Self-Conscious?

[Harley Quinn]

As I said earlier, let em drown in their own faeculence, the proles... they don't know why any of us wear hats...

 

[Pat_H]

Hello Gents,

I’ve been lurking awhile now and I just thought I would finally chime in.

I too, am new to wearing hats (except for when I was in the military–I’m NG now). I’ve always loved the suites and hats of men in old black and white movies. I’ve always wanted to dress like that but up until now, I didn’t have the money, and I thought it wasn’t “me.”

Now I have a great excuse. This past Tuesday, I had my second skin cancer operation on my head. It was only a Basal Cell, but, it was my second operation. I took about 12 stitches this time. Last operation I took tons of stitches. I have a scar under my hair on my left side of my head, that is about a five inches– in an arch over my ear. You can’t see it because it’s covered up by my hair. This last operation is about 2.5 inches long and goes from the top of my head to just above my occipital protuberance.

Wear your hat with pride, hats are totally cool!!!

So, I’m now searching for good hat vendors in the Twin Cities area. I’ll probably get a couple of nice straw hats for the summer, and a couple of fedoras for the winter.

If anyone knows of a good, local, hat vendor, please let me know.

All the best!
SlyGi

Wow, that's a good reason indeed. Glad it came out okay.

 

[alphy27]

The hat is on MY head!

I wear hats for ME! NOT any one else. I love them! I like the way they look on me or any one else I'm lucky to see wearing one. IF SOME ONE STARES, OR GIGGLES, OR WONDERS WHY IT'S NOT MY CONCERN (Any more than my hat on my head is their concern).

 

[GreyHat]

I can relate to this pretty well myself. I'm also a college student, and while I don't dress professionally, I do dress much more neatly than most college students. I've found both my fedoras and my newsboys to go well with either slacks or jeans with a nice tucked-in button up shirt.

From time to time, my parents still comment about how they aren't certain fedoras look good on me; mainly because when they were growing up, they only saw men wear fedoras when they were completely dressed up. It has taken me some time to feel more comfortable wearing my fedoras even with casual clothes, but I have decided that my style looks good.

It's true. You just have to find what works best for you and stick with it.

I'm a student here as well and I think that a decent fedora looks good with most anything. I usually do jeans (or slacks occasionally) and a button-down shirt. Leather jacket and grey fedora to top it off. I think it works, and it is generally well received by people.

 

[MississippiLong]

I usually do jeans (or slacks occasionally) and a button-down shirt. Leather jacket and grey fedora to top it off. I think it works, and it is generally well received by people.

agreed.:eusa_clap

 

[EricH]

Welcome SlyGI. The best hat shop I know of in St. Paul is http://heimies.com which is worth a look. Capitol City hats on university is another choice. I haven't been there in a long time. Most of their stock was import. Consider a custom felt or panama, they are worth the investment. Eric

 

[jimmy the lid]

I think that a decent fedora looks good with most anything.

That's the way I see it, too. :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Hexenmeister]

Another new member here...

I started wearing a less standard hat (for americans anyway) this past fall, when I picked up an ivy cap from Target, of all places. I wanted something warm for winter (it's flannel lined), and that had a European vibe about it. The first few time I wore it, my brothers literally laughed, saying it was an old man's hat. Me being 25, I didn't take kindly to such close minded ignorance on their part (a common occurrence with those two, unfortunately). To them, the only thing that is a hat is a baseball cap, which I find boring and lacking in imagination.

I have also overheard an off comment or two while in public, most notably a couple of slack-jawed mullets at a Wal-Mart (so sue me, I needed socks and it was there) who whispered to each other in a taunting manner that I should go back to the golf course.

I got over it, though, and now I wear it everywhere and get comments (positive ones) about it. I like my hat and think it adds a nice accent to any outfit. I've even gone and ordered a French beret from John Helmer, in Portland.

Here's a couple of pictures of me with my cap, to show you what I'm talking about. I think it really brings out the Scottish in my blood.

Note that it must be worn tilted to the side and slightly forward, or it does indeed look like an old man hat. ^_^

 

[ScionPI2005]

That's a very good look HexenMeister! I too am really getting into Ivy and newsboy caps; they're a good way for being casual yet unique and different at the same time.

Oh, and welcome to the Lounge!

