Hats!

[anthonyrosenthal74]

meanwhile in the Europe Fedoras or other hats (excluding Baseball caps)are becoming quite a rare occasion these days

It's pretty much the same here. Everyone walks around with their baseball caps and t-shirts... basically people have become a walking billboard for their favorite sports team, brand, and music band of choice and don't even get paid for the advertisement. Don't get me wrong, I have my sports caps, band t-shirts, etc., just like everyone else, but I don't want it to be my everyday attire anymore. Are the music bands paying me to wear their logo on the shirt I'm wearing? Is the sports team paying me to advertise their team on my head? Is the shoe company paying me to wear their logo on my feet? No, they are not.

 

[checotah]

HATS??!! Did someone say, "Hats"?
My Fedora & Bowler style hats.

My "flat" caps.

Some of my cowboy hats.

More cowboy hats.

And a couple specialty.

This does not include the 80 or so ball caps.
When you don't have hair, you have hats! :lol:

 

[jpmcwjr]

Holy hat band! To me, that's the hat equivalent of 2,000 pipes!
My favorite is a 100 year old Stetson my dad had as a kid. Been used and abused a good deal.
I always wear a cap outside, and anything that's cotton or wool. I despise plastic in any clothing. Favorite unusual: a wool Greek fishermans cap. Makes me feel like a skipper when I am on the water.

 

[nitemair13]

"Never leave the house without a hat" - my Grandfather
I mainly wear New Era ball caps with different baseball teams, usually the on field versions as I hate the 100% wool ball caps.
I own a few cowboy hats, nothing fancy. I have a fedora for when I need to dress formally, which I don't like to do but I love the hat. During the winter I have 2 wide brim stetsons that I wear when it rains. Better than a umbrella

 

[bnichols23]

Warren mentioned something earlier I meant to address & forgot. The break in men wearing hats in public did seem to occur when JFK was inaugurated; before that presidents always wore hats to their inaugural, & IIRR Ike was the last. Seems like the generation jump when JFK was sworn in almost signaled a death knell for the public male hat.

 

[warren]

Haberdashers will tell you JFK was the death of the men's hat business while Jackie, caused a resurgence in hat wear for women with her wee "pillbox" at the inauguration.
I've worn cowboy hats all my life. In my work life I was required to wear helmets, 8 points, fatigue caps, the ever popular garrison ("c**nt") cap, flying saucers (fifty mission crudh" of course), baseball style caps, and hard hats. I don't know that I've ever not worn headgear of some sort. My cowboy hats last thirty plus years (daily, all weather) so I won't ever need to purchase another. They run $700.00 a piece but, last a lot longer than a rabbit/beaver mix. Twenty-three bucks a year isn't bad! Purchased my last four years ago for no good reason other than I wanted one. Now, damnit, I have decision to make every time I leave the house.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Wearing a hat indoors is seen by many as disrespectful, whether to the institution (church, whatever), hostess (someone's house) or other folks around (restaurants, clubs, meetings, etc.) I think (guess) it started in some religious setting or other, and spread all over the past several hundred years.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Man, Checotah's got some hats! 8O

 

[jaytex1969]

We went through the LBJ museum in San Marcos, TX today. LBJ preferred a shorter brimmed hat. Here's one of his on display:

Anthony, I was SOOO tempted to waste some dinero on this today. Not a "hat" per se, but, well, you know.... I may still trek back down there. It's calling to me! :crazy:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Anthony, I was SOOO tempted to waste some dinero on this today

8O That thing is everywhere!!!! :rofl:

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Seeing this amazing collection courtesy of Checotah made me want another hat, preferably a cowboy shape, but no I must resist to temptation,even more than ever yet to take into consideration very high shipping fees. Instead, I just bought this German Mayser panamastraw to be used come next summer. http://pipesmagazine.com/members/paulie66scandinavian/album/picture/28022 kinda like too steep for my wallet but had to have it.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

AnntohonyRosentahl, My Kid Broter (about Your age)still refuses wearing be it the hats or other garments which may include some kind of text or advert, Btw, I have one nice thick cotton baseball cap which reads,Texas*ith embroidered State map,love it.

Aldacker:Will The Circle be unbroken'Oh Yes, believe or not,but that's one of my and our hearse drivers team favorite tune'Lol

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

just bought this German Mayser panamastraw to be used come next summer.

That's a sharp looking hat, Paul.

My Kid Broter (about Your age)still refuses wearing be it the hats or other garments which may include some kind of text or advert,

I have my fair share of hats, t-shirts, and shoes with text, logos, etc. But I am going to be more selective about it, and I'm slowly going to replace most of it for a nicer wardrobe. Anything I do keep will be for just wearing around the home. I was out the other day, and walking talking billboards were everywhere. I saw very few people wearing nicer clothing. I did see a few of those (very few), dressed more nicely, wearing a nice hat.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Anthony Rosenthal,You speak just like my kid brother,and,Yes quality clothing and footwear are getting unbearable pricey these days. Honestly can't afford buying no more British made footwear or Lucchese Classic boots now when I look at them current prices,

 

[warren]

Luccese boots are cheaper now than back when they were custom built only, worn by presidents, and not owned by a conglomerate. It's the same with hats. American Hat started buying up all the makers years ago, Stetson, Baily, Charlie 1 Horse, et al. Quality changed, prices fell for a bit and now they are increasing. Blue Bell owns a bunch of boot makers now, Luccese included. I don't think one can buy a custom built pair of Luccese any longer. "Handmade" boots means the same for boots and pipes these days, machines and some handwork. There are still a few quality custom carvers, boot makers and hatters.
A sad state of affairs for boots and hats. Custom pipe carvers seem to be thriving though. I doubt any are getting rich but, there does appear to few "artists in briar" out there.
A word of caution for cowboy hat buyers: 100X, 10X, etc all mean something different to hatters. Only 100% Beaver means anything and then you are looking for the belly of the beaver if you insist on top quality. Heck, I've seen ads for 1000X but, there was not a claim that such was 100% beaver.

 

[lawdawg]

On the issue of boots and shoes, I have two pairs of Allen Edmonds dress shoes, one pair of Allen Edmonds dress boots, and one pair of Wolverine 1,000 Mile boots, all made in the U.S.A. They are all top notch quality, and I would have a hard time believing its even possible to make a better shoe / boot.
All can be had at significantly less than retail price if you wait for sales, look around, or in some cases buy seconds. My Allen Edmonds boots were seconds, and I've had them for almost two years and I think the only reason they are seconds is because the hide had some minor scarring near the boot heel on one of the boots. It's hard to see, and doesn't take anything away from the boot at all. For a couple hundred bucks, and sometimes less, you can have a damn nice pair of shoes made right here in the U.S.

 

[cigrmaster]

I love the look of all kinds of hats but cannot stand to wear them. The only hat I wear now is for the beach or the pool. It is a Columbia fishing hat that keeps the sun off my face and off my neck.
My distaste for wearing hats began when I was a kid and had to wear a hat for skiing. It would itch like a mofo but I had to wear it or freeze my ears off.

 

[aldecaker]

Paulie, I just couldn't resist throwing that out there. Anthony looked so dapper in that photo, and yet so somber! It just seemed to fit.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Aldecaker: Sure ,The there is this ancient tune from the Appalachian region, Oh Death''Lol

Warren: Thanks a Lot for the Added Information,In the past I have had few of 10+fur felt Stetson Brand Western Hats,while they looked sharp,I wasn't too impressed with the felt quality and those were far from being 'self-conforming thse older ones seem to be more comfortable to wear same rule may stand for them fedora model line.As a Boy I remember I was seeing my Dad wearing the brand name Dobb's of New York, those were softer than what I see today and narrow brimmed.

 

[irishearl]

I like and own fedoras, though not many, 2 felt and 1 straw. Also, like "Irish/Scottish" style wool flat caps of which I have 2. Have a number of the requisite ball caps but seldom wear them. The others I wear whenever the wind isn't blowing 25+ mph which in Kansas is the norm it seems.