How do folks react to your hat wearing?

As promised, here's the finished result. The pictures show the whole shirt, then the pocket and panel detail, that's followed by the hemline. You will see that Tina has fashioned the hem into brief's for the little fellow to stick his legs through. This is so the shirt won't ride up, it's also to accommodate his nappy/diaper, or as my missus euphemistically calls it, the drip tray. The last picture shows the final detail, cuffed hems. Sorry about drifting off topic, no doubt another comment will soon be posted.

 

"the drip tray".

 

A fellow said to me today, while I was in the garage, carefully pumping fuel, there's no sensor so I have to be careful or it sloshes out over my shoes when full, he said: "Great car, but in this weather, you need the TD." "Oh I couldn't drive an open top, " I said, "my hat would blow away." "That would never do," he replied, "your hat doesn't look like it's from the cheap end." I took it of and showed him the hatband. "Biltmore!" He said, "I bought a felt Biltmore last year." He then said that his hat was complimented many times at the vintage event that he went to. I showed him the photo of my car at the same event. "I knew that I had seen your car before," he said. I then said that it's rather warm today for a felt hat but did he still get compliments. he told me that he hasn't had the nerve to wear it since.

The MG TD, is a shortened sports version of my car, the classic grille and MG "face" is retained . Just over 50,000 TD's were made, whereas my car the MG YB is one of only 1301 made.

 

Hope he changes his mind. Seems perfectly pointless to own a nice hat and not wear it...

 

What I didn't say was that he showed me a photo of himself at The Poole Goes Vintage event, I didn't remember seeing him but had I, then I would have certainly remembered him, I could tell from the picture that he showed me that he made an impression. He told me that I look the part in a hat, I answered that by explaining, that I put a hat on the way I put my shoes on, accoutrements to go with whatever I'm wearing.

Was he self conscious? Probably. Strange though, you can wear a cap back to front and that's an acceptable adornment. Put a decent hat on and you think that everyone is staring at you. Funny old world.

 

Aren't they? I mean, if it isn't a ball cap or knit watch/ski cap it's bound to attract attention these days, but there's nothing wrong with that. Say, "Hello!" Seize upon the opportunity to make a new friend! Be an ambassador for wearing a proper hat! "A stranger is only someone you haven't yet met," and other platitudes. Just be a Gentleman (or Lady; I don't want to exclude anyone). I've met some very nice people by simply giving them the opportunity to ask about my hat. Of course, that newfound friendship normally only lasts the duration of that conversation, but I walk away with the hope I've somehow inspired someone to do something they might not have had the backbone to do previously.

 

Yeah, it's part of what is referred to as 'herd mentality.' Most people feel more comfortable when they are doing what most others in their peer group are doing. Many people wear lots of things on their heads these days. But a proper felt fedora? Not so much.

In my store, a (very) few people come in wearing (cheap) straw fedoras, and those small (cheap) cloth 'hipster'-style hats. Quite often, when it's not oven-hot, I'm wearing a '40s-style felt one (they are part of who I am). But believe me, I'm the only one.

Without going into details, it obviously doesn't bother me because of who I am. Not everyone is able to step outside the 'normal,' and that's okay. To each their own.

 

I tried that once when I was in my teens. I failed so miserably at it that I went right back to doing and wearing what I liked, and never looked back.

 

A few days ago I was wearing this Brent Black Montecristi. My wife and I were at a local restaurant having our weekly lunch date. Our waiter that day is a blue haired young man (early twenties) that we have known for a few years. He sees my hat and tells me how much he likes it. But then he says “I could never pull that off”. I look at him and say “you’ve got blue hair! Surely, you can wear a hat.”

 

For a second or so I thought that blue hair must have been a typo, but then you qualified it. But apart from your rather splendid hat, the most warming, moving, totally uplifting part of your post was. Dating your wife. Just brilliant. More than that, there's a rare word in the English language that describes such beauty and that is: "pulchritudinous!"

 

True.

 

I have yet to receive the first negative comment on any of the hats I wear. By a very wide majority it's teens and young adults who comment about how much they like my hats.

 

Priceless!!

 

My response would have been: Keep dying your hair like that and you'll be wearing hats before you know it.

 

I like the hat and the tee shirt / sweater.

 

Thanks to my strange (but quite irreplaceable) family, I never learnt how to be a jeans-and-t-shirt person. Since the effort required to pull off normality wouldn't be remotely worth it, being a weirdo with conviction is the obvious choice.

More to the title of this thread, I heard the following yesterday, while walking down the street ahead of some youths.

I'm afraid to say that I couldn't think of a single polite response to such an opening.

 

My wife sometimes posts pictures on FaceBook. In some of them I'm wearing a hat. Invariably someone will comment "Tom looks like (insert name of golden age character who did NOT usually wear a hat)." I always wonder what their frame of reference is.

 

The same one that gets me called "Sherlock", despite my lack of pipe, deerstalker and glass, I presume. I'm not even addicted to morphine!

 

One of my sons friends asked me yesterday if I was wearing a fedora? I stated that yes it was a fedora. His reply, your fedora is a really cool hat! I thanked him for the compliment. Here is a photo of my son and I along with the hat I was wearing.



Steven