Just curious on aspects of hats we like

[memphislawyer]

I was reading around some threads and had some random thoughts that I would ask about, rather than polling.

1) Wide ribbon vs. thin ribbon. Are you one or the other, or lean heavily to one or the other? Me, I have two hats with wide ribbons and THINK I prefer that to thin, but not having tried on a thin ribbon hat, don't know.

2) Do you have a wide variety of different types of hats, or are they all the same? I have a Stetson fedora, 2" brim and a Diamante panama hat with 2 3/4" brim. Dont know that I would prefer rancher/cowboy/outdoors hats and think my next one will be a fedora, maybe an Akubra Stylemaster.

3) Lots of colors or maybe just one or two?

4) Wear it outdoors or indoors as well?

5) Here is a biggie. My Stetson says to rest the hat on the top part, crown, and not the brim, and to take it on and off by the brim, not the crown. Are you fastidious about this or do you use the crown to take it on and off? I tend to use the crown.

Sam

 

[Lefty]

I go for the spice of life, and I handle my spice carefully, with two hands.

 

[daizawaguy]

1) Wide ribbon vs. thin ribbon. Wide for me shows the color contrasts well.

2) Do you have a wide variety of different types of hats, or are they all the same? No hat the same for me!

3) Lots of colors or maybe just one or two? Ditto...every one different!

4) Wear it outdoors or indoors as well? Wearing it rigt now on the computer lol

5) Here is a biggie - try yo take it off by the brim, but have to admit I squeezing the crown is too tempting! [bad]

 

[Spats McGee]

1) Mostly wide ribbons, but I've got my first thin ribbon on order.

2) I have a small variety, but can definitely see that I tend to lean towards the same kind of hat.

3) At the moment a small range of colors, and I have one or two that I tend to wear over and over and over, with the rest being used for special circumstances.

4) Just outdoors, for the most part.

5) I try to be good about removing the hat by the brim, but grabbing the crown is tempting. Can't say I'm fastidious about it. I rest it on the crown.

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

1) I have a range of ribbons. Wide for more formal or business use and thinner for more casual. Some ribbons are also made of things other than 'ribbon' - leather, embroidered material, cord.
2) I'm with you - each hat has it's own character. No 2 the same. Generally, when I'm buying new hats I'm looking for something I don't yet have.
3) Several colours - black, light grey, dark grey, brown. I saw a cool gold Knox the other day on eBay. Now THAT would have made a statement - though I'm not sure what the statement would be, except "LOOK AT ME!" (The fedora-wearers creed!)
4) Strictly outdoors and public spaces (some of which are indoors) for me. Gentlemen remove their hats when entering a home.
5) I rest them on their crown or on a stand where available. Generally, I take them on and off with both hands and by the brim, handling them as close to the base of the crown as possible.

 

[ValEag]

1. I guess I lean more to the thinner ribbons, though by that I mean about 1" wide. I do have a couple of Stingies with 2" ribbons.

2. I don't have a lot of hats, but do have some variety. A couple of Akubra Fedoras, a Bogart, a Casual. One Stetson Milan, a couple of vintage Stingies (one Dobbs, one Champ), some wool casual hats for outdoor wear in cold weather, one leather cap that was my trademark in my pre-fedora days.

3. Colors - grays, black and browns mainly with a couple of greens.

4. Outdoors mostly, indoors depending on location and circumstances. Generally if it is considered to be polite to remove it, I take it off.

5. Rest it on the crown - I am consistent here. Handle by the crown - try not to but sometimes the temptation is just too much

 

[scottyrocks]

I was reading around some threads and had some random thoughts that I would ask about, rather than polling.

1) Wide ribbon vs. thin ribbon. Are you one or the other, or lean heavily to one or the other? Me, I have two hats with wide ribbons and THINK I prefer that to thin, but not having tried on a thin ribbon hat, don't know.

2) Do you have a wide variety of different types of hats, or are they all the same? I have a Stetson fedora, 2" brim and a Diamante panama hat with 2 3/4" brim. Dont know that I would prefer rancher/cowboy/outdoors hats and think my next one will be a fedora, maybe an Akubra Stylemaster.

