Your Hat Likes it Rough

[duggap]

That is a great looking hat. What did you do to cause the mug shots.lol

 

[Thwack]

The hat still looks good Matt. Goes to show, wear it and enjoy it or else why have it?

 

[tandmark]

Hiya folks,

Most headgear I treat fairly roughly: Cheapo stingy-brims bought off eBay, anything made of wool felt, Sunbody-grade straws, the Rogue original leather, the Tilley fedora, anything bought at Burlington Coat Factory, caps, unlined berets.

For the most part, I tend to baby fur felts -- fur-wool blends, porkpies, and Akubras a bit less consistently than anything else in this category. Lined Basque-made berets with sweatbands also get the baby treatment. Honest-to-Bob Panamas I *really* baby.

My hat collection, such as it is, tilts a lot more towards the who-gives-a-rip side than the treat-like-eggs side. But what I'm likely to wear on any given day tends to be in the latter category.

Will I work in an upscale hat? Yes, unless I'm doing the kind of work which might result in grease or mud stains. As my job occasionally calls for that sort of thing, I leave a much-worn beret at work just in case.

On the other hand, if I'm dressed a bit more formally for whatever reason, the headgear I choose will definitely be upscale.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[ScionPI2005]

That is a great looking hat. What did you do to cause the mug shots.lol

Who cares? If someone offered me a hat that nice, I'd get my mug shots taken!

 

[gtdean48]

I won't show what I have done to some nice Stetsons in the name of Civil War Reeacting to get a good slouch hat impression. I have trashed a few wool "crushers" going backpacking & hunting. All this lead me to the conclusion that a good felt hat can take a beating & keep on keeping on. These water repellant crushers give up way to easy & early. Good hats develop character with regular use & I use some pretty hard, got 3 or 4 ready for renovating or resurrecting/reincarnating may be the better term...

 

[gtdean48]

That optimo Has been with me through a lot and I crush it and roll it without a hassle. It's a half and half beaver nutria blend that has no problem taking a beating.

Matt,
What color is your Optimo? I really like that blend as well. TIA

 

[Dewhurst]

Having thought about it some more, I guess I really fall in between careful and integrator. I try to avoid any damage to my hats, but do not feel too remorseful when they do inevitably get roughed up.

I do sometimes get a little morose when it happens, though.

Also, I do, indeed, subscribe to the school of thought which says that really nice hats need to be worn. Perfectly happy is exactly what I am when I take one of my nicest hats out of doors and in to the wild world of Target and Wal-Mart.

The nicer the hat is the better it will hold up. That is what I have always assumed, anyway. Besides, it will look better and probably feel better while being worn than any of the cheapies.

 

[UWS Cowboy]

I'm also in the middle. I don't go out of my way to baby my hat, but I also don't have a habit of taking it off by the crown. Usually I pull it down with the front of the brim, but after seeing that picture I think I'll start pulling the sides instead. I don't have a set place to put my hat, I just set it on any flat surface, even hang it on door handles. I don't avoid wearing it in downpours, because downpours make the hat a lot better (as long as it's not a cheap hat), and really soften up the felt. Also, it keeps my face pretty dry. I love the sound of raindrops hitting the felt too. .

 

[Matt Deckard]

Matt,
What color is your Optimo? I really like that blend as well. TIA

I believe it's graphite.

 

[gtdean48]

Thanks Matt, needing a gray one for my rotation...

 

[dhermann1]

I tend to be somewhat rough on all garments, mainly due to my natural born slobness. When I got my Disney, my first Ebay acquisition, I babied it like crazy, but it still was getting dirty. So now I wipe it and brush it often.
Some of my others I'm more blase about. The Knox Whippet clone is now my favorite hat, and gets treated like a beater. But it seems to be oblivious of all abuse. I wore my OR the other day in a pretty heavy rain, and was impressed to see how the raindrops beaded up and slid off it like a ducks back.
The only other one I baby is the black homburg, which is my fancy dress up tux hat.
Interesting thread.

 

[scotrace]

His Hat Likes it Rough

I like the lived-in look.

 

[scottyrocks]

I guess I fall into a middle ground, as well.

