Comic Talk and General Discussion *

Hats?
Ozoneocean at 8:49PM, Oct. 30, 2024
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So…. hats.

I love them, I always have since before my brain could record memories as a little bitty baby. I've collected a huge amount of different hats from history, from around the world and I've recreated some as well.

My most regular wear hats are panama hats during the summer (I need them to be safe from the sun), and berets during the winter.

I have a massive variety ^_^

Do you wear hats? If so what are your regulars?
Have you collected them? Do you have a hat you want? A fantasy hat you'd like to have if you could?
InkyMoondrop at 10:59PM, Oct. 30, 2024
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Always have one of these for winter. For The Cather in the Rye vibes.
PaulEberhardt at 2:48AM, Oct. 31, 2024
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Well, I don't normally consider myself a hat person, but for someone who doesn't I've got a pretty decent collection, some of which I wear on occasion.

There's my old hunting hat, more than one actually, but one of them sees most use. It's a dark green, made of felt, it has seen some wear and tear, and at some point I had to fix it with duct tape in one place, which has somehow stayed there ever since.

Then I've got a traditional students' cap for fraternity reunions (none with pretensions towards the eerie, secret or political, but one of the outgoing fun ones that keep the breweries in business; I wouldn't be seen dead with any of the others!). For reference, they look a bit like a captain's cap, but with less ornamentation, and mine is black. In theory there'd be an option for something similar to a Phrygian cap (think Smurfs, and yes, it'd be mostly white) and another brimless type that outsiders tend to mistake for a Jewish kippa, but not really being a hat person, I never saw the point of getting myself any of these.

Apart from that, I have to say, I wear hats mostly when dressing up.

I've got one that looks as if it was straight out of an old noir-style movie, and which I inherited from my grandfather who happened to have the same size as me. Only, he was bald and I'm not, so if I get as old as he did, it might not fit very well any more towards the end. I think he left me an actual top-hat, too, like people used to wear with a tuxedo and on horse-related events, but I'd have to ask my Mum where it is.
Another one is a sailors' cap, which was part of a stage outfit I don't really need any more. Same for a corduroy beret I haven't worn in a decade because I got fed up with people accusing me of trying to emulate Jamie from the Mythbusters - maybe I had a more walrus-style beard, too, I can't remember.
last edited on Oct. 31, 2024 2:52AM
bravo1102 at 5:25AM, Oct. 31, 2024
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I started going bald decades ago and one day after working outside had some sunburn on the top of my head. So now I always have a hat on. Usually a baseball cap though I bring out my Panama hat when on a cruise vacation.

I have a very large selection of baseball caps from all over and only three with baseball team logos. My Eastern Mediterranean cruise veteran Boston red socks, a Yankees hat I never wear and a collector's edition Brooklyn Dodgers 1939 hat that is too valuable to wear. My main ones are my US Armor hat and my few US ship hats; USS Enterprise CV-6, USS Missouri, USS Torsk, USCG Taney. People who see them sometimes thank me for my service but then I am a veteran, just not the Navy. I like ships. Can't wear my Bubba Gump hat because it's red and might get mistaken for a MAGA hat.

There's also my yard work hat. Once upon a time it was a jungle boonie hat, but that got so destroyed I replaced it with a nice super wide brim, neck flap landscaping hat.

I still have my selection of Army caps from my service including a few with rank insignia still on them. They're just for nostalgia. I had a variety including ones for hot weather because you always had a headgear on in the Army when outside.
last edited on Oct. 31, 2024 5:28AM
marcorossi at 5:37AM, Oct. 31, 2024
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In my late teens I had a black fedora, I also had long-ish black hair, a beard, and I whas thin, so I looked a lot like Jigen from Lupin III (I also wore a similar jacket).

Later I changed style and started wearing a “coppola”, a sicilian type of hat, which roughly translates as “Flat cap” in english.

Now I don't like hats anymore, but since I'm balding I need to wear one, so I generally keep a knit cap in the pocket of my jacket.
plymayer at 5:09PM, Oct. 31, 2024
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bravo1102 wrote:

I have a very large selection of baseball caps from all over …..USS Torsk

While I do not have a USS Torsk hat, I did re-enlist on her in Baltimore back in 87.
plymayer at 5:14PM, Oct. 31, 2024
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Would not consider myself a hat person.

Have a bunch from my navy days and some that have collected me over the years, for various reasons. Now, most of them are covered in smoke residue if I still have them (story for another time).
Ozoneocean at 7:18PM, Oct. 31, 2024
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I don't have many baseball style hats anymore.
One is one from the USS New Jersey, back from the Gulf War 1 days when it was still serving… on one of its visits down here (used to come her a lot in the 90s).
One is black velvet and covered in elephants made with glittery appliqué. That was something from my art student days hahaha!
And one is from the STS Leeuwin, a lovely sailing ship I had a couple of voyages on decades ago.


