Your Hat Likes it Rough

[scotrace]

Last weekend I was fortunate to be surrounded by dozens of the best-looking hats ever made. I counted a half-dozen Whippets that once again made me start seriously looking for one. I saw flawless new hats, flawless vintage hats, and a few stunners that were no less so for their detached sweatbands and few moth munches.
One thing that stood out to me was that there seem to be two schools of hat guys: The Carefuls and The Integrators (or as I like to call it, The Matt Deckard School of Hat Wearing).

Many of the hats I saw were pristine, carefully and crisply blocked, placed lovingly within view when not worn, and treated with the utmost care. The Carefuls.

Then there were the guys who pulled them off, fussed with the crease, grabbed them by the pinch, experimented with brim swoop, and tossed them on any available relatively flat surface, be it mahogany table or grass. The Integrators.

Matt was wearing a hat that probably cost more than any other in the group, and it was obviously well-used and probably in need of a trip to Optimo. But to my eye, it was the best looking hat I saw. I learned much of what I know about hats and hat wearing from Matt, so I fall into that school. In fact, hats, suits, ties, shoes, coats, all of it. Find the best stuff you can, train your eye, and then bring it all into your lifestyle naturally. I learned the details from Marc Chevalier, Baron Kurtz, BellyTank and others. And from Matt Deckard, how to wear it all.
Hats are for wearing. For keeping your head warm and safe and dry. And with a little practice, for adding a little panache to your day. CK Farnsworth and I were caught in unexpected bad weather. As we sat shivering in a chilly thick fog in an open Jeep, he turned to me and said "can you imagine a day like this with no hat?" Perfect sentiment. Our hats were pretty well abused but doing their jobs.

What school do you fall into?

 

[RBH]

..."can you imagine a day like this with no hat?"

What school do you fall into?

That would be a nightmare!

I wear my hat... it dosent wear me.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I'm probably in the middle, leaning more to the 'Integrator'.

I prefer an old open crown hat with a puckery bash and side dents to a new perfectly formed hat.

I have several actual beaters in the bunch and love those as much as the show pieces.

I live in Florida so I sweat in some of my hats. Oh well.

There isn't a single hat in my collection that I wouldn't wear in a downpour.

I enjoy grabbing them by the crown and tossing them on a chair or table when I get home (later to be placed carefully among the others). Kind of makes me feel like I'm in an old movie.

On the other hand, I don't wring my hats (except for the roll-ups )

Except for the beaters I am careful to avoid getting them stained or damaged. Not to the point of a phobia though. Much in the same way I'm careful not to tear a pair of jeans or drop gravy on a shirt.

When I get a crease that I like - albeit not overly fussed with - I want to keep that crease as-is, if possible.

To me, the coolest hats are the ones that get worn and used rather than pampered and protected. To others the perfection is the point. Beautiful either way.

 

[Sepe]

Like with any other pieces of clothing: Some are for wear&tear, some for special/formal occasions. Basically I do keep my hats pretty carefully, after all, I do want to wear them in the future too.

As for the rain, my opinion is that if there's a time when the fedora-trenchcoat combo looks the best, that's on rainy evenings. Gives that nice noir feeling.

 

[HamletJSD]

I'll be frustrated if one of my favorites gets damaged due to my hat use and abuse, but after it (inevitably) happens, I'll simply be wearing a different hat.

 

[John in Covina]

Both

I have hats I baby and I have hats I use much harder.

My Dobbs Westward (OR clone) and my dad's Borsalino that was refurbished I tend to baby, they are so "it" that I don't want to change "it" so I am careful with them so nothing happens to "it."

My Akubras and the Hueckle get dropped, kicked, sat on, crushed, and folded plus sweat stained by yard work and covered with dust and debree. They work for a living.

I was taught to respect and care for those things we buy or receive as gifts and as such tend to baby stuff and take care that things shouldn't happen. A conscious effort to foresee and prevent, it is part of my nature.

Who doesn't agonize over a new car's first dent or scratch?

 

[anon`]

Much like Gene, I exist in the middle. I wear my hats and make every reasonable attempt to not do something stupid to them.

However, I don't drive myself crazy looking for a peg to hang them on, am lazy and tend to pick them up by the crown, sometimes find myself chasing them across the street and on many occasions have found myself caught out in the rain in them.

In short, I wear them just like I would wear a pair of shoes or a suit. Because anything else is just silly.

 

[glazierman]

I try not to beat them up but I buy only hats that I can wear and enjoy. Most of my hats are'nt that expensive so if they are not purfect I think it just adds more character. One of my favorites is an old Adam that belonged to my wifes grandfather. It's stained and moth eaten but never fails to catch someones eye.