 

[SGT Rocket]

Welcome SlyGI. The best hat shop I know of in St. Paul is http://heimies.com which is worth a look. Capitol City hats on university is another choice. I haven't been there in a long time. Most of their stock was import. Consider a custom felt or panama, they are worth the investment. Eric

Hi EricH,
Thanks for the welcome. I'll check out Heimies after the 16th-- that's when I get my stitches out.

 

[shoeshineboy]

hey there...if you look at some of my old posts you will see some of the same feelings that I had, too.

The best one was when an gentleman in his late 60's..asked me "aren;t you of the age that you don;t really give a S#@t what other people think ? If it protects you from sunburn, who cares...

Best advice I ever received...plus all the great comments in here and NOW is I don;t have a hat on, they all ask me where is it ?

Rmemeber the world series, when the announcer said Ladies and Gentlemen, please remove your CAPS ???? you know why...becasue usally the caps wearers are too stupid to know when to remove them and HAT wearers still knows the manners to which to abide by....

and yes my church folks love to see me in my hat with my suits or casual clothes...

take care...

mark easter the shoeshine boy

 

[carldelo]

I noticed the coinage...

While I appreciate the support and encouragement I see displayed in this thread (and I was happy to contribute in some small way)...

I'd like to point out that my calling a group of fedoras a 'massacre' as opposed to a flock or a bevy or a cluster... was decidely clever on my part, I'll have you know!
None of you thought of it, now, did you?

That was a winning concept that I believe belongs in the lexicon of hat terminology, thank you very much!

...and I like it: a St. Valentine's Day Massacre of fedoras is the cat's pajamas. I think 'a riot of pork pies' conjures a good image as well. I hadn't replied yet because I was working on your question re: the best term for a grouping of Homburgs (and it is spelled with a 'u', I checked). I still haven't made up my mind, but here are my favorites so far:

• 'A mob of Homburgs' (maybe too obvious with the gangster imagery)
• 'A huddle of Homburgs' (I like the alliteration)
• 'A council of Homburgs' (sort of governmental sounding)

Is there a mafia word I'm not remembering when all the heads of the families get together for a meeting? A palaver? A sit-down? Still percolating, and I guess we need to work on derbies/bowlers and top hats. I think we can probably agree on 'a fleet of boaters', although 'a regatta of boaters' has a nice ring to it...

 

[Spatterdash]

LOL! lol

I love a 'council' of Homburgs, and both your terms for boaters could work. I figure I may have to move this to a new thread, it's only proper to make room for some of our newer family to talk about what they intended in this thread.

Look for the thread "Multiple Hat terms".

For those of you wishing I'd cram it and shake, I shall do so and declare my comments as.... fftopic:

 

[Marcus Brody]

I've been wearing a fedora since I was about 4 and I'm 21 now, so it's like 2nd nature really. I try to wear it as often as possible, but I usually don't wear it when I'm going to class or just going somewhere specific to eat in a vehicle. The reason for the first is that I don't have anywhere to put my hat, and I obviously can't just wear it in class. The second is because I also don't wear hats in cars since I tend to block the rear view, and a hat indoors at a restaurant just seems off. I also hate not having somewhere to put my hat, because I prefer not putting them on the floor, and obviously hat racks aren't exactly in great supply these days, nor would I feel comfortable leaving my hat unattended on a hat/coat rack.

I just think fedoras are cool and should be part of everyday dress. I don't dress up when I wear fedoras either, and that goes with my philosophy. I'm not out there to be retro (which is something I don't necessarily mind either), I'm out there to wear hats.

Haha, all I know is that my shadow looks cooler than most people around me.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Hexenmeister,

that has the Owney Madden (latterly of 'Cotton Club' fame) in his Sheffield gangs days vibe... in a more cinematiic sense than the large top flat hats worn in the industrial North...

 

[DrQuest]

Haha, all I know is that my shadow looks cooler than most people around me.

I second that, Marcus; and that lid you got there looks cool! Wear it with pride!

 

[Mr Blaine]

DrQuest and fellow Loungers.

I must say that I am very self concience about wearing my lid. I live in Essex England and the only hat coulture we have here is the baseball cap. For a start I live in England and not the US, so a Fedora sticks out like a sore thumb. Infact I would not be suprised if I am the only person in the area where I live that wears one.

I love wearing my lid, but I have not got the potatos yet to go out on day trips with it on. I usually wear it in the car and only when I am on the way to work. I know that I would get alot of stick for wearing one in Essex.

