until she preceded him, and I was the first grandchild, the only one for 3 years. I remember very young her taking me shopping, many times in thrift stores much different than today's. I think she dressed me for every Olan Mills portrait at least until I was six, and I looked sharp! White shorts with shoulder straps and saddle shoes. Bow ties and light cardigan sweaters with a pocket square. Flannel trousers with a double breasted navy blazer and small cap ---- not a flat cap, but not a ball cap either. Something between the two.
My sister and brother were taken under her fashion wing too, but never as much as me. The oldest does get that. The most pictures, and oh so carefully chosen little outfits. I can see it in the pictures of my daughters in retrospect, but never thought about it at the time.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk
 

Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
Have I told this tale before? It's a trait of us oldies, so indulge me if I'm boring you. The model of my car is known as a Y-Type, only about eight thousand were produced. The rear end shares a great deal with a car from it's sister company. At the end of the production run a new model was to be launched, but there were problems. So what MG did was to upgrade the Y-Type, they only built 1301 upgrades and called it the YB. When the new model arrived it was light years from the pre-war shape of the YB, in fact it was much more similar to today's cars, it looked like this:
View attachment 170919
Sorry about all that trivia but you need to know that to get the gist of this story.
My car has been converted to run on unleaded, so fuel is not a problem. Just recently, whilst in the garage topping up the fuel tank, a silver haired fellow walked over from his new Jaguar and said: "It's a Y-Type," then he added, "a YB." "You've got to have had one," I replied. "About twelve I think, no make that fifteen," he answered, and before I could say anything he explained that his Father had a Jaguar dealership in the fifties, which he took over in 1958. He said that whenever customers traded in a Y-Type it would never be on the forecourt more than a week.

He and his sales team all loved the model. He knew that it had different size wheels than the original Y-Type, he also knew that the rear end shared a body with the Morris Eight and he was also aware that the MG TD sports car shared most of it's DNA with the YB.

He finished by saying that I dressed like his customers did, back in the day, adding that he couldn't remember a single customer who didn't wear a hat. So taken was he that he photographed me and then, at my request, texted me a copy.
View attachment 170923
You dhould have asked for his card. If anyone could find your next one, he was the man.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk
 

The Jackal

One of the Regulars
Messages
210
While not really a reaction, I do think it's worth pointing out that I've worn a hat so much that my son expects me to always be wearing one. He was mad at me for missing his school awards ceremony when he searched the crowd and didn't see me.

He was looking for the guy in the hat and I didn't have one on that day.
 

Hat and Rehat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,444
Location
Denver
While not really a reaction, I do think it's worth pointing out that I've worn a hat so much that my son expects me to always be wearing one. He was mad at me for missing his school awards ceremony when he searched the crowd and didn't see me.

He was looking for the guy in the hat and I didn't have one on that day.

That could come in handy if he starts getting into mischief.
 

Tiki Tom

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,399
Location
Oahu, North Polynesia
Quite possibly the nicest and most meaningful comment I have ever received:
My daughter is home from college and her roommate was visiting our fair city for a couple of weeks. One Saturday I was giving them both my history walking-tour of the downtown area. It was a bright/warm day and I was wearing my Panama. Out of the blue the roommate said "You know, I would really like to buy my dad a hat like yours."
That's about the sincerest compliment I can imagine.
 

The Jackal

One of the Regulars
Messages
210
I recently had a guy stop me as I was riding past him in the warehouse to tell me how much he liked the Panama I was wearing.

A few days later, I was attending a briefing about the new alarm system they installed in the building, and as soon as I hopped out of the cart, one of the electricians started miming grabbing the brim of a hat, trying to figure out why I didn't have mine on at the time.
 

Tukwila

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,382
Location
SW of Antifa Central (PDX)
A young man I've recently started working with noticed I wear a different hat each day. He asked how long it will be before he sees a repeat. I told him to give it a few months.
Hehehe. It's just a few weeks for me. I could spread it out a coupl emonths, but I base my hat choice on weather and clothes more than trying to cycle through everything I have.

Today, the same guy walked by.... stopped cold, looking at my custom Steel beaver fedora from Penman Hat Co. and said, I really like that. It looks "gangster." LOL.
 
Messages
12,977
Location
Germany
On my way to Edeka, I walked along our vital place, with one of our train stops and two bus stops, which are the most central for our "Gymnasium" around the corner and my old "Realschule" a little further afar.

A cute maybe 12 yo girl came the way from our Realschule, heading for the bus stop and smiled and greeted me with "Hallo.", with a heartmelting tone.

You see, why hazelnut Wegener rocks. Getting all the girls! :) The wrong ones... :(

;)
 

Andrew friedhofen

New in Town
Messages
27
This afternoon I was in unusual environs (for me) - downtown Brooklyn near Metrotech on the Court Street plaza, lots of people walking every which way, and I got a compliment from a gentleman on my Fed IV (featured this morning in the WHAYWT thread). Always a nice thing.
Just started wearing vintage hats about two years ago and only had compliments when I had on a beat up straw. Fuggitabout the borsalino, habig,cervino, bentley, champ etc. This is a ball cap area.
 

Benny Holiday

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,805
Location
Sydney Australia
Being an Aussie, the majority of my hats are Akubra Stylemasters. The very first one I bought back in 1995 is black, then I bought one in acorn fawn, and I've also got dark brown, medium grey and bluegrass green.

Anyway, I was wearing my black one yesterday and was about to leave the office in the afternoon when one of the ladies downstairs commented on how she loves that hat. I was (pleasantly) surprised because some people might think the black is too sombre a colour, but I was wearing a black sport coat and wanted to match. Anyway, it was really nice of her to compliment the hat!
 

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