3) Lots of colors or maybe just one or two?

4) Wear it outdoors or indoors as well?

5) Here is a biggie. My Stetson says to rest the hat on the top part, crown, and not the brim, and to take it on and off by the brim, not the crown. Are you fastidious about this or do you use the crown to take it on and off? I tend to use the crown.

Sam

All my fedoras are wide ribbon.

I have only about 6 fedoras. They are, for the most part, different from each other as far as brim width, crown height, etc. All of them are browns and grays. More browns, though.

I wear them outdoors, primarily, but indoors if it's cold inside. My gym in school is often cold enough for me to need to keep my almost bald head covered.

I take my hat off using a combination of lifting up from under the back of the brim with my left hand, and removing it from my head with my right hand on the pinch of the crown without squeezing. Putting it on is the reverse.

 

[Widebrim]

I prefer wider ribbons, although the one on my Borsalino Allessandra is rather thin (see avatar). I prefer brown, but have two greys (one felt, one straw) since they are a bit more utilitarian. Regarding brims, I prefer a wide one (see my "handle"), although I have a couple of stingy brims, too. I wear 'em both indoors and out. I usually take off my hat by the crown, but at times will use the brim to remove it.

 

[CRH]

After dark I'll wear anything

if Suns out i need at least a 2 3/4 in. brim

I'm not too particular about ribbons 'cept the ones that hang off the back
.....'cause those are for girls

Mostly I like Fedoras that don't have any hoof marks

or tire tracks on them

And I prefer to remove my lids with my own hands

and not by hooves or tires

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Yeah, I'm pretty picky too. Let's see, there are wide brims and medium ones and well, yes, I've got some that are fairly stingy too. Brims up, brims down. Westerns, Outbacks, snap brims, wide ribbons, thin ribbons, in-between. High crown hats exclusively though - except for the lower crowned hats that I also love. And flat caps. Every color I can get ahold of and in thin felt, thick felt, velour, 3X, 4X, 5X, 7X, etc. Different hats get handled different ways but most get grabbed by and placed on the crown, or the brim, or a hook, or a chair back, indoors, outdoors, upside down, right side up, weekdays, weekends and holidays....

 

[Mario]

Yeah, I'm pretty picky too. Let's see, there are wide brims and medium ones and well, yes, I've got some that are fairly stingy too. Brims up, brims down. Westerns, Outbacks, snap brims, wide ribbons, thin ribbons, in-between. High crown hats exclusively though - except for the lower crowned hats that I also love. And flat caps. Every color I can get ahold of and in thin felt, thick felt, velour, 3X, 4X, 5X, 7X, etc. Different hats get handled different ways but most get grabbed by and placed on the crown, or the brim, or a hook, or a chair back, indoors, outdoors, upside down, right side up, weekdays, weekends and holidays....

Well, Gene - I've absolutely nothing to add to this. All said!

 

[Mr. Paladin]

I have a good mix of wide and thin ribbons and like each hat based on its overall look, not just the ribbon size.

I have a wide variety of styles of felts but I don't care much for straws. I wear my felts constantly in the summertime. I doubt I have had a straw hat on more than twice this summer. I love a wide range of hats, from western/cattleman Open Road styles to the homburgs on the other end of the spectrum, with wide-brimmed fedoras in the middle. My attraction the ORs and the homburgs is that they both represent the "power hats" of their individual times and places; (ORs-Any Texas oilman, banker, or politician from the 1940's on---homburgs-early to mid-20th century politicians like Churchill, Eden, & Dulles). I think I have only one brim at 2 1/4", all the others are wider.

I have a variety of colors but no real favorite color; I like them all.

I always wear a hat outside; only inside in the winter when it is cooler here but never with guests in the house. Otherwise, its my house and I enjoy it with my hats.

