The Hat of moral turpitude

[MrBern]

Decadent author turned away by US Customs at the sight of his hat.

“It’s a stovepipe,” he said, referring to the subspecies made famous seven score and seven years ago by Abraham Lincoln. “They asked my girlfriend, ‘Why is he wearing that hat?’ And she told them, ‘Because it wouldn’t fit in his suitcase.’

What attracts him about the hat is how it tips its brim to both respectable gentlemanly style and ostentatious showmanship. “It has an air of spurious nobility and an air of the magician,” he said. “That’s what I love about the dandy: he kind of makes you believe in something that doesn’t exist. That goes with the hat.”

The hat was designed by the fashionable milliner Stephen Jones.

the rest of the ensemble:

merely a three-piece suit by the Savile Row tailor Richard Anderson, a pink-and-gold-braid tie, a black velvet topcoat and fur-trimmed black leather gloves.

full story
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/fashion/30POSS.html

 

[Johnnysan]

Horsley speaks well for many who dare to challenge the norm:

“There are two ways of living,” he said. “Either you conceal who you are and get acceptance, or you reveal yourself and risk rejection. I think it’s better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you’re not. I do want to join the world, but without beveling down my individuality.”

and David Colman of the N.Y. Times provides an excellent summation:

Given how eccentricity is generally received on this side of the Atlantic, perhaps the Customs officials really did do him a favor.

Interesting article...thanks!

 

[Feraud]

After a lengthy interrogation at Newark airport, he was put on a plane back to England.

I think the Newark authorities did him a favor.
He would get into trouble quick walking around Newark with that on his head.

 

[Fletch]

Moral turpentine my foot. Ya know how much C4 could fit in that thing?

 

[Fatdutchman]

Not to mention the number of rabbits....

 

[Fletch]

Not to mention the number of rabbits....

All right boys, dance for the nice agent...

 

[mingoslim]

Of course . . .

Not to mention the number of rabbits....

You start with two . . .

 

[Spatterdash]

Wow.

Ya know, I'm a vet, got the DD Form 214 to prove it, so no one gets to question my patriotism when I say the following;
These sweet silly ol' United States really need to grow the hell up.
My god, an unusual hat. Let's gather around it and teach our offspring to fear it by throwing rocks at it and hooting in derision.

And don't gimme some security excuse for this behaviour, that sucker would lie down and slide through an xray just fine.

Stories like this make me appreciate the Lounge more.

 

[Colby Jack]

Perhaps a collapsible would have suited him better on this trip...something he could neither hide a prostitute or drugs in...Then again...maybe he should have donned an Arabic headdress and no one would have said a word...