When I take my hat off or put it on, I grab it lightly by the pinch to steady it, but most of the work is done by my other hand at the back of the hat, either over or under the brim.

When I'm not wearing a hat, it's placed in a way so as no to change the shape of the brim. if it's a snap-brim, I just snap it up and put it down on just about any surface. If it's not a snap brim, it sits in such a way so that the front does not get pushed up. My Fed IV rests on top of a fezz that my brother got me years ago from Pakistan, I think.

I wear my hats in all types of weather, but in a downpour I will use an umbrella, partly because no matter how water repellent a hat is, it cant keep the rest of me dry. In a blowing rain, I lower the brella against the wind, and that keeps more of me dry.

As much as I like a lived-in look, with new hats I like to get them that way myself over a natural, extended period of time. Used vintages that I buy dont matter. Someone else weathered them, most likely naturally, over a period of time, and thats what I consider to be an 'organic' way of doing it. YMMV.

 

[Belegnole]

Interesting thread....

I prefer not to be labeled, in fact I would go so far as to say that I continually take steps to be a nonconformist. Not that its intentional or all that bad but for some odd reason I keep wearing clothes, or find myself doing things that are very passe or have yet to come into style. Hats for example I got from my father ((just realized this), I always had a fascination with his hats) and so I have a certain respect for them that I may not for my favorite t-shirt. Of course the T wont suffer if stepped on so it may not be a great example. Now that I have returned to the fold and my collection is small I find that I am rather nice to my lids....however I already have a couple that while I'm not rough with them, have been frisbees. Mys hats like the rest of my clothing are tools that all have their own niche. So, the every day hat will be different than the dress hat, or the date hat etc.....

 

[avedwards]

I don't know where I fit. My hats get used but I like them not to show it. So while I handle them by the pinch, I do it gently enough so as not to cause a hole to form. I would wear mine in a downpour, but then make sure that the crease is right when I leave it to dry.

I am strange in that respect, but I could probably wear a suit to go for a walk in the mud and still look clean afterwards (I did look clean when I went on a walk in muddy rainy weather last time, though I wasn't wearing a suit). It's the same with my hats, I would use them for outdoor use but make sure that they do not get dirty and therfore look reasonably new even if they aren't.

To take an example, the greatcoat in my avatar has been worn in all sorts of conditions, from mud to rain, but I have never had to send it to the dry cleaner and I think you would have to look hard to find any dirt. The goes for the Stetson I'm wearing.

 

[scotrace]

Rough 'em up.

 

[Undertow]

The Integrator, for sure. I love my hats like I love a good pair of boots. I do what I can to maintain them, try to avoid hurting them, but sometimes they're gonna get a little dirty. Very nice story, Scotrace!

 

[DesertDan]

I am firmly in the "Integrator" camp.
I consider hats as tools because when I first started to wear hats as a young man it was to protect me from the elements not a fashion/lifestyle statement. That being said, I take care of my belongings and do not intentionally abuse things. I also have a couple of hats that are 'dress hats' that I am a bit more careful with just so they remain presentable.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi, I'm a careful integrator. I bought a new Sunbody fedora this summer so that I wouldn't break the lighter weight more expensive straw I own. I'm buying an (at least) half beaver Campaign Hat for this winter, and shopping for a second fur felt fedora to wear this winter. I like to buy two types of things: 1. Disposable, so inexpensive that if I drop it I might or might not waste time to pick it up; and 2. Quality items that I won't have to replace (ever I hope). Straw hats are somewhat disposable, but that doesn't mean I should treat them badly. It just means that when I set on my Sunbody (again), I won't cry, I'll just go buy a new one. I've owned a pair of top-siders (that I shoot in) for 25 years.

Later

 

[Sam Craig]

Interestingly, this afternoon ... I'm reading this just before leaving the office for the day ... I'm wearing my ivory, long finish Knox 25.
I bought it in an antique shop 36 years ago and, obviously, it was not new then.
Last winter, an elderly lady in my town gave me a mint condition Whippet that had belonged to her father in law
My point is, when I have these on, I'm very careful
When I'm wearing my Iconoclast or a converted western, I don't have to be careful
It all depends on the hat.
There are some I wish I would have been more careful with years ago, but you know what they say about spilled milk,

Sam