PabloElFlamenco
Practically Family
- Messages
- 581
- Location
- near Brussels, Belgium
I bet that got your attention, the chocolate, I mean (forget about the land) Anyway...
Hi. I'm Paul, 58, Belgian, fan of España, wine, espresso coffee, erstwhile of fast German cars, good German motorcycles (erstwhile, I said), and, as I found out, "de facto", of hats.
¿Hats? OK.
Once, when I was much younger, my wife and I walked into a Brussels hatter's shop on the Boulevard Adolphe Max, two senior ladies attended and one greeted us with "bonjour Mesdames" (good day, Ladies). ¿Pardon? Yes, ¡Ladies! I did not ask the reason for this. In those times, I did not have long hair, let alone high heels or anything else that, well, in my eyes, would grant me such attentions as would classify me as pertaining to that gender rather than the one that is mine through the mere coincidence of conception and most of my behavior thereafter.
At the time we entered that hat store, I was wearing a Borsalino bought in Florence back in the very early eightees.
¿My theory? …The headband had the bow on the “starboard” (right-hand side of the wearer) side. I believe this is the “ladies” side for hat-bows… (or is it the other way around?). Anyway, I never knew there was a “men” and a “ladies” side for bows. The saleswoman hadn’t bothered to look at me, she'd looked only at the hat… (Please don't rub it in if you don't believe my theory)
I have had a number of hats, earlier on – my first one was stolen by a drunken Englishman, over thirty years ago at around 2 AM in the Brussels Red Lion. Then, 1973’ish, my then-time girl friend from California brought back a Bailey western-style hat, chocolate color. This one I still wear, mostly on weekends, taking the dog on long walks. I suspect it is a very good hat; I reshaped it from the original “cattleman” to a more or less “gus” style; the headband came loose and I glued it to the felt (oops..) I’m trying to find a shop where they can resew the band and, hopefully, clean the hat from thirty years of use. The problem here is, there are no more hatters in Belgium: hat stores, yes, selling Borsalinos for three hundred bucks, no problem, but cleaning, repairs, etc., , ¡no!. Recently one shopowner replied “cleaning? Oh Sir, but that is unhygienic”! All the hatters I knew back in the eightees were old people, and they have retired. Some ten years ago, one good respected shop in Antwerp tried for most of a year to find some one to take over his “fond de commerce” (business); the shop is gone.
I used to have a French “Flechet”, and in New York city I bought a Stetson (lousy hat, that one was, flabby at the slightest rain). They both shrunk and, meanwhile, I grew long hair again, that makes for more volume under the hatband… I still have the three Borsalino’s I bought in Florence, one as a gift to my brother (it came back), the other for my wife (it came back). I daily wear one of those hats on my way, by bus and train, to work in Antwerp.
And, last week, I ordered from Sheplers a black “6x” Justin fur felt hat, hopefully that’s a good one…
So, I’m pleased to have come across this forum. I hope it will teach me about hats, the do’s and don’ts, and to take care of what I have which is, obviously, not at all bad.
And I promise, I’ll ask my wife to take some pictures of my hats to put on the site, vanity aside, of course.
Greetings,
Paul
Hi. I'm Paul, 58, Belgian, fan of España, wine, espresso coffee, erstwhile of fast German cars, good German motorcycles (erstwhile, I said), and, as I found out, "de facto", of hats.
¿Hats? OK.
Once, when I was much younger, my wife and I walked into a Brussels hatter's shop on the Boulevard Adolphe Max, two senior ladies attended and one greeted us with "bonjour Mesdames" (good day, Ladies). ¿Pardon? Yes, ¡Ladies! I did not ask the reason for this. In those times, I did not have long hair, let alone high heels or anything else that, well, in my eyes, would grant me such attentions as would classify me as pertaining to that gender rather than the one that is mine through the mere coincidence of conception and most of my behavior thereafter.
At the time we entered that hat store, I was wearing a Borsalino bought in Florence back in the very early eightees.
¿My theory? …The headband had the bow on the “starboard” (right-hand side of the wearer) side. I believe this is the “ladies” side for hat-bows… (or is it the other way around?). Anyway, I never knew there was a “men” and a “ladies” side for bows. The saleswoman hadn’t bothered to look at me, she'd looked only at the hat… (Please don't rub it in if you don't believe my theory)
I have had a number of hats, earlier on – my first one was stolen by a drunken Englishman, over thirty years ago at around 2 AM in the Brussels Red Lion. Then, 1973’ish, my then-time girl friend from California brought back a Bailey western-style hat, chocolate color. This one I still wear, mostly on weekends, taking the dog on long walks. I suspect it is a very good hat; I reshaped it from the original “cattleman” to a more or less “gus” style; the headband came loose and I glued it to the felt (oops..) I’m trying to find a shop where they can resew the band and, hopefully, clean the hat from thirty years of use. The problem here is, there are no more hatters in Belgium: hat stores, yes, selling Borsalinos for three hundred bucks, no problem, but cleaning, repairs, etc., , ¡no!. Recently one shopowner replied “cleaning? Oh Sir, but that is unhygienic”! All the hatters I knew back in the eightees were old people, and they have retired. Some ten years ago, one good respected shop in Antwerp tried for most of a year to find some one to take over his “fond de commerce” (business); the shop is gone.
I used to have a French “Flechet”, and in New York city I bought a Stetson (lousy hat, that one was, flabby at the slightest rain). They both shrunk and, meanwhile, I grew long hair again, that makes for more volume under the hatband… I still have the three Borsalino’s I bought in Florence, one as a gift to my brother (it came back), the other for my wife (it came back). I daily wear one of those hats on my way, by bus and train, to work in Antwerp.
And, last week, I ordered from Sheplers a black “6x” Justin fur felt hat, hopefully that’s a good one…
So, I’m pleased to have come across this forum. I hope it will teach me about hats, the do’s and don’ts, and to take care of what I have which is, obviously, not at all bad.
And I promise, I’ll ask my wife to take some pictures of my hats to put on the site, vanity aside, of course.
Greetings,
Paul
