What Hat Are You Wearing Today 1?

[bostonbrewer]

Well, since Easter has come and gone, and it is 90 degrees in D.C. right now, I decided it was time to make the switch over to straw.

Panamabob Caballero with a new ribbon I put on.

Awesome hat! I've got to get a straw. What kind of weave is that hat?

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks! You also always post great photographs.

 

[delectans]

Thanks, Steve, I am really looking forward to seeing more of your photographs in the coming months!

 

[RBH]

Rusty: Fantastic images of you and your wife on the Little Red River. Your VS Milan looks super, but what is your wife wearing?

Thank you!
She is wearing one of those short brimed things you get at the Dollar Store. {Freds}
I got it for her to wear around the pool this summer. Its really
not that bad of a hat.

 

[Yeps]

90 in DC already!
I have yet to find a real affinity for the straws, though I have one or two that make the rounds, but the shape of yours could change my mind. What's the grade or weave, if you don't mind me asking?

Awesome hat! I've got to get a straw. What kind of weave is that hat?

Thank you both.

Honestly, I am not really sure of the weave. It was one of Panamabob's ebay specials last spring. It is much finer than my other panama, which I believe was a brisa cuenca, and it has a very nice backwoven edge. Oddly enough, it has no sweatband, and it originally came with a cord around the crown which was also used as chinstrap/stampede string, which I have since removed and replaced with a ribbon.

The shape is largely the result of use an abuse when I wore it for most of my trip to Italy last summer. The beach was especially rough on it.

 

[DRB]

Steve, that Razzman looks so fine and it looks great on you.

 

[delectans]

Windy City Redux, Part1

I will preface my post by begging the pardon of my fellow loungers for the indulgence of posting such a large number of photos.

For the second time in as many weeks, we took a trip to Chicago, this past Easter weekend. The four of us, my wife Lydia, son Ryan, me, and my 262 year old violin, made the trip down to the Windy City Thursday night after work. Two of us are featured in the photos to follow, but Lydia and Ryan remain content with viewing their photos on our computer rather than the web, a fact that puzzles me as the two of them are far more photogenic than yours truly.




My kind of town, Chicago. The iconic Chicago Theater and one of the "Sentinels Of State Street": Marshall Field/Macy's great clock.



Good Friday dawned with not so great weather. Low clouds enveloped the Chicago skyline, and a steady, misty rain was driven by a cold wind. Michigan Avenue in The Loop. VS, Granite, performing its yeoman's duty.



Waiting for my breakfast at one of our old haunts: Bob Chinn's Crabhouse in Wheeling, IL.



Our home away from home for the long weekend, The Palmer House, our favorite place to stay in downtown Chicago for its history, architectural and artistic beauty, and its proximity to most of our activities in the city. '20s-'30s Dobbs, Mocha, Heather.


Front portico detail.



During a respite in the rain, we walked the few blocks to one of my favorite buildings in the city, the 1884 Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. This dedication stands over the entrance and symbolizes the raisone d'etre of the building, despite the fact that it was originally built for the Studebaker Company.



Waiting in the lobby for one of the manually operated elevators.

​

The elevator operators have traditionally been Polish gents with thick accents, and they are delightfully incorrigible!



I was here to visit my archetier Ward Hansen, the only person I would entrust to work on my old bows, for a rehair on one of them. Ward is meticulous and does everything much as the old French masters did two centuries ago. Here he is doing a final combing of the fine Siberian stallion hair before fitting the hand-carved plug into the ferrule of the bow frog.



Browsing sheet music at Performers Music, on the 9th floor.

 

[delectans]

Originally built in 1884-1885, the Fine Arts Building was renovated in 1898, when it was converted from the Studebaker carriage business into an art and music colony. The interior is embellished with glorious Art Nouveau murals and paintings that date to this renovation.



One of my favorite murals in the 10th floor atrium.



My utmost favorite painting in the building, also up on the 10th floor. Subject and artist unknown to me, but it is sublime!



Also on the 10th floor and adjacent to those wonderful murals, and one of my favorite haunts, Bein & Fushi. Painting of the great virtuoso Nicolo Paganini in the entrance foyer.



