Hat Storage

[Justin B]

100% agree Alan. I have nowhere near the amount of hats that you do, but I try to wear them as much as possible. Obviously there are a couple I like best and a couple that I only put on with a certain suit or shirt...but I own 'em to wear 'em. It's like a car...they're meant to be driven not stored away just for the sake of having them.

 

[HatsEnough]

I wear the hats in boxes less.

I agree that this is an impediment. I have some 100 hats and constantly getting inside that boxes is a bit of a hassle, especially if the hat I want is the one on bottom. Looking at the hat boxes and reading all the slips of paper I have sticking out of them to choose a hat is a chore that could easily make me not bother if I was even a tiny bit less interested in wearing them as much as I do. It would certainly be easier to just scan them all open air like that and grab one when I want it.

Unfortunately, this house of mine is a dust bin. Anything that sits for more than a few days gets covered in dust. So, I have to suffer with the way I now do it.

My dream would be to have a room covered in glass enclosed, one hat-sized bins all there to gaze at. When I want one, I could just open the little glass door and grab it. And I could see all my hats at once. Wouldn't that be cool?

Think of something like this...

... only instead of Star Wars figures, they are hats with little glass doors keeping the dust out. At least that is my dream idea.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

nice but it would take a big room to store hats that way.

 

[HatsEnough]

nice but it would take a big room to store hats that way.

Well, as long as I'm dreaming about my ideal hat room, I may as well dream of the palatial estate that would surround it!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

How about something like this. From the Borsalino hat museum.

 

[HatsEnough]

Me likey!!

Now, if I can find a good Italian cabinet maker, imported from Czechoslovakia, and re-imported to the United States.

 

[randooch]

Alan, that is awe-inspiring. Not just the hat collection, of course, but your lovely wife's selfless gesture. It could bring a tear to one's eye! Thanks for sharing.

 

[EggHead]

Hmm, I guess in about 20-30 years when we begin to die off, there will be a lot of vintage hats for sale.

 

[randooch]

Hmm, I guess in about 20-30 years when we begin to die off, there will be a lot of vintage hats for sale.

An astute observation.

 

[EggHead]

But on the brighter side, hats are a green technology product. They are resold, reused, and refurbished all the time.

 

[alanfgag]

Alan, that is awe-inspiring. Not just the hat collection, of course, but your lovely wife's selfless gesture. It could bring a tear to one's eye! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks!... though I think getting my hats off the dining room table helped inspire her. I've spent a lot of daydreaming hours on how to suspend fitted open shelving (a la Optimo) in the curved wall of this room. I think Donna wanted a quicker path to getting her house back. 8^)

 

[LoveMyHats2]

While I was out of town last week, my wife made me an anniversary gift... kind of an "us" present. I'd been looking to find some way of collecting my hats in one place - also keeping them out in view so I can see (remember) what I have and encourage a varied wearing rotation.

We have a spare bedroom that Donna uses as a sewing room and library for her costume design resource books. Years ago we had two shelving units in there but after a while sold one at a yard sale. Donna ran into the fellow that had bought the shelves years before and asked if he was still using them. She wound up buying them back and setting them up in the sewing room for my hats. She put a ribbon on it and surprised me on my return home, adding a small sewing box for my hat repair tools and brushes. It was a great present. For you young guys, we all reach a point in life where empty space (physical and mental) is worth it's weight in gold.

This past weekend I spent a little time getting organized. I wanted to get most of the hats out of boxes because I tend to forget what's in them. I left in boxes only the rare and fragile hats and the few where the box is clearly original. Donna got me some 1/2 foam, which I cut and stapled to make a support ring. It helps shoulder the weight of the stacked hats and protect the ribbons from damage.

It's a work in progress. There are still some additional hats scattered around the house. And I need to do a better job storing the summer straws. But now I can see what I have and decide what to wear a little better. Did I mention that I love my wife?

Your hats and as many of them that you have, leave me speechless. In my dreams I wish I owned even half of those.

I leave hats in the boxes they came in, and will normally allow a hat to "air out" for an hour or so after wearing, before placing it in the box.

 

[HatsEnough]

Hmm, I guess in about 20-30 years when we begin to die off, there will be a lot of vintage hats for sale.

I am taking mine with me, baby!

 

[EggHead]

I am taking mine with me, baby!

I know, I think there will be a lot of "You're not getting mine!"

 

[VetPsychWars]

Your hats and as many of them that you have, leave me speechless. In my dreams I wish I owned even half of those.

Really? Why? While I have no issue with a man spending his money how it pleases him... I despair of getting so many hats that I don't wear them. I get no pleasure out of an object just to have it if I cannot use it... and I'm a little worried that I have more than I will wear.

As for my own storage, I have something similar to this and will get this one, two shelves bigger....

Hanging Organizer

Tom

 

[Aureliano]

Great way to store your hats, Alan! I used to have mine all in boxes and it was a struggle to remember them and to wear them. Back some years I had many more. I've posted this before but I deleted them from photobucket. I just re-shot these shelves I made to show again how I have my hats. Way fewer than before. As for dust, not a real problem. They get worn often and a simple brush takes care of it. I have some of my lighter felts covered with plastic, that helps See? there's even an empty square now!

 

[alanfgag]

Really? Why? While I have no issue with a man spending his money how it pleases him... I despair of getting so many hats that I don't wear them. I get no pleasure out of an object just to have it if I cannot use it... and I'm a little worried that I have more than I will wear.
Tom

I think many of us can relate to that feeling and like many, I likely have too many. My hope is that having the hats out and in my hands will help me achieve the balance. It's in that spirit that I share the pictures.

cheers,
Alan

 

[HatsEnough]

Really? Why? While I have no issue with a man spending his money how it pleases him... I despair of getting so many hats that I don't wear them. I get no pleasure out of an object just to have it if I cannot use it... and I'm a little worried that I have more than I will wear.

Well, if you approach a passion solely with pure logic (and if you do I say it's no passion) I guess you just might limit yourself to 1 or 2 hats. But when you "get into" hats, Id submit you are naturally going to end up with more than you need from utility.

Besides.... never say never!

 

[EggHead]

Just ask Imelda Markos!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Really? Why? While I have no issue with a man spending his money how it pleases him... I despair of getting so many hats that I don't wear them. I get no pleasure out of an object just to have it if I cannot use it... and I'm a little worried that I have more than I will wear.

As for my own storage, I have something similar to this and will get this one, two shelves bigger....

Hanging Organizer

Tom

I wish you to back your truck up a bit here, my statement regarding viewing the hats this man owns as "leaving me speechless" is far from a statement on my behalf to be "observed" in any means of negative in nature and in fact looking upon my further comments I state I wish I had half that many.

Additionally I have no mention in reference to the amount of which he (or anyone else for that matter) would desire to spend on hats.