OddHatter
New in Town
- Messages
- 23
Hello friends.
I've been searching around the forum trying to find a thread or response where members share their opinion/rationale on the ideal hat color and can't seem to find it. My guess is there must be something but I'm at a loss where it would be. I also recognize the subjective nature of the question, but I can't imagine men from back in the day having massive collections. My thought is they most likely had that one trusty lid they wore 'til the cows came home. I'm wondering what that ideal, most versatile color would be because I'm seriously considering getting an expert - I'm sure someone here would know of someone - to make me a hat. Kinda like what I've seen Adventurebilt do, but something more along the lines of what Bogie wore in the Maltese Falcon (I've been consuming the Bogart's Fedora thread). I've thought about Akubra's Fed IV - almost pulled the trigger with the moonstone color - when I thought, why not go all out? Why not spend the money for a fine 100% beaver felt custom job just for me. One that can be my prime go-to through thick and thin and maybe end up being buried with it, you know? No need for any more hats or a massive collection, just one versatile, pragmatic well-made and great looking hat. Basically, like how Indiana Jones had his famed fedora, well... maybe Dan could have one too.
That brings me to the color dilemma: what is the ideal color for both casual jeans/khakis, and a smart suit. My thought at first was the light grey with a black ribbon. Than I thought that Indy had it right with the dark brown and matching ribbon. Than I thought about a darker gray with matching or perhaps black ribbon which may offer more contrast with sports coats? My normal dress is jeans/khakis and either polos of various colors or button downs. I rarely wear suits but do wear a sports coat (usually matched with dark jeans or charcol slacks) when going out. Naturally, the occassional family event requiring a suit is there, but again, not too often. I guess you could say my daily "style" is smart casual with earth tones primary and some color accents (polos, etc.). So I'm leaning again towards brown ala Indy, but with a "Bogart cut" (is there such a thing?).
I think you see my problem. I would hate to spend all the money (and for me we're talking a whole lot of money) and feel like I got the wrong color or one that just won't go with fill-in-the-blank shirt/jacket/etc. Ideally, I should be able to close my eyes and just dress and the hat will somehow pull it all together, just like I imagine men did back in the day when they really only owned one or two hats anyhow. Any thoughts would be appreciated as I feel I can't be the only one who pondered this question. Again, I'm sorry if this was addressed elsewhere but I couldn't, for the life of me, find it.
Dan
p.s. I should probably add that when jacket-wearing season rolls around, I'm usually wearing some kind of insulated vest and sweatshirt, khaki zip-up, insulated plaid hoodie, or either my old but awesome pea coat from my Navy days, or a brown leather jacket - all depending on the temps. I just got a dark green/gray trench for the rain (like I said, been absorbing Bogart a lot), but probably won't wear it more than a dozen times in a year. Thanks again.
I've been searching around the forum trying to find a thread or response where members share their opinion/rationale on the ideal hat color and can't seem to find it. My guess is there must be something but I'm at a loss where it would be. I also recognize the subjective nature of the question, but I can't imagine men from back in the day having massive collections. My thought is they most likely had that one trusty lid they wore 'til the cows came home. I'm wondering what that ideal, most versatile color would be because I'm seriously considering getting an expert - I'm sure someone here would know of someone - to make me a hat. Kinda like what I've seen Adventurebilt do, but something more along the lines of what Bogie wore in the Maltese Falcon (I've been consuming the Bogart's Fedora thread). I've thought about Akubra's Fed IV - almost pulled the trigger with the moonstone color - when I thought, why not go all out? Why not spend the money for a fine 100% beaver felt custom job just for me. One that can be my prime go-to through thick and thin and maybe end up being buried with it, you know? No need for any more hats or a massive collection, just one versatile, pragmatic well-made and great looking hat. Basically, like how Indiana Jones had his famed fedora, well... maybe Dan could have one too.
That brings me to the color dilemma: what is the ideal color for both casual jeans/khakis, and a smart suit. My thought at first was the light grey with a black ribbon. Than I thought that Indy had it right with the dark brown and matching ribbon. Than I thought about a darker gray with matching or perhaps black ribbon which may offer more contrast with sports coats? My normal dress is jeans/khakis and either polos of various colors or button downs. I rarely wear suits but do wear a sports coat (usually matched with dark jeans or charcol slacks) when going out. Naturally, the occassional family event requiring a suit is there, but again, not too often. I guess you could say my daily "style" is smart casual with earth tones primary and some color accents (polos, etc.). So I'm leaning again towards brown ala Indy, but with a "Bogart cut" (is there such a thing?).
I think you see my problem. I would hate to spend all the money (and for me we're talking a whole lot of money) and feel like I got the wrong color or one that just won't go with fill-in-the-blank shirt/jacket/etc. Ideally, I should be able to close my eyes and just dress and the hat will somehow pull it all together, just like I imagine men did back in the day when they really only owned one or two hats anyhow. Any thoughts would be appreciated as I feel I can't be the only one who pondered this question. Again, I'm sorry if this was addressed elsewhere but I couldn't, for the life of me, find it.
Dan
p.s. I should probably add that when jacket-wearing season rolls around, I'm usually wearing some kind of insulated vest and sweatshirt, khaki zip-up, insulated plaid hoodie, or either my old but awesome pea coat from my Navy days, or a brown leather jacket - all depending on the temps. I just got a dark green/gray trench for the rain (like I said, been absorbing Bogart a lot), but probably won't wear it more than a dozen times in a year. Thanks again.
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