What Hat Are You Wearing Today 1?

[rlk]

Alexander Circle A Brand

 

[monbla256]

Nice temps perfect for my Acorn Fawn Stylemaster today .

 

[Herzen]

Might not get out of the 50s today, so felt it is.


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My Optimo, recently purchased from Cookie.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

First day of school in MN hat.

Good day. Today is the first day of school in MN. I was at the gym early this morning preparing for the school Gymnnastics/Dance/Karate/Wrestling/Soccer Fall programs first day. Welcome 2011-12 school year!

Here is me opening the business this morning wearng my Stetson Whippet in a tawny color. Limited lights as I am being "green," cheap as my wife says when she stumbles in the gym.

Thanks for leting me share. Eric -

 

[Herzen]

Good day. Today is the first day of school in MN. I was at the gym early this morning preparing for the school Gymnnastics/Dance/Karate/Wrestling/Soccer Fall programs first day. Welcome 2011-12 school year!

Here is me opening the business this morning wearng my Stetson Whippet in a tawny color. Limited lights as I am being "green," cheap as my wife says when she stumbles in the gym.

Thanks for leting me share. Eric -

Great hat, and it suits you well. Good luck on the new school year! My wife teaches and today is her first day as well.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Geez, who doesn't look good in a Whippet? Gotta be one of the most flexible hats out there. That one looks great on S.B.G. but they also look great on people who look nothing like S.B.G. face-shape-wise. Great hats!

 

[randooch]

Now THAT'S a low crown! Looks good on you, Robert.

Herzen and SBG, nice ones, too!

 

[delectans]

Great hats Al, great food, too.

Dobbs today, found in an antique store in Gloucester, MA. Pic is a little blurry, the way I feel today.

Thanks, Perry! I remember well when you first posted that beautiful Dobbs. Looks great on you.

Really enjoyed seeing everyone's photos from the long weekend. I don't know which to comment on first! Rusty's Borso, Aureliano's featherweight, David's pickle banded panama, everything AL puts on his head... these are just the highlights I remember without looking back.

I'm a little glazed from 1250 miles of driving and assembling and repairing furniture in my daughter's new apartment (and an epic visit to IKEA on Labor Day weekend.) I did have a chance to sneak away for a great visit to Optimo and an even greater opportunity to connect with Lounge friends in Chicagoland. A highlight was time spent with Josh - including a mobile phone ebay surfing and bidding session from inside a parked car on Western Ave in the midst of a torrential hailstorm. Vintage hat shopping doesn't get much better than that. We decided that a Lounge get together in Chicago is definitely worth getting on the agenda for the coming year.

more later,
Alan

Thank you, Alan, you are most kind! I look forward to hearing more about your trip to Optimo and your mobile bidding adventure with Josh. We narrowly missed meeting up with him a few weekends back...

 

[Aureliano]

Rainy day in NYC. Went with this wonderful Worth & Worth.

 

[zetwal]

Geez, who doesn't look good in a Whippet?

I don't care for them (on me). But I agree that they are good hats, and well styled.

 

[DJH]

Cool and rainy here in New Hampshire as well. I have my Pecan Tumwater with me in the office today.

 

[Justin B]

Love the ribbon treatment on that one DJH!

 

[bowlerman]

Great hats, everyone. I have a lot to catch up on from the weekend. And to boot, with the exception of a day trip with my wife and kids out to Lake Okoboji, IA, I stayed home all weekend working.
Did get a chance to wear the Belamey homburg out to Okoboji (photo taken just before we left) and am wearing it again today. Getting used to it.

, Also had a great gig playing jazz piano with some really wonderful musicians Saturday night. It felt like a Baron Bowler kind of night, and that turned out to be the right choice!

 

[DJH]

Love the ribbon treatment on that one DJH!

Thanks, Justin. That triple bow has become Tony's trademark - the next hat I get from him will be very different though!

 

[DJH]

I hope those are sweet pickles. That would be a horrible waste of a perfectly good kosher dill.

I must admit, I bought a big jar of the fattest kosher dill pickles I could find, just for the occasion.

 

[alanfgag]

Chicago weekend summary

We were all in Chicago area this weekend helping to set up my daughter's new apartment. It's a nice hi-rise a block off Lake Michigan in Evanston with three bedrooms, two terraces and a hell of view. It's cheaper than campus housing, but Donna and I figured that a months rent here would have paid our first apartment rental for four years.

I got leave on Saturday morning to make my first visit to Optimo. Josh got there before me and we spent a long time wandering back and forth between the felts and straws, drinking in what can be accomplished with vision, good craftsmanship and the best materials available today. It is an amazing operation... beautiful space, thoughtful service and gorgeous products. AL posted fantastic photos a few weeks back on the Fedoras Afield thread... I didn't take a one. Josh and I talked quite a bit, comparing the features and construction of these fine new hats to the vintage models we love and collect. The new felts sourced from Portugal are really quite wonderful and finished on a par with the best vintage. I wouldn't know where to begin selecting one... at least not on my first visit. The fine Panamas are extraordinary... it was thrill to be able to touch them and experience their incredible lightness and fineness.

After drinking in Optimo we took Tiffani's suggestion for a nice place to sit and have lunch a few blocks further south. Josh brought along a few of his favorite hats (including his great new early Nutria western) and we sat and chewed the fat and some bagels, not noticing that they were looking to head home until a half hour after they had closed. Managed to grab a couple of quick photos in back... before the rain and hail sent us scurrying for the car.

Josh was wearing a great Dobbs Forty...

I had two trusty traveling hats that could stand to be wedged into a fully packed station wagon... my Lee Panama - somewhat floppy from the humidity and by this time, suffering severely from an inferiority complex - and my 1940's Royal Stetson Vita-Felt:

Safely in the car and listening to the threatening pings of hailstones on the hood, we looked through our current ebay watchlists on our mobile phones and hung out until an auction I was watching ended. Not having spent a cent at Optimo, I bid loaded for bear, and if the old Dobbs homburg turns out to be 1930's as I hope, it will be my best iPhone win to date.

IKEA got the rest of my non-Optimo spent budget the next day and we worked to put it all together, fix broken stuff and clean messy stuff, before making the drive back to Buffalo on monday. The girls posed for a couple of photos before we pulled away...

with the last sister kiss getting a little interrupted by a passing cute college guy.

cheers,
Alan

 

[cookie]

One perfect day! Sorry bout dat Graham!

 

[fluteplayer07]

Great post, and it sounds like you had a great time. Knowing your track record with vintage, I'd love to see what sort of Optimo you'd come up with.

 

[Aureliano]

Great shots, Alan. That panoramic is great!

 

[RBH]

Great shots, Alan. That panoramic is great!

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