I try to be ginger with the handling of the crown of my hats, but years of only wearing the stiff, western cattleman's creases (the stiffness supports hat placement very well) is a habit hard to break. I never handle my hats at the pinch however.

 

[Herzen]

1. Generally I tend toward wider ribbon.

2. Att his point my collection is small enough that all of my hats are unique in some way.

3. Black, gray, brown. That's about it right now.

4. Generally only outdoors.

5. Fedoras I usually hold by the brim, but porkpies I tend to grab by the crown. Not sure why...

 

[memphislawyer]

I bid on a Banjo Patterson on ebay and it did not meet its reserve. I would probably try to find someone to swap out the thin band for a wider one and maybe reshape it a bit. I am finding that I like more of the fedora style than a western style and thinking a taupe fedora on me would be casual, yet a dressy sort of casual hat. I tend to take my new panama hat off by the crown, where the crease is, but slight pressure.

 

[bolthead]

I go for the spice of life, and I handle my spice carefully, with two hands.

Well said Lefty......:eusa_clap

 

[Torpedo]

Yeah, I'm pretty picky too. Let's see, there are wide brims and medium ones and well, yes, I've got some that are fairly stingy too. Brims up, brims down. Westerns, Outbacks, snap brims, wide ribbons, thin ribbons, in-between. High crown hats exclusively though - except for the lower crowned hats that I also love. And flat caps. Every color I can get ahold of and in thin felt, thick felt, velour, 3X, 4X, 5X, 7X, etc. Different hats get handled different ways but most get grabbed by and placed on the crown, or the brim, or a hook, or a chair back, indoors, outdoors, upside down, right side up, weekdays, weekends and holidays....

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

:arated:

 

[Delthayre]

And just so and only such

1) Wide ribbon vs. thin ribbon. I prefer wide ribbons, usually not less than 19 ligne.

2) Do you have a wide variety of different types of hats, or are they all the same? I have one hat with a 6" crown and 3" & 2 3/4" crown, the other has a 5 3/4" crown and 2 5/8" brim. I strongly prefer 'dramatic' proportions.

3) Lots of colors or maybe just one or two? One is black and one is granite grey; I intend to some time procure one or two brown hats, but I don't desire a diverse range of colors.

4) Wear it outdoors or indoors as well? I always wear a hat outdoors, but indoors I usually only wear a hat in hallways, shops and empty elevators. The exception to this is that I tend to wear a new hat obsessively, even indoors, for a while after I have first gotten it.

5) Here is a biggie. I am very scrupulous of handling my hats by the crown and when I wish to set it down, I usually turn the brim up and set it upon that.

7) Finished brim edge or unfinished? I prefer a bound edge over a raw one and presently own no hats with raw edges, although I hope to some day procure one or two hats with such raw edges. I have been yearning for a raw-edged Adventurebuilt Deluxe, but that isn't the sort of thing that one buys during a recession.

 

[gtdean48]

) Wide ribbon vs. thin ribbon = Thin ribbon with only 1 over 1 inch wide

2) Do you have a wide variety of different types of hats, or are they all the same? All about the same = Open Road style, no brims under 2 5/8, no homburgs, bowlers, boaters

3) Lots of colors or maybe just one or two? Lots of Silver Belly but other colors as well, building the palate

4) Wear it outdoors or indoors as well? Outdoors, never in a house

5) Are you fastidious about this or do you use the crown to take it on and off? Not fastidious at all, got enough hats to rotate so I am not abusing 1 all the time

 

[memphislawyer]

Forgot to ask.

7) Finished brim edge or unfinished? I like the look of the finished brim edge on hats I have seen, but I think my Stetson Saxon, from memory now guys, is unfinished, and finished seems to be more apt to dressier.

 

[Spats McGee]

7) (What happened to 6?) Generally, I go for bound edges. I usually think of them as dressier, but that's certainly not the determining factor.

From looking at the Stetson Saxon online, it looks like it has a finished edge, but not a bound edge. Some of you experts step up and correct me if I'm wrong here, but an overwelt or underwelt edge is considered "finished," but not "bound," right?