Choosing A Pipe that Fits Right

[Chasing Embers]

But there ARE pipes so ugly I refuse to allow them near me

That's why I own no bulldogs or rhodesians.

 

[Papamique]

That's why I own no bulldogs or rhodesians.

And which is why I do They match me well- gorgeous, muscular and manly.

 

[OzPiper]

That's why I own no bulldogs or rhodesians.

I can’t picture you with a chihuahua either

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I am not sure you could judge yourself with a selfie pic. I never thought about it, but I will need to ask my wife with different pipes. She will probably just look at me, roll her eyes, and say "You look dumb as shit with that pipe, but I gotta admit, it smells good".

And . . . that's why I judge myself!

 

[scloyd]

I overheard a coworker say to another coworker not 10 feet away say, "He looks dumb as shit with that pipe, but I gotta admit, it smells good".

Your coworker sounds like an a-hole. I wouldn't worry too much about what he thinks.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I can’t picture you with a chihuahua either

1/2 chihuahua 1/2 Jack Russell

 

[orvet]

Good looking dog C.E.!

I suppose one could apply the same principles of choosing a pipe fit your looks, to choosing a dog to fit your looks and personality.
I am a big guy, but I like small dogs. I have owned several Lhasa Apsos which I have unfortunately outlived. I got a new Lhasa Apso puppy just a little over a year ago. She weighs 12 and a half pounds but she has tons of attitude, typical of the Lhasa Apso breed. She fits me and my personality and we get along great, which is all that matters to me. I don't care what people think when I take her for a walk, just as I don't care what people think when I'm smoking a small pipe.

However, I do agree on no prince or Rhodesian pipes, I don't care so much about the way they look, but for me they don't smoke well with Virginia flakes.
Life is too short to smoke a pipe that doesn't smoke well, no matter how it looks!

 

[Chasing Embers]

choosing a dog to fit your looks and personality.

My dogs were strays that found me. Figured out what they were with DNA testing.

 

[Zamora]

I'm satisfied with a satisfying smoke. How I look to others? Simply not a concern. My buying criteria does include the look of the pipe but, not how I look with a pipe.

Same here. I usually smoke solo anyway, I have a friend I smoke cigars with and I've introduced him to pipes and we'll smoke them instead and he's certainly not going to know what shape looks best for me. Even if I was in a pipe club I wouldn't care.

 

[TheIdahoan]

To the naysayers I ask this:

If one can find guides (for both genders at that!) on:

Haircut for face shape
Glasses for face shape
Hat for face shape

And not only that, but in Alan Flusser's Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion shirt collars for face shape!

Why so quick to dismiss pipe for face shape?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Why so quick to dismiss pipe for face shape?

Never really fell into cultural guidelines for such things. My hair is either ponytail length or completely shaved. I buy the least expensive glasses to see, and choose hats on how much light they'll block or how warm they'll keep my head. Pipes just serve the function of burning my tobacco and aside from being pleasing to the eye, I find them no more a fashionable accessory than I would a screwdriver.

 

[AroEnglish]

I guess the answer would depend on your face shape.

But honestly the comment just sounds like someone wanting to say something negative and not necessarily a true comment about how the pipe looks on you.

 

[kcghost]

You're worrying about something for which there is no answer. Why are you worrying about what this guy thinks?? Who cares just light your pipe up and enjoy things.

 

[anotherbob]

yeah a pipe is a tool and a fashion accessory. And like many fashion accessories some look great with one person and stupid with another. I've seen pipes that look bad to me when most people smoke them and then will see one person who it just works. Sorta like fancy hats.

 

[vosBghos]

Your coworker sounds like an a-hole. I wouldn't worry too much about what he thinks.

Took the words right out of my mouth, remember it's just some shmucks opinion.
There might be 100 people in a room and even if 33 of them don't like the look of your pipe there are the other 66 who might like it then there is only one left and that's you the only opinion that matters in such a subjective situation.
Smoke what and how you like.

 

[mateusbrown]

Why so quick to dismiss pipe for face shape?

Of course I cannot remember where or when, but I have seen something along these lines for matching the pipe shape and/or style to the rest of one's ensemble. I want to say it was an ad of some kind from probably the 1940's or 50's. Different pipe shapes with different men in various attires arranged in sort of an infographic ad. I guess back in those days when styles were generally more formal that the pipe would be part of your overall look. You wouldn't want to smoke your corncob if you were wearing a suit or tuxedo or whatever.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Have you seen some pictures of people using a pipe where it looks like it just fits? Doesn't look goofy or dumb, it just works.

How do we achieve that look? What is it that makes it work?

Now that the question is asked, here's the backstory:

I'm fairly deaf, something like 85% hearing loss but I have hearing aids that are quite decent and I sometimes hear better than I let on I overheard a coworker say to another coworker not 10 feet away say, "He looks dumb as shit with that pipe, but I gotta admit, it smells good".

Do I actually care? Not particularly. If I did I wouldn't been seen outside my backyard with my pipe. I'm still going to smoke my red rusticated Peterson Outdoor Tankard but hey... if I can figure out that formula that makes me with a pipe look good, I'm gonna use that formula.

Just own it, buddy. You'll look great.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

The key to things like this is to be comfortable and confident. If you feel right with your pipe (or insert whatever thing like a wacky hat or loud suit) and exude the sense that you’re not worried or concerned about what others think, people will pick up on that and be accepting.

^^^^^
Exactly this.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Just got a new little Peterson Short in the mail yesterday - compared to my Pub Pipe, I think the little one makes my butt look big.

 

[mateusbrown]

I'm fairly deaf, something like 85% hearing loss but I have hearing aids that are quite decent and I sometimes hear better than I let on I overheard a coworker say to another coworker not 10 feet away say, "He looks dumb as shit with that pipe, but I gotta admit, it smells good".

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but this comment would bother me. Probably it would not have mattered what type of pipe you were smoking at the time. The pipe part wouldn't bother me so much as the dumb part. They sound a bit like assholes, but then again, people will say anything about anyone, and it gets worse when they don't think the target of the comments can hear it or when they don't think it will get back to the target. People can be mean. I guess they just assumed you weren't able to hear them based on their misconceptions of what hearing loss entails and what hearing aids can sometimes do to make up for the loss. They're better now. I remember one time I was going down the road with the radio playing. All of a sudden, there was the most horrible sound and it scared the ever-living crap out of me. It was an ad of some kind on the radio because I heard it later on again. I thought it was a firetruck or something terrible happening. That could not have been how it should have sounded to someone with normal hearing. This was back before digital tech when they picked up everything. I had the big analog kind that went behind the ears with the sealed white molds then. But I certainly wouldn't let on how much you can hear or not otherwise, though. If you can lipread, don't let them catch on to that either! It could get interesting. At least you know what you're dealing with in those two.