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Question about hat style.

RJR

Messages
10,620
Location
Iowa
The website for Peters Brothers is a real pain,the Facebook page is better.Look at their true hemp milans.
 

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
Straws n thunderstorms aren't the best mix. So you'll have to take your chances. I've a Stetson Brewster felt thats pretty light weight (but stiff) and I'm sure a good soaking would only loosen/soften it up. Probably what it needs! Its a casual C crown. Re Akubras, many swear they're meant to be worn in the heat...
 

jlw

One of the Regulars
Messages
100
Location
GA
Straws n thunderstorms aren't the best mix. So you'll have to take your chances. I've a Stetson Brewster felt thats pretty light weight (but stiff) and I'm sure a good soaking would only loosen/soften it up. Probably what it needs! Its a casual C crown. Re Akubras, many swear they're meant to be worn in the heat...

I've been studying on the models that have the ventilation holes in the side. I just haven't settled on one yet though. I like the looks of the Stickman, but it doesn't have the vent holes (if I remember correctly).

I'm probably going to wind up with a canvas safari hat to go with the Tilley. Avoiding the rain isn't an option.
 

MothPrey

New in Town
Messages
27
Location
Maryland suburbs of DC
I both sympathize and empathize with the OP.

Every time a subject like this comes up, a whole lot of folks chime in to say they're never self-conscious, as though they couldn't understand why anyone would be. Fine, they can pull off the pink tutus with aplomb, I'll watch with interest. From a distance. Me, I'm capable of feeling self-conscious or out-of-place, and I don't see that changing this late in the game.

I was brought up to consider some things proper and other things not, and although that's changed a lot over the years, some of it hasn't. I spent well over a decade wearing suit-and-tie to work every day, and while I don't miss that at all I still can't bring myself to wear a collarless shirt or legible clothing out in public unless I'm pretty much within walking distance of a beach. Maybe that's just me, but I'm still the one I have to deal with.

In my various stints of hat-wearing I've come to feel, as others here have said in different ways, that some hats just work better with casual than others. I really don't mind wearing a traditional broad-ribbon brown, gray or black fedora with any sort of jacket (well, no brown fedoras with leather jackets, it's just not worth it), but I feel silly wearing one of those in shirtsleeves, even more so with short sleeves.

Since pretty much nobody in my line of work even wears sports jackets anymore, my classic brown, gray and black fedoras have ended up mostly stored.

Here in the East I don't wear full cowboy hats unless I'm actually riding or arrived on a horse (I was born on the other side of the Mississippi, I'm fine with it there), and I don't wear cattleman creases because I'm not a cattleman (insert "big hat" reference), but I find that green, silverbelly and tan narrow-ribbon hats in other creases work pretty well for me, as do some similar hats with leather hatbands. I have Tilleys, straws, canvas and hemp hats that I wear in full summer with short sleeves, and for doing hard, dirty work.

I set up one of my bluegrass-green Campdrafts in a sort-of "RM" crease ("bash"), and that's been fine, but fairly recently I reworked the other with a teardrop crease, fedora brim-snap and a one-inch brown calfskin hatband in frank (if patently inferior) imitation of the Black Sheep Tumbledown, which I admired online (and still do). Right now that's my favorite for general-use casual. The wider brown band adds color and interest, the brown/green combo and leather seems to take it down another notch in dressiness, and the teardrop crease takes the tall crown down a little, which, although I like a tall crown, works better if I might be in someone else's car with a low roof. It's one of the few hats I have that has never gotten either snide "Indy" or cowboy comments, and seems to work well for just meeting friends for a few beers, it's that kind of "casual".
 

Monte

Practically Family
Messages
600
Location
North Dakota
The Open Road's versatility was a selling point. "East or West"
stetsonopenroad1950.jpg
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
Thanks, guys. Got hung up via work and didn't have time to check the thread before now. I'll still feel better wearing a jacket with a hat, but I'll feel OK without the jacket. FWIW, I like the hat because it looks like a fedora and a cowboy hat fell in love -- it's not really a western hat, but it's not really a city hat either. I like that. Again, I appreciate all the responses!
A good part of why I like the Open Road. I've spent most of my life in Da Swamp, but was lucky enough to live in Denver for 4 years and to visit New Mexico multiple times. As far as I'm concerned, I belong out West. Since I can't financially manage that, I wear an OR (brim snapped down fedora style, usually), collared shirts, jeans, and boots when the nasty weather here permits.

"it looks like a fedora and a cowboy hat fell in love" -- good phrase!
 
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SLOshank

New in Town
Messages
42
Location
San Luis Obispo, CA
Exactly what sort of hat would a young person (24) wear while attired in a business suit in Chicago this coming winter?

I don't want to look like a dweeb, but as a native Californian I'm very cold-sensitive. Thanks.
 

jlee562

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,099
Location
San Francisco, CA
If money is no object, go get yourself set up at Optimo, they'll help you choose a hat to suit your face and the Chicago weather.

If on the other hand, you don't feel like dropping $1k+ plus on a hat, check out Akubra hats. They're obviously not quite as finely appointed as a luxury Optimo, but for >$175, they're a great value and very resilient. A popular choice around here is the Fed 4 and another is the Campdraft. The latter is more or less a vintage styled Open Road (Akubra once held the Stetson license in Australia).
 
Messages
10,832
Location
vancouver, canada
Exactly what sort of hat would a young person (24) wear while attired in a business suit in Chicago this coming winter?

I don't want to look like a dweeb, but as a native Californian I'm very cold-sensitive. Thanks.
What do you wear as a coat over your suit? The hat should be in congruence with your over coat not your suit as that is what you wear when outside.
 
Messages
10,832
Location
vancouver, canada
If money is no object, go get yourself set up at Optimo, they'll help you choose a hat to suit your face and the Chicago weather.

If on the other hand, you don't feel like dropping $1k+ plus on a hat, check out Akubra hats. They're obviously not quite as finely appointed as a luxury Optimo, but for >$175, they're a great value and very resilient. A popular choice around here is the Fed 4 and another is the Campdraft. The latter is more or less a vintage styled Open Road (Akubra once held the Stetson license in Australia).
I even like their lower crowned, narrower brim Stylemaster/Sydney models.
 

Mm25

One Too Many
Messages
1,020
Flat cap is the actual answer here.

It won’t bow off in high winds downtown.
You can stick it in a pocket when you go inside.
Dresses down well for casual after work.
Will keep your head warm, can get models that will cover your ears too.
 
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