How did you start wearing hats?

[KingAndrew]

I've been wearing hats my whole life. When I was a toddler, I sported an engineer's cap to go with my overalls. And I liked to try on my grandad's straw stingies when I visited him in Florida. But most of the time I would top things off with an old green felt hat my father had picked up in Germany when he was in the Army. That hat eventually disappeared and was replaced by a tan cloth "fishing hat" with a plaid band, a flat top, and a fairly stingy brim. I always dreamed of a top hat, but other than a plastic one that came in a magic set, that dream went unfulfilled in childhood.

My first real fedora was a surprisingly nice looking brown wool number from Burlington Coat Factory. This was the early 80s, so it was obviously intended to ride the coattails of Indiana Jones. But I was in middle school and just saw it as a chance to pick up a nice hat that I would want to wear in the future. I still have the hat, and it still looked great until last year, when it got attacked by moths after being put in storage for several months.

As a high-schooler I was too busy sculpting my hair for much hat wearing. But I did manage to pick up a green Tyrolean hat of my own when I visited Europe on a school trip in the mid-80s. I still have that hat, too. It's in fine shape and I wore it last week when I gave a guest presentation to the German class at my school.

On my 21st birthday, I finally bought myself a top hat. I wore that same hat to my wedding 16 years later.

In my junior year of college, I cut my hair and started trying to look employable. Once I had short hair and a suit, I felt like I needed a good hat to finish the look. I began to wear the old brown Burlington hat, and picked up fedoras in other colors, too. A black derby and a panama, too. At this point all my felts were still wool. Finally, I picked up a very nice Dynafelt Bollman at JC Penney for about $25. It was steel grey with a 1950s style welted stingy brim. I finally saw how much nicer fur felts were.

The stable of hats I assembled in college served me for years, but I've recently started to upgrade. I bought an Akubra Fed IV in moonstone grey last year. And this summer I finally made the pilgrimage to Optimo in Chicago. Now that I can afford to go custom, I decided to really go for it. I got an amazing panama and lovely milan, which I have been wearing daily since I returned to Shanghai. And there are three felts making their way from Chicago to me in China as I write. And since my once-thick hair is now more of a fringe, I certainly won't be giving up hats now.

 

[John J]

Ive been off and on with hats for many years.

started when I was a child I had an Australian military hat Id always wear with one side up. Through grade school to high school I never wore hats.

after high school I was in the Navy and of course always had a hat on.

After I got out of service I settled in Maine and was very involved with Hunting dogs (bird dogs) Thus I favored English field attire tweed jackets, rubber wellie boots , Tweed walking and shooting hats...

While back in NY 26 years now and no longer breeding and hunting dogs I didn't find myself in hats other than a canvas hat for hot weather or while doing outdoor things or a Beret for cold weather. I also had employment that required me getting dirty often enogh and having to wear hard hats at times.

My employment has changed and I now dress nice almost always (no tie) I discovered a fedora was a very good look for me and hence Im a regular with a Lid, Milan for warm weather and Just starting to put together enough felt in colors to cover the wardrobe.

"John"

 

[fathergoose]

While my mother felt compelled to throw away most everything, if an article of clothing had somehow survived forty years or more in the closet, it was pretty much allowed to remain there. I discovered my father's clothes from the thirties and forties and wore them until they came apart at the seams. About the same time, an antique shop in town was having a going-out-of-business sale. For my first apartment, I bought an art deco clothes cabinet, bed and make-up table for roughly $1000. I lived to regret it, because this stuff was not made to be moved. They had a beautiful, reconditioned grey fedora in the original box. $7.00. I kept that longer than the furniture. It matched one of my dad's suits.

 

[Jomodad]

My grandmother lived with us. If I tried to leave the house she would say... Were's your keppy?


Are we having fun yet?

 

[Bushman]

When I first started college at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, I was going for geology (that quickly turned into journalism and a school switch as soon as the math grades hit me), and my very first class was the geology 101 class that happens in the field. You visit the Badlands of South Dakota, the Bighorn mountains, the Black Hills, and a bunch of stops in between like Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower. Well, one of the required items I needed for the trip was a sun hat. Looking for something lightweight and quick drying, I bought an Outback Canvas River Guide hat. I didn't want brown because I didn't want to look like I was trying to imitate Indiana Jones and I don't like sand colored hats, so I bought on in olive green. I went the whole trip wearing that hat, it was really handy and really comfortable. I got to used to wearing a hat, I started wearing one all the time. Eventually, I started picking up nicer and nicer hats, and that's how I became a hat person.

 

[WesternHatWearer]

In truth my hat wearing began, outside of baseball caps, when I joined the military. As I started out in the Navy, the first one I had was an all white "dog bowl." Swiftly there after came the garrison cap, and from there it was off to the Army. In the Army it was hard covers, berets, and patrol caps. While I was in the military one did not go outside without their head covered in some fashion. I simply swapped mandatory headwear for headwear I want to wear.

 

[HamilcarBarca3]

Just noticed I already posted here :eusa_doh:

 

[Historyteach24]

I was asked yesterday by a nice older gentleman why I was wearing a fedora. He was probably in his mid to late 60s and he too was wearing a hat. We had a bonding moment lol but he was shocked that a young person like myself (28) was wearing a hat and I explained to him that I have been wearing them pretty much my entire 20s and that they are more popular than he might think. I think it made his day to know that some of the younger generations are learning how to wear hats again.

 

[GregNYC]

I had a bit of skin cancer removed from my face (all OK now, can't tell). My dermatologist told me, "Baseball caps are not enough." Always a film noir fan, I now had the official reason to explore hats, which I had wanted to do for years anyway!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hatguy1]

I was asked yesterday by a nice older gentleman why I was wearing a fedora. He was probably in his mid to late 60s and he too was wearing a hat. We had a bonding moment lol but he was shocked that a young person like myself (28) was wearing a hat and I explained to him that I have been wearing them pretty much my entire 20s and that they are more popular than he might think. I think it made his day to know that some of the younger generations are learning how to wear hats again.

