How do you wear a panama when it's not on your head?

[Benproof]

I don't know if this is a silly question.

What do you do with your panama hat when you're walking indoors, or in a cafe?

Do you put it on a table (ouch!) and risk coffee spills...put it on a seat (accusations of man spreading). Put it on your lap?

When I dine out, I always feel nervous about surrendering any garments or hats to the waiters. I mean, how do I know they won't give mine away for someone else who takes a fancy? When you walk indoors, do you hold your panama in your right or left hand? What happens when you carry a briefcase - do you strap it to your back like a Mexican tourist?

When you cycle, how do you stop it from blowing away? How do you cope when it wrecks your hair do? I know I should be using my cycling helmet, but carrying two pieces of headgear around ....

PS Don't laugh...theft does happens whenever you own a Fox Umbrella or Senz and some lowlife decides to take yours and leave their broken £10 job behind.

Anyhow, I'm not using mine very much partly due to the awkwardness. If I was going for a Sunday drive, it would be okay but like scarves and gloves, these things always tend to go missing.

So how do you keep a hold of yours when it's not on your head outdoors?

Questions questions!

Thanks for any insights

 

[Bob Roberts]

There's a whole thread devoted to this. "Hats in restaurants" or some such thing. Walking indoors (like in a mall) I keep it on. In a "Cafe" as such, I keep it on.

 

[Benproof]

Thanks for the heads up .. .will have to hunt it down.

Effectively feeling paralysed having to hold a hat in my hand always. It's not exactly an easy shape to fold into a bag or put away when outdoors...!

 

[Alexander Sommerset]

I think the days of worrying over much about etiquette are over. Certainly there isn't anything wrong with observing the old ways of when to don and doff a hat, but these days almost no one in the public understand any of the old rules, so it doesn't much matter. So, unless I am at a wake or funeral in a church, otherwise in a church, or in someone's home, I never take my hat off.

 

[Benproof]

My parents always taught me to be respectful but society was teaching me the other way

You're probably right in that others are less conscious of hat etiquette than the era which panama hats were first created and used in.

I feel inclined to take my scarf off as soon as I walk indoors (warmer). Sunglasses too: it seems a bit strange to sit and meet people with sunglasses on all the time. Panama hats? It kind of makes my head look bigger than it is so you might be right....if I want to create an imposing presence with a strong visual symbolism, then wearing a panama hat would make it hard to avoid since people would have to try and look around it. Hmm. This could be a good reason to start moving up to a 20 gallon hat or a sombrero.

 

[tropicalbob]

Living where I do. I wear a straw hat for most of the year (and felts when the weather allows). Here in the Tropics most restaurants offer alfresco dining, and because I smoke I almost always take advantage of it. Sunglasses are survival gear in these parts, but I always take them off when I'm conversing with someone for any length of time or if I'm inside. As far as creating an imposing presence and what-not, that's me all over: I'm 5'9," have a 63 cm. head, and wear straws with a minimum brim of 2 5/8. I was wondering why I was being salaamed wherever I went.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

One place I do not wear a hat to is to the barber shop. Don't want to get hair clippings all inside it wearing it back home. Don't want to risk it being stolen while on the coat tree, or leaving it behind when I leave.

 

[Benproof]

Living where I do. I wear a straw hat for most of the year (and felts when the weather allows). Here in the Tropics most restaurants offer alfresco dining, and because I smoke I almost always take advantage of it. Sunglasses are survival gear in these parts, but I always take them off when I'm conversing with someone for any length of time or if I'm inside. As far as creating an imposing presence and what-not, that's me all over: I'm 5'9," have a 63 cm. head, and wear straws with a minimum brim of 2 5/8. I was wondering why I was being salaamed wherever I went.

I don't know why this description suddenly made me laugh thinking of spongebob lol. I live in a colder climate not usually associated with panama hats, except for days to the Royal Ascot or Goodyear. That is, panama hats are still associated with costume rather than everyday street wear.

I hope that changes. They sure look better than wearing bandanas.

 

[Benproof]

One place I do not wear a hat to is to the barber shop. Don't want to get hair clippings all inside it wearing it back home. Don't want to risk it being stolen while on the coat tree, or leaving it behind when I leave.

You ....you still have hair??!

I can't remember when I last went to the barbers lol.

 

[-30-]

" panama hats are still associated with costume rather than everyday street wear.
I hope that changes. They sure look better than wearing bandanas."

The more hats being worn by people will result in more people wearing more hats.

Regards,
J T

 

[Benproof]

The more hats being worn by people will result in more people wearing more hats.

Regards,
J T

I take my hat off to bow to those who lead the way

I must be a follower rather than a leader.

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

Hats (straw or felt) that I care about stay on my head unless a safe place for them to be off of my head is readily available. By "safe," I mean, no more than a few feet away from me, and with little to no risk that the hat can be damaged in any way.

Generally speaking, I couldn't care less about wearing my hats "indoors," or "in cafes." I do both of those things on almost a daily basis. No one else cares either.

I make exceptions for intimate spaces, and take my hats off in those. But intimate spaces almost always have a safe place for me to put my hat. If they don't, I will either avoid going to them in the first place, or if I must go, I won't wear a hat there (this option is the absolute last resort ).

put it on a seat (accusations of man spreading).

