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How did you start wearing hats?
- Thread starter Matt Deckard
- Start date
duggap
Banned
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- 938
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- Chattanooga, TN
Yea, but which one.DOUGLAS said:i was born with a hat on
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- 54,308
DOUGLAS said:i was born with a hat on
You too eh?
Erik
One of the Regulars
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- 177
- Location
- The Rockies
"How did you start wearing hats?"
I fell into western circles where they are ubiquitous. As life went on and my tastes evolved, so evolved my willingness to try on new hats. So a few western, several flat caps, a fedora or two and umpteen seemingly unavoidable baseball hats later, I'm a hat wearer. Not everywhere and not always, but a hat wearer none the less.
I fell into western circles where they are ubiquitous. As life went on and my tastes evolved, so evolved my willingness to try on new hats. So a few western, several flat caps, a fedora or two and umpteen seemingly unavoidable baseball hats later, I'm a hat wearer. Not everywhere and not always, but a hat wearer none the less.
dostacos
Practically Family
- Messages
- 770
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
as one of the few people that grew up in the 60s and actually REMEMBERS the 60s...
When I was in high school I wore a straw cowboy hat while working on a ranch. my wool felt Aussie slouch hat was just too hot, and I never really had the nerve to wear the Aussie hat out in public.
much later, as an old married man I did wear baseball hats while sailing, and earned my boy scout campaign hat as an adult leader which I wore when we had training or awards ceremonies but not much else.
When Indiana Jones came along and I got into that I began wearing that hat.
found this place and now I am wearing fedoras or newsboys every day.
When I was in high school I wore a straw cowboy hat while working on a ranch. my wool felt Aussie slouch hat was just too hot, and I never really had the nerve to wear the Aussie hat out in public.
much later, as an old married man I did wear baseball hats while sailing, and earned my boy scout campaign hat as an adult leader which I wore when we had training or awards ceremonies but not much else.
When Indiana Jones came along and I got into that I began wearing that hat.
found this place and now I am wearing fedoras or newsboys every day.
HarpPlayerGene
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,682
- Location
- North Central Florida
DOUGLAS said:i was born with a hat on
I SHOULD'VE been:
- Messages
- 10,883
- Location
- Portage, Wis.
I always thought that it was part of being grown up, wearing a hat was a sign that you were a man. I also thought they were very classy and stylish. I always stole my great-grandpa's fedoras and would wear them when we would visit or vise versa and I've had my own fedoras since I was 6, and have worn them off and on since I was about 11 or 12.
elvisroe
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 319
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
Life in hats
Great thread - it's fascinating to read all the stories.
I was actually quite bemused to find this site as I've always been a collector but never encountered anyone who shares my enthusiasm. My wife's always calling for a cull!
I was 3 when my parents bought me a little yellow cowboy number from the Calgary Stampede and I never looked back. I loved the fact that you could throw on a hat and become a different character. By the time I was 12 my collection filled a sea chest and ranged from old trilbies, visored caps and a couple of old army helmets.
My everyday hats were a couple of great baggy tweed flat-caps inherited from my British grandfather and I wore them until they fell apart.
My great-grandfather was a private detective in Sydney from the 20s to the 50s and I loved the old photos of him in his trenchcoat and fedora. A grubby job really but sounded pretty cool to me as a kid. I always loved the pre-WW2 look and have built up a decent collection of vintage hats from op-shops over the years.
I recently bought a carbon grey Fed IV - my first new hat in about a decade - and it only just dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that the reason I've always been drawn to grey hats is that they all look that colour in Black and white! lol
Great thread - it's fascinating to read all the stories.
I was actually quite bemused to find this site as I've always been a collector but never encountered anyone who shares my enthusiasm. My wife's always calling for a cull!
I was 3 when my parents bought me a little yellow cowboy number from the Calgary Stampede and I never looked back. I loved the fact that you could throw on a hat and become a different character. By the time I was 12 my collection filled a sea chest and ranged from old trilbies, visored caps and a couple of old army helmets.
My everyday hats were a couple of great baggy tweed flat-caps inherited from my British grandfather and I wore them until they fell apart.
My great-grandfather was a private detective in Sydney from the 20s to the 50s and I loved the old photos of him in his trenchcoat and fedora. A grubby job really but sounded pretty cool to me as a kid. I always loved the pre-WW2 look and have built up a decent collection of vintage hats from op-shops over the years.
I recently bought a carbon grey Fed IV - my first new hat in about a decade - and it only just dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that the reason I've always been drawn to grey hats is that they all look that colour in Black and white! lol
avedwards
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,425
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- London and Midlands, UK
Did PIs in the Golden Era really wear trench coats and fedoras then? I know the fedora was normal for anyone in those days but I always wonder if the trench coat assossiation came from Bogart's films.elvisroe said:
Trebuchet64_Fal
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 60
- Location
- Castlemaine,Victoria, Australia
I started wearing fedoras purely for practicle reasons much the same as Tony B, i was never happy with a baseball caps they look awful and provide no protection , the first hat i brought was an Akubra Hayman found in Antique / collectables shop , i liked it so much ( so did my wife ) that i started looking for dress hats and now i am hardly ever seen out of doors with out a hat on .
I was raised on a ranch in Eastern Colorado. Everyone wore hats. A rite of summer was a springtime trip to J.C. Penney to buy new straw hats. Which were then dipped in the stock tank and shaped to preference. My coming home from the Army present in 1970 was a 5X Stetson with a Denton Pinch crease. I made the usual detour into ball caps for a while, but have worn various felts and flat caps for the last 25 years.
