How do you apply your brimmed hat?

[RJJ]

Thought this would be a fun question.


I say brimmed hat since it pretty obivious if it is a newsboy or ball cap. So for your fedora, snap brim, whippet, stetson....ect. which would it be?

1. The quick flop - Taking the hat by the front brim and flopping it onto your noggin.

2. The IJ - Taking the hat by the front and back brim, placing on your noggin with a firm tug downward to the front brim.

3. The crowning - Taking the hat by the crown, which almost seems natural if it has a front pinch, and placing it down onto your noggin. Although I've read in a couple of places that this should be avoided because it can cause damage to the crown.

Any others?

For me it's The IJ

 

[donCarlos]

I grab it gently by the crown, it can´t be damaged while doing it properly.

 

[MattJH]

I can't be bothered treating articles of clothing like artifacts. I unceremoniously mash it on by the pinch.

 

[DnSchlng]

Honestly, depending on the hat, I use all of the methods.

 

[HamletJSD]

I can't be bothered treating articles of clothing like artifacts. I unceremoniously mash it on by the pinch.

Amen! :eusa_clap

Though, with my vintage and/or more precious coverings, I do admit to being a bit less unceremonious.

 

[Slim Portly]

I grab it by the pinch with my right hand, index finger in the center crease and thumb and middle finger to either side, place it on the crown of my head and gently settle the front down to just above my brow, and then I take hold of the front right brim with my thumb and index finger and give a gentle tug down while simultaneously sliding the grip across the front of the brim to the left side and turning my head to the right as my right hand crosses to the left temple. When executed properly it settles the hat into a nice left-forward cant while giving a good show to anyone watching.

 

[blade runner]

For me it depends on the hat. Using your terminology, with my Federation I do the "crowning" and plunk it on my head. With my AB, I tend to use the "quick flop". With a vintage hat it is more of the "IJ" method. The first two hats are pretty sturdy, but with my vintage and my straws I don't like to be too rough.

 

[dhermann1]

Having crushed the pinch on my old beater Panama, I try not to squeeze the pinch on any of my hats. I'll tend to pick it up by the front brim and use one hand in front, the other in back to place it on my head.

 

[Havana]

I put mine on by holding the back of the crown in what they used to call the buckaroo reach. I find that this is the best way to get the pinched front centered just right. I never grab it by the pinch because that will eventually leave stains. When taking it off, I always grab it by the brim just above my ear.

 

[RPeers]

I always liked this approach ... I know etiquette suggests never to put it on or take it off with a great flourish but I can't resist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj8vT24g7RM
(not me by the way)

 

[Roadrunner]

I guess I do either the Indiana Jones or the flop. It depends on whether it 'plops' on right.

 

[shortbow]

With my current day-to-day 50 yr old Open Road, I just grab it by the pinch and mash. Sometimes I just spontaneously role a little flourish when doing it, but right now, since I'm thinking about it, I can't do it.

I do the same with my minty old Borsalino, but I do do it a bit more carefully, because it was my Father's and I'm not likely to ever find a nicer hat.

 

[NonEntity]

While I'm aware that, to avoid eventually ruining the top front of the crown, you are not supposed to ever handle a hat there and use the brim instead, for me, I have found that putting one on and taking it off by the pinch is an extremely difficult habit to break.

Frankly, even after many years of doing so, I have never sullied the pinch of any felt hat. But I do have a then-relatively-pricey stingy brim Dobbs Panama I bought new in the 70s that is otherwise perfect whose pinch is neatly cracked right along the creases--rendering it unwearable--which I'm sure was caused by this habit.

However, I have a newer, about 10-year-old, wide-brim Panama I got on sale for only $20 from Eddy Bauer which I handle the same old way that has suffered no damage whatsoever.

Were I to break down and spend big bucks on a primo Panama--which I'm seriously considering--only then do I think I could force myself to handle it the "proper" way.

But there's another aspect to "proper": You cannot perform the quintessential Southern gentleman "Howdy, ma'am" hat tip without grasping it by the pinch, so it boils down to a matter of superb manners versus hat preservation.

 

[ADHD librarian]

It's by the pinch from me too.

This post needs to be a proper survey (after all who is going to collate this data?)

 

[ScionPI2005]

I use all methods described above, but the most popular one I seem to use is cradling the front of the crown softly in my right hand, and pinching the rear of the brim with my left hand as I place the hat on my head.

 

[Bingles]

I use the pinch method too.. seems natural to do it that way. I'm just careful not to squeeze the crown too much when doing it.

 

[MAB1]

I hate to say it but... I'm a pincher too.

 

[Magus]

I don't see my method mentioned yet. So here goes. I pick up the hat by the side brims and place it on my head, then adjust the the front brim if needed. I never use the crown or front pinch as I have had a few hats that I bought used which were in perfect condition...until I checked out the pinch...only to see it overworked and worn through...and the hat ruined.

 

[jimmy the lid]

None of the above...

Well, I do something a bit different than anything described so far. I position the front of the hat just where I want it by holding the front of the brim with my right hand. My left hand sits on top of the brim in the back. When the front is in place, I apply light pressure and push down on the back of the brim near the crown, sliding the lid down on the back of my head. Using this method, I am never tugging down on the front of the brim. This all seems to work pretty smoothly...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[ScionPI2005]

I think its safe to say that the method in which our hats are applied to our heads is as unique as the way we talk and walk.