"THE HAT"

[SteamBlast Mary]

"But those of us who wear real hats don't want style... We want to merge in. We just want to merge in in a world where a man wears a hat."

Splendid quote, very good article in The Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/retro-delights-hats-789733.html

[Captain_Minty_Gearhertz]

I love hats, i have an urge to expand my collection, to have a hat for all occasions. But then i think fondly of, my hat

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

and think "I wouldn't really want to wear another kind of hat" 

[Michael Bend Esq.]

This seems to be about the best place for this (I apologise if I have assumed incorrectly).
Many of us have hats, as proved by this thread, what i want to know, and feel it might be a good idea to see what each of you/us have done to make their hat 'their's'. A decorative ornament on the hat band? A zipper across the back?

Come, show them all.

[Gentleman-Adventurer]

Merely the fact that I have my hat marks it as mine. To try to decorate it would only spoil it.

[Nikola Tesla]

Nice hats.  I like the grey fedora in the "hat chess" picture.

I'm a simple, classic hat type of person.  Mostly I wear them to keep the sun off. 

[Jaqhama]

Seeing an akubra or wide brimmed hat on a person wandering the streets of Sydney or Melbourne would not excite much interest.
A bowler hat is a different story.
I'm surprised that you are surprised that it drew so much attention.

The average Australian does tend to be a rather straight-laced sort of chap in regards to anything out of the ordinary.
I've been riding motocycles all my life in Ozland...when I first started riding them most citizens assumed I was some sort of pyschopathic hoodlum. (And perhaps I was?)
Now motocycles have become almost trendy...and will become more so with rising fuel costs.
I have a feeling the bowler hat may still be some way to making a comeback here however.

[Seaton Begg]

My conclusion is simply this, 'The Hat' is either an alien device used to confuse people not attuned to its wavelengths, or host to some sort of unearthly, arcane magic used to confuse and astound people.

I think I'll be wearing it more often.

I salute you Sir. Your chosen head garment seems to have induced a rabid form of Cognitive Dissonance amongst the local populace. Bravo Sir, Bravo!

[Torvald_Faust]

I know of hats causing confusion Then again, I am not sure if a tricorn can be considered a hat

[Demetrius Forward]

I've had a few minor odd looks when out wearing my trilby, but the best by far was when I went out wearing a gas mask. I did have a good reason to be wearing it, part of the traditions of a group I belong to is to cover ones face entirely. I heard such shouts as "The wars over, mate!" and others of less comedic value. Evidently the community of Southport consider themselves to be comedians

[Gentleman-Adventurer]

Just this afternoon, I was wandering around Dublin in my trademark Akubra and trenchcoat combo, when I was approached by a young stranger who asked if I was the 98FM Fugitive.
For the uninitiated, 98FM is an Irish radio station that occasionally asks its listeners to keep watch for a shady character known as the "Fugitive", with a cash incentive for eagle-eyed searchers. I very nearly broke down in front of a street full of amused passers-by.

[GloomPixie]

Ah...hats.  Such a shame they are not in wider circulation, that they cause a stir when the fashionable in the world insist on wearing them.  I love hats.  Always have, always will.

I've never caused a fuss over having one on, though.  Except over getting a very nice olive men's fedora for nine bucks dozens of years ago...from another hat-wearing individual. 

I just wish they were more readily available in shops, as I'm leery about buying hats via the internet.  I'm small, so I really need to check any hat against my size before putting cash on the barrel.  Otherwise I'm a small woman with someone else's hat on, instead of me with my own beloved hat.

I also lament the loss of gloves as required everyday attire.

[Nikola Tesla]

...I just wish they were more readily available in shops, as I'm leery about buying hats via the internet.  I'm small, so I really need to check any hat against my size before putting cash on the barrel.  Otherwise I'm a small woman with someone else's hat on, instead of me with my own beloved hat....

