Calling any "hat guys"

[MartinH]

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it, I'm totally going bald, am growing a "yamika" on the back of my pate and need to wear a hat at all times. Well, at least while outside. I get burned to a cinder. Up until recently I've been a "baseball cap" guy, but I found this awesome hat that I will call a "fedora". I'll post a pic shortly. Does anyone else here wear fedoras or other hats? Just curious what sites you use and what you like.

 

[George Kaplan]

I've got the old "flesh-colored yarmulke" as well; fitting as I have some Jewish ancestry. Unfortunately, I didn't get any "swarthy genes", so my complexion comes from my Anglo/ Irish side. A hat between me and the sun is a necessity. I like a panama fedora in the summer. No particular brand, but my favorite is one my dad bought from a street vendor in Nicaragua. It's the best quality I've ever seen, and only cost my dad one dollar!

 

[Rusty Mouse]

I tend to favour the Porkpie, Cadet, Gatsby and occasional Bowler. Colder months I just slap on a knit hat of some sort.

Unfortunately I'm restricted to the "Big Head" category, so I typically shop online and even then the selection ain't that great.

This is my favourite site to shop from:

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/

When I'm feeling a little wacky, Goorin makes a quality hat:

http://www.goorin.com/

 

[user 2027]

I'm part Dutch and Scottish, I am not made for the sun. I wear baseball caps since I don't have prescription sunglasses. Heading to the beach this week too . . . been eyeballing several hats from this thread.


BoB Hats thread

 

[Brewdude]

Never used to wear or even like hats until maybe 10 yrs ago. Now I wear one pretty much all the time when I go out. And that's more out of necessity than anything since I'm about 1/2 bald and need it to protect me from the sun in the summer and to keep me warm in the winter.

Mostly baseball style hats, and while I probably have 25 or more it's usually an old beater that finds it's way onto my head. And no I don't wear it backwards!


Cheers,

RR

 

[Puff Daddy]

I'm the opposite, I have a really thick head of hair - if I go more than 3 or 4 weeks between haircuts I look like a hot mess - and I like hats but rarely wear one because I already have this carpet growing on top of my head and it gets awfully hot..... Putting a hat on top of this rug only turns me into a walking sauna. To make maters worse I have to wear a hardhat at work, which is really more of a helmet, so I have this aversion to actually wearing hats even though I like the style of many hats. A couple of exceptions, when I golf I wear a visor, a topless hat to screen the sun from my eyes, so not really a hat. When I used to fish a lot I wore a straw hat, either a Panama style or fedora style. These are great choices for summer as you will shade your head without boiling it. For colder weather I like wool English driving caps (page boys?) but even then, in the dead of winter, my heads sweats.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I wear and collect quite a few vintage fedoras and trilbies, as I have since probably age 15. The "fad" of them has come and gone, thank goodness, so you're bound to find plenty of them left over from a failed resurrection of the style. I was really fed up with looking like I was trying to be "in" when I would wear them, so I put them aside until the little kiddies got sick of Justin Timberlake and Hannah Montana posing with 'em. :|

Then there's the magic of the cap. Driver caps, ivy caps, apple caps... plentiful, foldable, washable, wearable. This kind of comfortable headgear is daily wear in my realm since I shave my head.

Judging from your face, you'd look killer in a fedora, homburg, bowler or larger apple cap.

I deal with these guys:

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/category/mens-hats.html

 

[Rusty Mouse]

I deal with these guys:

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/category/mens-hats.html

Make that two!

 

[MartinH]

Thanks guys! I knew you'd come through for me! I'm checking out the site(s) now.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Feel free to link pictures of your considerations for some "Brotherly style" advice--not to be confused with "fashion," which is for for women. 8) Also, follow their instructions for sizing a hat. They have fitted and non-fitted "universal" (S/M/L/XL) types on most sites, and it can be tough to get a hat that fits right. Generally, a brimmed hat should be 1/2 inch to 1" above your ears (not counting tilt). I prefer fitted hats just because it's a lot more accurate.

Also, consider hats for warmer and cooler weather. Nothing sucks more than a wool/felt hat on a hot day, or a woven/straw hat on a cold evening.

 

[Anonymous]

Hair Quotient = 95%. White long ago, but pretty much all there.

Summer (work) : retro Pittsburgh Pirates cap.

Once in a blue, winter moon : deerstalker (wool, houndstooth, double-brimmed Sherlock Holmes cap) to work (prison).

Probably annoys management (professional image obsessed) but it's a million laughs. ("Better watch your step, bro -- they got Holmes on the case now !")

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Hair Quotient = 95%. White long ago, but pretty much all there.

I hate your full head of hair. :| I'm balding in a "mange" pattern. I would have accepted Patrick Stewart's hairline, but noooooo.

Once in a blue, winter moon : deerstalker (wool, houndstooth, double-brimmed Sherlock Holmes cap) to work (prison).

Probably annoys management (professional image obsessed) but it's a million laughs. ("Better watch your step, bro -- they got Holmes on the case now !")