If that were to happen, I couldn't care less about that either. Although that has never happened to me after many years of putting my hat on a seat beside me (actually, my hat usually goes on top of my coat; my coat goes directly on the seat).

In summary, I recommend for you OP to stop caring too much about what other people think. Especially since for the most part, people do not think the things you are expecting that they will. That is to say, since literally no one else cares if you wear a hat indoors in non-intimate spaces, you need not either.

In regards to your outdoors questions, I personally cannot comprehend them because I do not see any reason why I would want my hat to be off of my head while I am outdoors. If I am outdoors, a hat is on my head 100% of the time.

About your cycling questions, I recommend not cycling unless you are wearing a helmet. Carrying two pieces of headgear around is a pain, but becoming injured and/or dying as a result of experiencing a helmet-less cycling accident would be much worse.

 

[Benproof]

Generally speaking, I couldn't care less about wearing my hats "indoors," or "in cafes." I do both of those things on almost a daily basis. No one else cares either.

If that were to happen, I couldn't care less about that either. ...

In summary, I recommend for you OP to stop caring too much about what other people think. ..

In regards to your outdoors questions, I personally cannot comprehend them ..

About your cycling questions, I recommend not cycling unless you are wearing a helmet. Carrying two pieces of headgear around is a pain, but becoming injured and/or dying as a result of experiencing a helmet-less cycling accident would be much worse.

Thanks for your views. Yes I can see your perspective. I live in London. You live in Canada. I can see both perspectives in a non-Panama hat wearing culture here. Yours seems more welcoming for panamas than ours. In fact I haven't seen anyone wear a Panama hat all month!

I suppose we don't have a farm and the geographical land mass that creates a sense of psychological freedom that you might have without any concern for the impact of your man spread on others.

In London, like other major populated cities, space is tight and dense yet still profoundly space is social space: it demands a greater self-awareness of how a person come across to others, unless marketing oneself as a Neanderthal with no effort at marketing and relying on innate brillance at not caring is a goal. Here, man spreading is increasingly perceived as aggressive, because of the space confines, body language does have an impact on others in tight spaces.

Cycling here also has no obligatory rule to wear a helmet btw. That's not to say that's a good thing either..

 

[tropicalbob]

Benproof, with all due respect, I've always thought it was the opposite: that in big cities one is much freer to express oneself than in suburban or rural areas. Some cities, I suppose, are more open to creativity than others, but I grew up mostly in NYC and environs and have spent a fair amount of time in London, and found both cities to be places where I didn't have to worry too much if I felt like being a bit sartorially independent.

 

[Benproof]

That's my experience too. Definitely more free to dress in a city applies here.

Unless it encroaches territorially like trains, restaurants, public areas - a fraction not the whole and certainly not going to stop freedom. But it will stop me to think if its worth the effort!

 

[Lean'n'mean]

What do you do with your panama hat when you're walking indoors, or in a cafe?

So how do you keep a hold of yours when it's not on your head outdoors

Roll it up & stick it in your pocket..

 

[Benproof]

Roll it up & stick it in your pocket..

Show me how it's done. I'm a follower - not a leader when it comes to hats

Ok - honestly think that the way to wear a panama hat...is to have it chauffeured in a car. Isn't that what you guys really do to stop it from getting creased and bent out of shape right?!

 

[Edward]

Never treated mine any different than any other hat... just careful in restaurants about where I set it down. From experience, I have also tended to favour polystraws, as these are less fragile and a bit more 'wipe-clean'. I've never considered what to do with it while cycling (I don't want to die under a bus, hence I don't cycle in London). I suppose there, the alternative might be to opt for a bush hat with a chin strap...

Here in London, once it reaches the warmer months (May/June/July/August), I tend to see a lot of folks in brimmed straw type hats. Not so many of us in boaters, but plenty of panama types. Much more so than felt hats at this time of year.

 

[tropicalbob]

It's funny, but the tropics are actually the most difficult place to wear a nice straw because of the completely unpredictable nature of the atmosphere. Up north the conditions are relatively stable and predictions of rain or shine fairly accurate: down here a storm can blow up at any time during the warm months and usually does. If I go out wearing one of my more expensive ones, I have to remember to stuff a plastic bag in my shoulder bag or pocket. Last summer I got a Sunbody for about $50.00 and I love the usefulness of the thing: one day it blew off my head while I was out boating, and the thing just sailed along on the bay like a little boat until I fished it out. Probably get another soon - I'm eyeing the Gambler.

 

[RJR]

It's funny, but the tropics are actually the most difficult place to wear a nice straw because of the completely unpredictable nature of the atmosphere. Up north the conditions are relatively stable and predictions of rain or shine fairly accurate: down here a storm can blow up at any time during the warm months and usually does. If I go out wearing one of my more expensive ones, I have to remember to stuff a plastic bag in my shoulder bag or pocket. Last summer I got a Sunbody for about $50.00 and I love the usefulness of the thing: one day it blew off my head while I was out boating, and the thing just sailed along on the bay like a little boat until I fished it out. Probably get another soon - I'm eyeing the Gambler.

I have a couple of Sunbodys for the same reason.