Ah yes, fitting hats properly.  I have the opposite problem to you, ma'am; I wear an extra-large hat size (despite not being extra-large in other dimensions, so I look a bit odd anyway), so I too have to shop carefully.

And since hats have fallen out of fashion their sizes are less standardized than they once were, so I too prefer a hop where I may try the hat on.

[Zthroo]

I've been wondering, is a fedora considered Victorian? Or did it come into being to late for that?

[Flynn MacCallister]

Does it matter? Steampunk doesn't have to be strictly, accurately victorian.

[Zthroo]

I know. That's why I said "Victorian" not "steampunk". I was merely being inquisitive.
(if that sounded rude, it wasn't meant to be)

[Flynn MacCallister]

No, no, not at all. Likewise, if that sounded rude, it wasn't meant to. It was said with a shrug.

As it is, the term has probably been in use since the early 1890s, so presumably the style has as well. However, the trilby and fedora didn't really come into their own, as I understand it, until after the first world war.

[cwoolbrightjr]

I don't know if a Fedora is Victorian, somehow I think they were in use during that time frame, I know that they were big in the 20's-50's.

Speaking of hats I thought I would share my fav.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not the best picture, but I'm working on it.

[Zthroo]

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.

[Wrath the Mad]

I like bowler hats on people, so much so that I even named my cat "Derby." But, is it me or do they remind anyone else of a Clockwork Orange?

I'm going to drink moloko with me droogies...

Would I get kicked in the yarbles if I said yes? 

I wore a Panama hat a few days ago...



Do I look scary to you?

Hot. Steam producing even. (In a good way, trust me) 

My hat is what is often called an 'aussie' or 'boonie' hat around here. Normally recieving compliments. Yet for some oddball reason, my place of work does not want me wearing it. They want me to wear a company-branded baseball-style cap. I hate ball caps.

They have no gripes about the goggles though... yet. And seriously, why do people think Riddick? I've gotten that comment once as well and thought the commentor was just an oddball. Everyone else loves 'em. (Even Capn. Robert! =)

[SteamBlast Mary]

I find myself inexplicably drawn towards Elizabeth Bennett-style bonnets recently. That would fit with the birth of the Industrial Revolution, if not the Victoriana heyday, so I may play around with the Regency look... see where it takes me.

[Smaggers]

That covers all the way up to 1830 ish.  Plenty of bonnets in early steam trains.  I've got a book from 1890 with a "how we were 50 years ago" bit.  It's proper Austin.

[Herr Döktor]

It's really easy to forget that every age is living on the edge of the future, and that even the relatively recent past of those ages was a source of wonder!

Sounds like a truly fascinating book, Smaggers!

[christopherdelamaison]

Hats....in and of themselves, do tend to draw attention.

Last Friday, I walked into the local Irish pub, to listen to a new "Irish" band. I was wearing my homburg, gray daycoat and carrying my walking stick. I've never seen so many people stare.

During the intermission, two of the band members wanted to know who I was, and why I was dressed like I was from 1910. I told them that this was "suppose to be" an Irish bar, and that one should dress "for the occasion".

That last comment got me a free drink.....which was very cool.

[Smaggers]

It's really easy to forget that every age is living on the edge of the future, and that even the relatively recent past of those ages was a source of wonder!

Sounds like a truly fascinating book, Smaggers!

It's that "Caselles Magazine" again.  One of my ebay finds.   I'll scan the page if I remember.

[randomjedi_1138]

Why is it that hat's always cause such a stir? 

My favourite is my Bushman's hat - brown suede split with a round crown and a wide brim(made from genuine Aussie cow apparently). As the leather / suede wasn't hardened the brim has stretched a bit and 'found it's own shape', gives it a bit of character.

However, I do get funny looks and comments of 'cowboy' and 'Indy' when wearing it out and about, even in the pouring rain (likely) or beating sun (less likely) - both being the reasons I actually purchased the hat.

It does look good on top of a stone-coloured morning coat tho