 

[MCrider]

Half and Half

Like others here, I have some hats I'm more careful with and others not so careful with.

The former category of Careful Hats include several vintage Stetson's, my original hat - a Foreman and Clark and my Akubra Sidney, which I love (I know, I know, it can take it and still look good).

Not so Careful? Again several vintage Stetson's (including an Open Road with wind trolley), a Bailey's fur and a Christies Adventurer.

Beater Hat? Only one so far. A linerless 7 3/8 Stetson that shrunk slightly and lives with a hat jack to keep it sized. That hat is my go to hat when I'm heading out to work in the garage or other such mundane task.

But even the hats I'm careful with, I don't obsess about them being in pristine condition. It's just I'd like to keep them looking nice a little bit longer.

And how about the Moonstone Federation IV I'm waiting for (I can't take this waiting! It's been like what? A whole week :rage: )? That depends. If it looks really good on me it will be in the Careful ranks, displacing the Sidney and a grey Stetson to the Not so Careful pile. If the looks are just okay then it gets sent to the Not so Careful clan. I'm really hoping it looks good on me, because I think that in Australia there's a Tawny Fawn Federation looking for a home.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

I try not to beat them up but I buy only hats that I can wear and enjoy. Most of my hats aren't that expensive so if they are not perfect I think it just adds more character. .

I do believe I fall into the above category myself....

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

A conscious effort to foresee and prevent, it is part of my nature.

We need more men like you in this ol' world.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Hello, MCrider and welcome.

I like the way you communicate, friend.

 

[TopGumby]

When I received my Akubra Stylemaster I was initially impressed with the perfect, pre-formed crease. Then it started to bug me. I steamed it out and put in something like the original, but without the machine formed look.

I can see babying historic hats, or hats that go with suits or formal wear. I think for me, wearing a hat that gets an obsessive amount of TLC when the rest of my outfit doesn't would make the hat out of place.

I'm still getting comfortable with the whole hat thing, but I'm coming to realize that if it is going to be part and parcel instead of something "added on" then it's going to have to take some lumps in day to day wear.

 

[Ace Fedora]

Used to be one of the Carefuls, until I realized that it didn't make a lot of sense for me to own something I never wear.

Now I'm an Integrator, except on a day like today when the wind nearly tore the hat off my head as soon as I stepped outside.

 

[Luke 42]

am lazy and tend to pick them up by the crown.

Maybe thats a stupid question[huh] , but please enlighten me: How other than picking them up by the crown should you put on a hat? And why should'nt one do that?

 

[Slim Portly]

Scot, I immediately thought of Matt as soon as I started reading your post, and sure enough he was the example that you used. I received a real education form him this weekend, watching him "work" his hat while explaining his philosophy about how a hat should be worn and treated.

I picked up a Jaxon "Bogart" from Fred at Village Hat Shop last week, only my second hat of any quality, and I wore it yesterday knowing that the weather would turn wet before the day was over. As I was getting ready to leave the office at the end of the day one of my coworkers asked if I was going to wear it outside in the rain. "Of course," I answered. "That's what hats are for."

I hope that one day my Bogart has the lived-in character of one of Mr. Deckard's hats, and wearing it and treating it like a hat (a loved one, but a hat nonetheless) is the way to go.

 

[indycop]

I have no idea where I fit in! I don't baby them I think. I wore one of my VS hats on a 5k but I don't put it deliberately at any risk. I am careful with both my VS hats and my majormoore hat. But I wear any of them in the rain and sweat in them all. I have one hat that went from brand new, to beater, to destroyed (intentionally), and back to new thanks to majormoore.

 

[Dinerman]

The better a hat is, it seems, the more abuse it can take, which is why I love my 7x clear beaver stetson so much. It's been soaked through and through many times, dropped, blown off, recreased, traveled, and it's essentially no worse for wear.

 

[MCrider]

Used to be one of the Carefuls, until I realized that it didn't make a lot of sense for me to own something I never wear.

Ace: Just because I place them in the Careful category, doesn't mean they don't get their share of use. I just try being a bit more careful with them. Like trying to keep them on my head while in the wind

Hello, MCrider and welcome.

I like the way you communicate, friend.

Thank you sir!

By the way if anyone is interested, I posted a pic of myself and the Beater in the "What Hat Are You Wearing Today" thread. Please excuse the rumpled look (of me, not the hat). lol

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Maybe thats a stupid question[huh] , but please enlighten me: How other than picking them up by the crown should you put on a hat? And why should'nt one do that?

Totally sensible question, and glad you asked it.

Some folks advise that handling a hat should be done carefully with both hands, one on each side of the brim.

Here's why (then again, I LIKE this hat this way):