Please tell me the latino groups occasionally ask "Whatup, Holmes?" when you walk by.

8)

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Summer (work) : retro Pittsburgh Pirates cap.

That the painter style? Gold or Black? Any Stargell Stars?

 

[Puff Daddy]

Kyle, you should shave it bald and do a big shaggy fu manchu moustache and a soul patch.

 

[George Kaplan]

Judging from your face, you'd look killer in a fedora, homburg, bowler or larger apple cap.l

Agreed. Ok, maybe not the bowler, unless you like strangers calling you Odd Job. Generally speaking, a wider brim helps balance a larger face. I'd avoid the stingy brims of the last few years if I were you. Also, when wearing a fedora with a suit, the width of the brim should be roughly equal to that of the tie and coat's lapels.
Plenty more good advice and examples on the hat thread in The Haberdashery here.

 

[Anonymous]

Old timey (1920-ish ?). Yellow w/black (short) visor & "P." They were giving them away as a promotion at a game, years ago. It used to elicit a lot of guff ("Best minor league team in the majors. Haw Haw") but now fellow fans' eyes light up & share their joy when they see it.

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Kyle, you should shave it bald and do a big shaggy fu manchu moustache and a soul patch.

No soul patch, and already shaven bald with a well-kept trucker 'stache. Close enough.

Agreed. Ok, maybe not the bowler, unless you like strangers calling you Odd Job. Generally speaking, a wider brim helps balance a larger face. I'd avoid the stingy brims of the last few years if I were you. Also, when wearing a fedora with a suit, the width of the brim should be roughly equal to that of the tie and coat's lapels.
Plenty more good advice and examples on the hat thread in The Haberdashery here.

Nah. Skinny people are who bowlers look silly on. Except Charlie Chaplain. Bowler/derby hats look great on a husky fella due to the accentuating round lines. They're perfect evening/winter hats.

Though you're right about stingy brims, those are for beanpoles and wee people. 8) I do have to say that the tie width is more to the size of the gent than to the hat brim itself. Good point on the lapels, though. Personally, I like to try and match the tie to the hatband, which is more contemporary--usually then further matched with the belt and shoes.

That's getting FAR geekier/deeper than a guy just lookin' for a first, basic hat, though. :lol:

 

[Rusty Mouse]

I'm the opposite, I have a really thick head of hair - if I go more than 3 or 4 weeks between haircuts I look like a hot mess - and I like hats but rarely wear one because I already have this carpet growing on top of my head and it gets awfully hot..... Putting a hat on top of this rug only turns me into a walking sauna. To make maters worse I have to wear a hardhat at work, which is really more of a helmet, so I have this aversion to actually wearing hats even though I like the style of many hats. A couple of exceptions, when I golf I wear a visor, a topless hat to screen the sun from my eyes, so not really a hat. When I used to fish a lot I wore a straw hat, either a Panama style or fedora style. These are great choices for summer as you will shade your head without boiling it. For colder weather I like wool English driving caps (page boys?) but even then, in the dead of winter, my heads sweats.

You're tellin' me... :lol:

 

[George Kaplan]

Nah. Skinny people are who bowlers look silly on.

Alright, now that I think about it, I stand corrected. Although one could argue that, aside from London bankers, everyone looks silly in a bowler. I can't really argue with personal style, though; if you can pull off that look, go for it. 8)

 

[Blackhorse]

OK - gotta chime in here as this is all really about ME. lol

I'm the guys that horrifies by barber since I go in with this shock of white wavy irritation and ask for a buzz...like 3/8"...except for the beard...and leave my eyebrows alone fer God's sake! My barber is the one with the rug and taking hair off seems to be both needed for his livlihood and anathama to his personal condition.'

BTAIM, I am a fedora guy, for the past 15 years or so. I have good ones and crummy ones (the Stetson). Mine are mostly Akubra (more outdoor styles) whcih are very good 'wild hare felt' afrom OZ and a couple of my prizes made by Art Fawcett of Vintage Sillouettes. He makes 30's and 40's style hats from Beaver felt and if you've seen a modern movie set in that era the chances are about 50% that the hats are his.

Check out his site: http://vintagesilhouettes.com/

One VERY close to my favorite:

My other Fawcett hat is very like this one:

He sends out a contraption that you put on your head and then move about 20 'sizers' in to fit your head...then send it back to him. He then saves the exact shaped of your head in a file for future orders and you're assured of getting the exact fit each time. When I bought the two I have they were going for around $350 and up for Beaver...less for wool felt. He also shaped and finished a Panama I bought online out of Equador where the real ones come from (general area).

But the Akubras are the work horses around here. I've got a Federation, a Coolabah, an Open Road, a Townsman, etc., etc. The Coolabah is my favorite, with its wide Aussie style brim and Croc hatband, a good choice for typical Oregon weather.

Below is a pic of the Coolabah...and that's it for me. Thanx and a hat tip!