Your first hats

[Pompidou]

I don't know that I'm going to settle for two hats. I love my black pork pie and my brown whippet. I think I'm going to go for a third. I wouldn't mind a white straw "gambler" hat. Homburgs are cool, but I don't wear homburg attire. As you can see, I'm shooting for a one of each kind of policy. What'd everyone else do? Homburgs, derbies and tophats probably won't find themselves in my collection, though a homburg is possible. I do like the look. Derbies, not so much, and tophats, not at all. I'm shooting to look sharp, but the dandy look isn't for me. I'd prefer to be called Indy than Fred Astaire. Anyhow, I ramble.

 

[KY Gentleman]

I've never had a problem finding hats I like, and I bet you won't settle for two yourself! I don't have a big variety of types of hats, mostly fedoras and a few cowboy hats. I generally discover a hat with personality and I end up buying it. Then my wife rolls her eyes.

 

[Big_e]

I started out with stingy brims and love them. My first hat is my Brixton Gain and the Sears stingy I bought later from FL member Scott Wood are my favorites. My preference is stingy brims but I do want to add atleast one full brimmed Fed to my collection.
I love Porkpies and am still looking for the perfect one. My first one was a black wool Porkpie which I gave to my brother. I later bought a grey rabbitfelt but it's ever-so-slightly large so it's still not perfect. I need a perfect fitting black one.
My beater hat is a wool Jaxon pinch crown which I'm wearing in my avatar. That has about the same size brim as an average Fed and I love it so, yes I need a Fed IV!
I started out trying to look sharp when I joined Fedora Lounge but I feel I'm becoming something of a dandy but I'm ok with that, I'm worth it.
Ernest

 

[Burton]

Hats are such personal items so its kind of hard to recommend them to folks but I have become interested in and purchased a couple of very nice Panama hats (high end ones) and really like the style. They are quite different in style and "feel" to my normal safari style hats but have a charm all their own. Dont know if that fits with your style but they are cool. Good luck!

 

[150719541]

1961 & 1963

49 years ago, I had in this era my first hat, a straw hat, made in coconut fiber, in dress style, dark brown color, in 55 size, you know, to a 8 years old kid, it was the most beautiful hat. In that time all boys usually saw T.V. My favourite serie was "the Untouchables", where Robert Stack and guest stars used incredible hats. Thence me and friends play "gangsters vs. police" and used my beautiful hat.

 

[SilveradoSteve]

My first hats were short brimmed western style hats(3"-3-1/2") brim sizes but now I live in hot and humid south Texas and getting more and more into panama hats.

 

[ScottF]

I've never had a problem finding hats I like, and I bet you won't settle for two yourself! I don't have a big variety of types of hats, mostly fedoras and a few cowboy hats. I generally discover a hat with personality and I end up buying it. Then my wife rolls her eyes.

I have had the same experience, including your last sentence. I started with a brown wool fedora, gave that away and got a black wool fedora. Then a black wool porkpie. Then a stingy straw porkpie. Then a new felt Stetson Chatham. Then I discovered vintage felt and went nuts. Started with O.R.-style after seeing so many pics of jtl, gtdean, bobc and rbh looking good in those. Then went to bound-brim and cav edges, also because of great lounger pics (too many to list). Then went to '30s and '20s raw edge high crowns, because of Douglas and Marc's pics. Panamas because of Robert, Carlisleblues, etc. Now I also wear westerns, getting started because of Robert's pics - I even have four GIANT westerns that I only wear inside alone . Whatever other loungers look good in - I try out. But my favorites are still the 2 1/2" raw edge brims with high crowns.

I will bare my soul, but not my head

 

[The Good]

Well, my first fedora, I can't say it as in singular, because I ordered two of them from Amazon.com. One of them was a cheap $30 buck Panama (probably a shantung instead, since it's by Ultrafino Panama Hats), and a wool Jaxon c-crown fedora costing about the same. I started out cheap, but I probably could have started out even cheaper and even sooner, with one of those cloth or straw stingy-brims they were selling on campus last year (they still sell them on some days, they're about 10 dollars), but I wanted to start with more classically styled fedoras, rather than the more modern designs being offered there. I rarely wear the wool felt Jaxon anymore, since I've received my brown fur felt Federation IV (regular, not deluxe) as a Christmas gift. I still wear it nearly every day of the week. However, I also wear the Panama on particularly warmer days.

These three fedoras, well, I suppose you can say that they were my firsts. I plan on expanding my collection to include a silverbelly Akubra Campdraft or Stetson Open Road type fedora (not quite ready for a real cowboy hat just yet, thing is, I live in a mainly urban area, and that would seem a bit out of place, though I'm a fan of them), perhaps another Federation IV in the moonstone color (or another good quality light grey fedora with a wider ribbon), and even a homburg someday for formal events such as weddings, cruises, formal dinners, etc... not that they happen often. I'm not sure if I have the nerve to a wear a hat to a funeral, though I like the idea of wearing it outside, and holding it while indoors, while in prayer, or while paying respects.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

First fedora was a wool felt porkpie. Horrid thing, but a start.

Then I walked into a vintage store in Lafayette, IN, and found a grey Whippet, a sage green Playboy, and a sage green Stratoliner in 7 L.O., at $15 a piece … and never looked back. I still have the Whippet and the Playboy.

bk

 

[Zanzibarstar]

I have had the same experience, including your last sentence. I started with a brown wool fedora, gave that away and got a black wool fedora. Then a black wool porkpie. Then a stingy straw porkpie. Then a new felt Stetson Chatham. Then I discovered vintage felt and went nuts. Started with O.R.-style after seeing so many pics of jtl, gtdean, bobc and rbh looking good in those. Then went to bound-brim and cav edges, also because of great lounger pics (too many to list). Then went to '30s and '20s raw edge high crowns, because of Douglas and Marc's pics. Panamas because of Robert, Carlisleblues, etc. Now I also wear westerns, getting started because of Robert's pics - I even have four GIANT westerns that I only wear inside alone . Whatever other loungers look good in - I try out. But my favorites are still the 2 1/2" raw edge brims with high crowns.

I will bare my soul, but not my head

Just like ScottF, I started with wool and cheapo straw...then I discovered vintage fur felt off Ebay. ALL I COULD SAY WAS WOW!!! And I can usually pick up a vintage for cheaper than the new wool I had bought! Some people like their stuff to be brand new. I however like the history behind a vintage item, always have. Someday, I'm sure I'll end up buying a custom hat from Art or maybe a Penman, but that's not in my budget right now. Plus, I'd be so scared of messing it up while wearing it!