Highlander
A-List Customer
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- 473
- Location
- Missouri
Started wearing a cowboy hat about 5 or before. My Mom hated them and cowboy boots. Well, that's pretty much my daily wear away from work
elvisroe
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 319
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
Sydney Gangsters
Yep fedoras and suits were all the go in Sydney and while you certainly didn't see many Bogy style belted raincoats, the long gabardine overcoats were ubiquitous.
The book city of shadows has been cited here a few times...
(recently by zarniwoop http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=40989) I can't reccomend it highly enough. As well as the amazing rogues gallery in the mugshots, there are loads of crime scene photos with police straight from vintage noir and great crowd shots with hats galore.
These guys are just plain scary!
avedwards said:
Yep fedoras and suits were all the go in Sydney and while you certainly didn't see many Bogy style belted raincoats, the long gabardine overcoats were ubiquitous.
The book city of shadows has been cited here a few times...
(recently by zarniwoop http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=40989) I can't reccomend it highly enough. As well as the amazing rogues gallery in the mugshots, there are loads of crime scene photos with police straight from vintage noir and great crowd shots with hats galore.
These guys are just plain scary!
Rule17
New in Town
- Messages
- 26
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
From baseball caps to style
As a child I wanted two things: two visit New York and to own a top hat. I'm still waiting for the top hat. Growing up as an expat in Hong Kong I wore baseball caps because it was all I could get my hands on but I was never satisfied. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who doesn't count throwing on a baseball cap as wearing a hat.
I moved to Sydney at 30 and thought I was in heaven. Akubra, as the slogan goes, is Australian for hat. I grew a collection of Akubras and finally felt that I was wearing hats for real, even though my friends here sniggered. It took some real stones to go out in a hat with my mates. (Everyone here has to wear hats at school -- no hat, no playing outside -- but as soon as they're out of school, they're hatless again.)
Out of sheer bloody-mindedness I persevered but then I met someone I loved enough to marry and she couldn't stand me in any of the thousands of dollars' worth of Akubras I'd collected. For a year I didn't wear hats at all until that made me so unhappy that I had to talk to her about it. I really felt I was missing out.
She swore it wasn't hats she was against per se, just that the ones I owned didn't suit me. I decided to put that to the test and get some professional help. Googling hatmakers in Sydney led me to Rosie Boylan, who made the hats for Australia.
To cut this long story a little short, finding Rosie was the answer to a prayer. She styled for me the straw hat in my avatar pic, which my fiancee loves; I've just been for a fitting for a chocolate brown fedora she's styling for me; and we've decided on a winter hat (it'll soon be winter here in the southern hemisphere).
Now I walk out with my head held a little higher because I know I've got a hat that works for me (I have a large head with a long oval, so it's challenging to find commercial hats that work).
I've made a podcast with Rosie, talking about hats and the styling process. I will link to it here when it's ready.
In the meantime, hello to all fellow hat lovers here at the lounge. It's good to have found a place that feels like home
As a child I wanted two things: two visit New York and to own a top hat. I'm still waiting for the top hat. Growing up as an expat in Hong Kong I wore baseball caps because it was all I could get my hands on but I was never satisfied. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who doesn't count throwing on a baseball cap as wearing a hat.
I moved to Sydney at 30 and thought I was in heaven. Akubra, as the slogan goes, is Australian for hat. I grew a collection of Akubras and finally felt that I was wearing hats for real, even though my friends here sniggered. It took some real stones to go out in a hat with my mates. (Everyone here has to wear hats at school -- no hat, no playing outside -- but as soon as they're out of school, they're hatless again.)
Out of sheer bloody-mindedness I persevered but then I met someone I loved enough to marry and she couldn't stand me in any of the thousands of dollars' worth of Akubras I'd collected. For a year I didn't wear hats at all until that made me so unhappy that I had to talk to her about it. I really felt I was missing out.
To cut this long story a little short, finding Rosie was the answer to a prayer. She styled for me the straw hat in my avatar pic, which my fiancee loves; I've just been for a fitting for a chocolate brown fedora she's styling for me; and we've decided on a winter hat (it'll soon be winter here in the southern hemisphere).
Now I walk out with my head held a little higher because I know I've got a hat that works for me (I have a large head with a long oval, so it's challenging to find commercial hats that work).
I've made a podcast with Rosie, talking about hats and the styling process. I will link to it here when it's ready.
In the meantime, hello to all fellow hat lovers here at the lounge. It's good to have found a place that feels like home
elvisroe
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 319
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
Nice one rule17!
I'd be very interested to see what Rosie does for you and what was involved. She's a friend-of-a-friend who's been telling me for a while that I really aught to meet her. Look forward to seeing your new Fedora!
I'd be very interested to see what Rosie does for you and what was involved. She's a friend-of-a-friend who's been telling me for a while that I really aught to meet her. Look forward to seeing your new Fedora!
Rule17
New in Town
- Messages
- 26
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
elvisroe said:
I hoping to get the fedora before I go to Melbourne next week. I'd love to have it to wear down there in the cold. When I've got the fedora and the straw in one place, I'll take pictures and put them up.
I've recorded a podcast with Rosie and will put it up as soon as she's launched her new blog. I'm new to the Lounge but I think a few people here will be interested in hearing her.
Seams like a good place for my first post. I got my first hat a few years ago while in Denver visiting my sister. It was one of the cheap Target kinds that are very poplar now. ( I didn't know any better) After having that for awhile I had J.W. of J.W. Hats here in Salt Lake make my first fedora and have had him make a few more since.