Very cool. I've always made it a point (whether I'm wearing one or not at the time) to compliment ladies and gentlemen when I see them wearing a hat. Of course, I'm quick to point out I'm a hat lover too and not just being a smart alec. Just the other night I went to a sporting event and a guy in line with us to get in was wearing an old-fashioned top hat with holly etc for the holiday in the brim. He said he gets it out every Thanksgiving thru New Years. He appreciated the kind words about his hat as a tophat is quite a different sight.

 

[RBH]

According to the back of this photo...at least since Christmas 1970.

 

[Frunobulax]

Creating a Monster - Possibly

OK, just joined yesterday and first post. How did I start wearing hats? Well, except for a brief flirtation with a denim cowboy hat during my hippie days in the 70s, I never wore so much as a baseball cap. However, age, the sun, and scraping the paint off a 100 year old house in the summer heat caused headaches, so I started wearing sunglasses and ballcaps to fend off the sun. I never thought I looked good in a hat and only wore a ballcap when working in the yard or, well, going to the ballgame!

A few years ago, my wife and I went on a cruise in the Caribbean, and started with a two day stop in San Juan, PR before catching the cruise. I told her, "I want a Panama hat!" So she started Googling, and the first day we got there, we visit Ole, an old hat shop in Historic Old San Juan. They were very helpful there and the owner and saleslady worked with me and I found a reasonably priced (~$65) straw hat and, hey - I liked the way I looked! Wore that Bad Boy from San Juan to Bridgetown and all ports in between. It's comfortable, fits me well, and does the job. The first day I had it, we got caught in a downpour in Old San Juan and I freaked out because it got wet. Went back to Ole and they patted my hand and spiffed it up for me. Great place with great service. After I got home, it became a special occasion hat - festivals, fairs, and the like, and it's my official Sunday afternoon baseball stadium hat.

Fast forward to 2014, and somehow, I decided I wanted to get a "real" hat. I knew nothing, just like Sgt. Schultz! Heck, I didn't even have enough sense to really do any research, such as quality, price, brands, etc. So the weekend before Christmas my wife and I make the pilgrimage to Batsakes in Cincinnati. The "younger" man helped me (he's only about 60), along with Mrs. Miller. I chose a Selentino Sterling in a nice grey that should go with most of what I wear to work. I love it - it fits great and I look pretty good in it. My wife likes me in a hat, too, so BONUS!!

OK, so now I've decided to wear hats - nice hats, not just ballcaps and the like. Like most things I do, there's no easing into it, so a week later (the weekend before New Year), after I did some reading about brands, types, styles, and materials, I decided I need something packable I can travel with on business trips, the next coming up in late January. So we stop in the local Dayton hat shop, Brim, and look around. Actually, a pretty good hat shop considering they are only about a year old or so. A long way to go to be like Batsakes, but the couple that own this place have nice products and the gentleman spent serious time with me - even though I loudly stated to my wife I wasn't going to buy anything that night. After walking down the street, having a bite and a couple of pints, I went back and purchased a Bailey LiteFelt Tino in a more neutral color. I've been wearing the heck out of both of them for the last couple weeks. A little self-conscious at first, but nobody looks at me weird and I don't seem to frighten small children and domestic pets, so I'm getting a lot less self-conscious. I like the way I look, though.

So now I've decided I need a more formal straw for summer, you know, to wear to work...

 

[RJR]

Welcome,you'll enjoy your new addiction here.

 

[Historyteach24]

Welcome to the dark side, I don't scare small animals in my hat, I just have grown women call me a pimp in Wal-Mart (a story for another time)

 

[anyexcuse]

When I was about 25 years old in the mid eighties I lived in Colorado. I was at a shop in Estes Park and saw a fedora for sale. I thought it was kind of a "city slicker" hat. It fit my large head and I bought it. It was my only fedora for years, but I had a lot of more western style hats, until maybe 4 years ago or so when I started to buy more hats like feds and bowlers and homburgs and such. Now my wife just rolls her eyes when she sees a new hat on my head! I still have the old tan fedora from 30 years ago. I've worn it countless times over the years and remarkably it has stood up pretty well.

 

[frussell]

Frunobulax - dig the Zappa. Nicely done.

 

[Hercule]

On my way to work one frosty fall day it dawned on me that something was missing. Went to a Church resale shop to find a hat (was aiming for a tweed bucket hat I knew they had) and walked out with a Fedora. The rest is history.

 

[Frunobulax]

Welcome,you'll enjoy your new addiction here.

Addiction? Oh, no, no! Not me, nuh-uh, Nope. No way. I just need to make sure I have a few - you know, for the right occasions. And if I see something really neat. Or a really good price. I'm not looking at fedoras on eBay daily now. I didn't try some vintage ones on last weekend at a second hand store. Nope. I haven't tried to find nice hat shops in the cities I mostly travel to on business (and I'm certainly not going to visit Peters Brothers when I got to Ft. Worth this month).

Nope.

 

[Frunobulax]

Frunobulax - dig the Zappa. Nicely done.

 

[AMGbullitt]

....for me it started with ball caps of my favorite watch brand, F1 Race team of AMG Mercedes. Then with the Blacklist becoming very popular, 4 of my friends all independently of one another told me I reminded them of Raymond Reddington. So challenge accepted. I purchased a fedora. That was just 2 months ago. I now own 4 fedoras and my collecting habit has taken over. I wear a fedora now, every time I go outside. I love how they look and how I look in them. I am hooked.