Hats with modern dress and a shaved head. . .

[ThinkandDrive]

So, for my first post, I thought I'd bring up two things I've been chewing on lately.

I have recently started working in downtown Baltimore for a very large and executive-centric corp. That is, I'm around people with much higher pay grades than myself on a daily basis. As such, I've stepped up my wardrobe considerably.

In my previous job, my daily outfit would have been some corduroy or cargo pants, Old Navy polo, and a pair of Doc Marten boots. I'm very excited about this new job as I get to wear "grown up" clothes. I've developed an almost fetish for dress shirts and classic grooming (got my eye on a classic DE razor and have already been doing the classic wet shave with my Mach 3).

Since winter is coming and I shave my head, I need a hat option that will integrate with my corporate casual look and withstand being in contact with my bare pate. I've got no idea whether the oil from my scalp will ruin a hat faster than normal and how I should prevent it.

Also, my outfits range from blues and darks (grey and black) to yellow and tan slacks. Is there a color option that would cover these or should I get a banker's grey felt hat and some sort of chocolate brown? My boss is extremely fashion conscious and points out if my browns don't quite match. So I want to be careful about that. lol

I'm thinking of a teardrop fedora-style but need some schoolin', I think. I'm not to the point where I can attempt to "pull off" an overall vintage look. But being classy and mature is important. There's a guy here at work who wears his kilt and full regalia every day. I'd love to wear my kilt, but I'm just a contractor and need to keep my head down until I'm a permanent employee.

Edit: I suppose rather than "modern", I should say "contemporary." ;)

[Dinerman]

hey! welcome to the wild and wonderful world of hats.
And welcome to the lounge.
I wouldn't think the oil would do too much if your hat has a liner.

[DOUGLAS]

Welcome, I too don't think that a clean well buffed head should do any damage to a good hat. For me browns go with everything.

[scotrace]

Welcome to The Fedora Lounge!

If hats can withstand Brylcreem, Murray's Pomade, Vitalis and Brilliantine, your pate ain't gonna be a problem. :)

[deanglen]

Greetings! I've wondered the same thing myself, have been blessed with a genetic predisposition to hair distribution only on the sides and back in traditional male pattern baldness terms, but then again hair can get oily and hats have survived well on those heads, so it's apparently not a problem. Seems like a lot of new Loungers lately! Glad you're one of them! Have fun!

dean

[Johnnysan]

ThinkandDrive,

I'm in the same boat with you, brother...not enough hair on my head to keep a sparrow warm! What more reason would anyone need to wear a great hat?? ;)

A dark grey or black fedora will work with just about everything you own. I have two modern Biltmore's that see routine service as my everyday hats and I've had no problem with excessive wear or having to replace the liners. Welcome to the Lounge!

[Visigoth]

Another shaved head here! I think, if anything, a nice shiny dome is easier on a hat than, say, dirty hair. I tend to remove the liners from my hats, as I find a liner touching my head kind of irritating. (I don't throw them away; just keep them in a hat box.)

[Tony in Tarzana]

Where the heck is Doc Deveraux when we need him?

[Feraud]

My hats thank me for keeping them away from all that hair. ;)
Fedoras and shaved heads go wonderfully together.

[Twitch]

It's rather doubtful that any hat you get in any color will actually match your clothing too.

[My Pop's Closet]

TnD -

Check out Hippodrome Hatters on West Baltimore St, one block west of the Baltimore Arena.

http://www.hiphats.com/

[gekisai29]

welcome. i'm totally bald &love my hats. only potential problem is if your sweat alot. if so.just take the hat off 7 dry out.

[Mr. Rover]

I know that we here all love to wear old clothes and the whole get-up, but if the felt hat industry is going to experience a true renaissance, the major companies' demographic should be targetting you, ThinkandDrive. The Borsalino look-book available at this year's "The Collective" in NYC looked like the 1920's all over again. If you want to attract new customers who want to wear modern clothes with a classic wardrobe staple, why the heck are you advertising with guys dressed in field khakis and knickerbockers? Does the average Joe wear that? No! (But that doesn't mean that we can't....:p )
Honestly, though...once demand kicks up then quality will, too. Once the felt quality has a foundation, then perhaps they can serve our niche market by making beautiful old school products without worrying about losing all that money.

[cap'n_bmore]

i, too, have had good luck with hippodrome hatters....they're the real deal

[DanielJones]

Welcome! And yes, I think that either brown or dark grey will compliment just about anything you have in your "grownup" woredrobe.

Cheers!

Dan

[Alighieri]

I too shave my head. I have come to stay mostly with black and brown fedoras.

Alighieri

[Alighieri]

Also Homburgs seem to be popular this year.

Alighieri

[Willi_Goat]

Welcome to the FL. I either shave my head or keep it cut very close, depending on my mood. I have an old black stingy brim Stetson and just picked up a walnut Stetson Ashland when I was NYC, I stopped in Baltimore for a few hours traveling from DC to NYC. Both are fedoras. The walnut brown seems to go pretty well with a variety of what I wear and the black does as well. The walnut, being a lighter shade of brown seems to me a little more neutral. My wardrobe at the present it contemporary, although I am keeping my eyes open in thrift and vintage shops I come across and have some extra cash in the pocket.

[JeffW]

Dark gray goes with most everything.

[Rundquist]

I know that we here all love to wear old clothes and the whole get-up, but if the felt hat industry is going to experience a true renaissance, the major companies' demographic should be targetting you, ThinkandDrive. The Borsalino look-book available at this year's "The Collective" in NYC looked like the 1920's all over again. If you want to attract new customers who want to wear modern clothes with a classic wardrobe staple, why the heck are you advertising with guys dressed in field khakis and knickerbockers? Does the average Joe wear that? No! (But that doesn't mean that we can't....:p )
Honestly, though...once demand kicks up then quality will, too. Once the felt quality has a foundation, then perhaps they can serve our niche market by making beautiful old school products without worrying about losing all that money.


Ditto!

["Doc" Devereux]

Where the heck is Doc Deveraux when we need him?

Stuck without a connection to Johnny Interweb*!

My standard hat at the moment is a carbon grey Akubra Federation, which goes with almost everything and seems to withstand my gleaming skull quite cheerfully. One suggestion I would make, though, is to place a strip of paper towel (kitchen/toilet-type absorbancy) inside the sweatband at the back, since if there's no hair to absorb moisture I've noticed it can transfer to the felt in overly warm conditions.

Welcome to the Lounge, ThinkandDrive, I hope you have fun here.

* And doing the nasty thing that begins with 'W'. Ah, deadlines...

[PeeWee]

I'm also a headshaver and only my work hats have a little oil that came through the bands onto the felt. I don't like the celephane head liners and usually cut them out because they stick to the top of a smooth head.