I am not looking for a confidence boost; I know I just need to get to the stage where I think; who gives a you know what what people think.

I love the 30s and 40s hat and suite styles; it is such a shame that the whole dressing up before you go out ideal has all but died. Lets hope that it will all turn around one day.

Take care; it was good to put my thoughts across.

Paul.

 

[DrQuest]

DrQuest and fellow Loungers.

I must say that I am very self concience about wearing my lid. I live in Essex England and the only hat coulture we have here is the baseball cap. For a start I live in England and not the US, so a Fedora sticks out like a sore thumb. Infact I would not be suprised if I am the only person in the area where I live that wears one.

I love wearing my lid, but I have not got the potatos yet to go out on day trips with it on. I usually wear it in the car and only when I am on the way to work. I know that I would get alot of stick for wearing one in Essex.

I am not looking for a confidence boost; I know I just need to get to the stage where I think; who gives a you know what what people think.

I love the 30s and 40s hat and suite styles; it is such a shame that the whole dressing up before you go out ideal has all but died. Lets hope that it will all turn around one day.

Take care; it was good to put my thoughts across.

Paul.

Paul:

Good to hear from you. You sound exactly like me. I love wearing my lid too, but it's hard for me to wear it out in the open. People are just not accustomed to seeing them much nowadays. Like you, I am working towards getting to that mindset in which I just don't care what people think. I do wear it to church on Sundays, and I just ordered two more fedoras as well, so I will have a little better variety. It is also hard for me to wear it out for day trips. The last time I did, my wife told me it looked fine, but since it is gray, with a black band, she felt it looked a bit too "dressy". Thus, I will hopefully be purchasing a brown one in a couple of months, as soon as they have my size in again. (large)


I too love the look of the 30s and 40s, and to some degree, the 50s and 60s. In those days more men wore suits and hats, and were not always so casually dressed.

Thank you for your feedback. That lid looks great on you.

 

[flylot74]

I must say that I am very self concience about wearing my lid. I live in Essex England and the only hat coulture we have here is the baseball cap. For a start I live in England and not the US, so a Fedora sticks out like a sore thumb. Infact I would not be suprised if I am the only person in the area where I live that wears one.

Baseball caps? That is pretty much an American game. Why on earth would the English want to dress like we Americans? We dress so poorly!

I love wearing my lid, but I have not got the potatos yet to go out on day trips with it on. I usually wear it in the car and only when I am on the way to work. I know that I would get alot of stick for wearing one in Essex.

Be unique! What's wrong with standing out? You look very good with your fedora.Why be like everyone else. If I am asked why I "dress up" and why I wear a hat. I tell them that I am rebelling! I refuse to dress like an average person, I have more pride in myself than that!

...... and besides, I would look silly in orange hair, a nose ring and my trousers around my knees....... and the baseball cap thing..... Oh please! Don't get me started on that! I'll be on my soap box for an hour!

I love the 30s and 40s hat and suite styles; it is such a shame that the whole dressing up before you go out ideal has all but died. Lets hope that it will all turn around one day.

Then welcome to a group(and a growing one at that) that is in agreement with your thinking. You will find that you will eventually become more comfortable about accepting how you think you should look and also find out that eventually, people around you will accept the new you and they will actually be shocked when you forget to wear your hat! Over time, it simply becomes a part of you.............

 

[carldelo]

My coping strategy

Maybe this will help those with self-consciousness issues, which I have from time to time just like everybody else. I've been using this ruse for years and it works well.

When somebody asks "why are you so dressed up", I have a ready answer:

If I'm at work, I say "well, I'm going out later and I think it's going to be kind of dressy so I want to look good".

If it's after work, I say "well, I had an important meeting today and I wanted to look good".

People like to have a reason to hang their hat on (pun intended) and these answers help them out. If they ask me where I'm going out fancy, I usually say "oh some art-world function, I'm not sure what it is, I just go where my wife tells me" (she has a gallery). It helps that I live in NY, because no one questions having something fancy to do on a weeknight. Also I teach at a college where the students are in uniform, so dressing a little formally makes sense.

Working out a stock response is a good idea, as it prevents awkward answers like: "I dress well because I have some self respect and don't want to be mistaken for a poorly-dressed slob like you", or words to that effect. This answer seems to create a whole new set of problems... :eusa_doh: