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Hats

paulfromcamden

paulfromcamden

Baffled
A combination of hair loss and a heatwave has renewed my interest in hats.

Unlike my hero Thelonious Monk my engagement with millinery has previously only extended to a beanie in winter and a baseball cap in summer.

What other headgear might I consider?
 
A panama hat is what I wear now. It's good in that it keeps the sun out of my eyes and also off the back of my neck. It's bad in that it's what every other middle-aged (or older) bloke wears, but I'm too old to worry about that sort of thing. (I did own a baseball cap once but it blew off my head on a windy beach in Cornwall never to be seen again).
 
A trilby, obviously.

<<<<——

This is my current favourite. It’s a Bailey and it came from Village hats, but I don’t see it on their website at present. Second favourite is their black corduroy number.

Edit: and as I have discovered on tonight's stroll, the local sheep like it too.

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Especially in a church. Funnily enough, being brought up as a Catholic, removing my hat on entering a church was second nature, but out on a walk last year I went into a church that's usually closed with Mrs H. A bloke who was in there politely asked me to remove my hat (which I'd completely forgotten I was wearing).
 
paulfromcamden said:
A combination of hair loss and a heatwave has renewed my interest in hats.

Unlike my hero Thelonious Monk my engagement with millinery has previously only extended to a beanie in winter and a baseball cap in summer.

What other headgear might I consider?
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You need a winter hat and a summer hat and a hat for Spring and Autumn.

Buy the best, even though the price is high they will last a long time if you maintain them (change the ribbon), and a good hat wears well -- a good hat will look good after 15 years, just good in a different way.

Buy from the shop, not online -- they will fit it properly and you need to look at yourself with it to feel right. The size of the brim, the height and the colour really make a huge difference and you can only tell by trying them on. Get them to teach you how to take it on and off so it doesn't get damaged (by the brim, basically) and get a proper box to store it. Lock boxes are fabulous.

Try to buy a hat with a leather sweat band inside, it will wear much better.

Here's my winter hat -- I paid about £100 in around 2010 and it still looks great (I have had the ribbon changed a few times though, and one repair)

Fairbanks trilby - Lock & Co. Hats for Men & Women (lockhatters.com)

Here is my summer hat, mine is in dark brown but I don't see the webpage. I paid about £150 in 2015 or thereabouts. It still looks great, despite having been sat on.

Classic Sisal Trilby – Bates (bates-hats.com)

Here is my Autumn and Spring hat -- I bought it in 2019. The one I have is too big for me (they still don't have medium!) I still wear it, but it's not right. That's how I learned (the hard way) not to buy online.

New York Hat Company Leather Trilby Hat - Black – Village Hats (hatsandcaps.co.uk)
 
Weekender said:
They're not trifling those trilby prices...
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Yes but I can assure you, people comment. Strangers say "That's a fabulous hat!" I used to reply, "Thanks, but it's very old now and I was thinking of getting a new one" and everyone says "No, it looks great, you'd be a fool to change it."

Same for the Bates hat, but I wear that less frequently. I've learned to only wear a summer hat when the sun is shining strong -- otherwise, even with a grass hat, I get hot if I walk -- even the 10 minutes to the tube. Mind you, it makes a great fan on the train.
 
I look ridiculous in any type of hat except a floppy flower-pot type (which only makes me look slightly silly). I love trying different styles in M&S or wherever, my wife becomes hysterical and hugely embarrassed simultaneously. I bought a fur trimmed trapper hat with ear flaps years before they became immensely unfashionable, always ahead of the curve, me!
 
My mother asked me if there was anything I would like her to bring back from America on her last holiday there.

Cowboy style hat - picture Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars or Indiana Jones!

A few have commented that it's like a Fedora!

Andy
 
I love hats. My two favourites are a rattan pork pie hat I bought in Berlin 12 years ago and a blue/grey trilby but I also have 4 or 5 others. Go for it, become "that guy who wears the hats". It's cool.
 
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