Hungry for some good food, we went to the Lincoln Park area for supper, and then headed over to the infamous 1914 Biograph Theater, also in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. It is of course the location of John Dillinger's last, fateful encounter with The Law in 1934. It is now home to a live theater company.



The steady rain made it impossible to keep my camera lens clean, but resulted in some atmospheric shots.



The alley just south of the theater, where John Dillinger was accosted and fatally shot. Wearing my period Dobbs, and standing in the alley in the rain made for an unforgettable experience for me and my family!



We returned to the Palmer House to dry out, relax and enjoy a few drinks in the grand lobby before retiring for the evening.



One of a pair of magnificent gilt-bronze torchieres at the base of the stairs to the Empire Room.



Detail of the beautifully cast face and embellishments.

 

[delectans]

Detail of the elaborately decorated ceiling.



Taking it all in from one of the interior Juliet balconies.



The old Dobbs has dried out thoroughly by now, with no evidence of it ever having been wet. This hat has become one of my top favorites for its lines; soft, light, and wonderful heather-finish felt; and its uncanny fit and comfort on par with my custom VS. On my noggin for the better part of 14 hours!



Too late in the evening to take out my violin and play, we headed up to our room to rest up for the adventures that awaited us the next day.




To be continued...

 

[alanfgag]

What a pleasure to see these. I love this thread!

 

[RBH]

Just too cool!

 

[Lefty]

What a pleasure to see these. I love this thread!

+1. Lincoln Park and the Palmer House are my favorite spots in Chicago, though there's so much more I need to see.

 

[delectans]

Very tight weave, Imported Jakarta. Optimo style crease.

Good looking stingy straw, bolt, you pull it off with conviction!

 

[coble]

Today Im wearing my 1950's Royalist. I had put a center dent in it originally, but it just didnt go. So I re-steamed the hat, and re-did the crown into a diamond. This type of diamond though is very Mario-Esque and I love how sharp it looks. A word of WARNING though, once this crease is done, you kind of have to like it because the crease lines are so sharp that they are very difficult to steam out unless the hat is totally re-blocked. Here's some pictures:

I love the crease. It looks amazing, well done. I love the way it drops a little in the back. Definately a good look, and fits the hat well with dimensions. It does have that Mario diamond crease vibe to it, and nothing wrong with that. I find Mario very inspirational.

 

[bolthead]

I think it's too little for you in appearance.

you may be right, looking at it here. I did have to stretch it. Maybe I'll have to put it in the classifieds, but I'm not having much luck selling hats lately.

 

[Chinaski]

Great set of photos, Delectans, and this image is very nicely exposed with, apparently, no flash involved? Your Dobbs is a beauty as well.

 

[hatophile]

Good looking straws, Yeps, Bolt and Steve! It's almost that time here in Ohio for straws.

Meantime, Borsalino thin ribbon today.

 

[delectans]

Nice ensemble, Perry, I like the colors of the Borsalino, and the shirt!

 

[hatophile]

Thanks, Al, trying to coax Spring into action here. It's up to the 70's today, storms predicted.
By Thurs. it will be back down to the 50's.

 

[delectans]

Alan: Thanks! Can't wait for your next set of images! hoto:

Rusty: Thank you, most esteemed Mod! :mod: I am looking forward to your next set of photos as well!

Lefty: Appreciate the comments! I agree there is simply too much to see. History and beauty everywhere, even in neglected and overlooked places.

One of our dealer friends from the Antiques & Garden Fair we attended the week prior, who is from Michigan, made an interesting observation. He said that, in Chicago, individuals and government largely valued their architectural heritage, and took steps to preserve it, whereas in Detroit, indiscriminate and wholesale demolition occured without regard to its ramifications. Perhaps the Great Fire of 1871 played a part in deeply ingraining the importance of architectural preservation in the psyche of Chicagoans...

Even in Chicago, however, much has been lost in the name of progress, as we have many salvaged fragments of its architectural history throughout our home!

Chinaski: Thank you very much for your kind words. I love available-light photography, and take pains to avoid using flash as much as possible. None of the photos were taken with flash.