For dream hats…
I want an old captain rank hat from the Royal Australian Navy, complete with scrambled eggs and full metal appliqué badge.
I want an old French navy sailor hat with a pompon.
I'd like a US navy aircraft carrier crew helmet (like a fighterpilot helmet but with canvas sides).
I'd like a US navy anti-aircraft crew helmet- the extra wide one designed to be worn over headphones.
I want a really well made custom Knight's sallet helmet with a huge plume.
I want a late 19th century British cavalierly pith helmet with a Indian puttee scarf wrapped around it.
And finally a French Napoleonic cuirassier's helmet with a leopard band and a French Napoleonic red lancer's Czapka
I WILL get them.
J_Scarbrough at 1:11AM, Nov. 1, 2024
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA

Joseph Scarbrough
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bravo1102 at 1:38AM, Nov. 1, 2024
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J_Scarbrough wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA
Charles Nelson Reilly. Always liked him, Ghost and Mrs. Muir to Matchgame.

I came pretty close to getting the British home service helmets as well as a Zulu War tropical service helmet. Both used to be common among collectors in the 1980s because of the movie Zulu and Zulu Dawn. The home service helmet was the pith helmet in blue with regimental crest for European service.

Used to have a bunch of other headgear I later sold or gave away like Royal Marine green beret, a UNIT tan beret, a Royal tank regiment black beret, a US black beret, WW2 British helmet with netting and scrim, East German helmet, US M1 helmet, DDR side cap, Polish field cap, German WW2 feldmutze (peaked field cap. Had both field grey and black panzer caps) my long lost Fort Knox Armor hat(got so worn out had to retire it) .

I'd like to get a M60 Dino rider tank crewman hat, and a few other ships like New Jersey, Enterprise CVN-65 and a couple of the surviving museum carriers like Yorktown, Intrepid, Lexington and Midway. When I visited Yorktown I actually bought a model of her rather than the hat. Should have gotten both.
ksteak at 5:40AM, Nov. 1, 2024
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I had a bunch when I was little, police hat, steamboat souvineer, detective,
of course any I find in op shops (thrift store) now are absurdly tiny.
mum would buy me one if I found one and its price was right. always wanted a top hat but they either never fit or were too expensive.
nowaways I feel silly in straw hats and such, they dont seem to suit me well. my head is big.
plymayer at 5:54PM, Nov. 1, 2024
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bravo1102 wrote:
J_Scarbrough wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA
I came pretty close to getting the British home service helmets as well as a Zulu War tropical service helmet.

The U.S. Navy used to optionally wear pith helmets on Diego Garcia (or was it Guam). Might be able to get hold of one of those…
J_Scarbrough at 11:03PM, Nov. 1, 2024
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So in all seriousness, I have always liked hats, but unfortunately, wearing hats has always been difficult for me, because the circumference of my head isn't necessarily round, but rather, is more oval shaped, which means most fitted hats can't completely fit onto my head because I can't get it over my protruding forehead. As a kid in the 90s, wearing a baseball cap backwards was all the rage (it's only been within recent years that I learned it originated as a sign that you were a gangbanger), but if I wore one (backwards or not), they always had to be the adjustable variety, because like I said, most fitted hats just won't fit my head. At the same time, one thing I never liked about baseball caps is they, somehow, made my face look fatter.

Still, I always wanted to find some kind of hat I could wear that really felt like “me”, and I think that eventually became the jeep cap (aka the Radar O'Reilly cap). Prior to my getting a real job last year, I would occasionally get a random stranger calling me “Radar”, now it's actually my legit nickname at work among my older co-workers.

Joseph Scarbrough
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bravo1102 at 12:46AM, Nov. 2, 2024
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plymayer wrote:
bravo1102 wrote:
J_Scarbrough wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA
I came pretty close to getting the British home service helmets as well as a Zulu War tropical service helmet.

The U.S. Navy used to optionally wear pith helmets on Diego Garcia (or was it Guam). Might be able to get hold of one of those…
Maybe one of the post office cork pith helmets. They were very cool and comfortable.

I forgot one of my more interesting hats from back in the day. A Union Army kepi. Very nice, very comfortable but too nice for day to day wear and people would ask if you were into reenacting (which I am not. Just too many time consuming hobbies already) What I always wanted was a French “zouave” kepi with the red top. When I went to Richmond I got my father a beautiful Confederate Army cavalry officer's kepi with the lace and yellow top. He was an ACW buff.
Ozoneocean at 1:11AM, Nov. 3, 2024
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ksteak wrote:
Always wanted a top hat but they either never fit or were too expensive.
They are.
I have 5 currently- Two antique silk pile ones, one vintage in grey felt, one antique gibus (silk folding hat), and one modern dark grey in a 19th century style with a curved brim.

As a kid I ALWAYS wanted one. To be like Fred Astaire…years and years ago my parents brought be home an antique French silk pile on from a trip to Europe.
I think I even posted on DD about it at the time! Hahaha!
Must be close to 20 years ago now?

It was just a BIT too small to fit but I've since learned that is how it should be. Hats that fit perfectly can sit too low on the head, while the way to wear them it to angle them rakishly to one side… You can't do that easily with a properly fitting hat because it always tends to settle straight after a while. you need to always readjust it.
bravo1102 at 2:34AM, Nov. 3, 2024
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Hence a gentleman had his hat “perched atop” his head as opposed to the working class gob having his pulled down around the ears.
Unfortunately that doesn't work for brimed caps. That brim is for shading the eyes so it should be the right size. Of course for barracks attire one could have a hat slight too small to wear high on the back of the head and low at the front. It was the style among certain units to roll up the crown and tuck it into the body of the cap so it perched on the top of the hat. Some senior NCOs upon seeing this would grab the hat and unroll it and then pull it down on the soldier's head. “It's a field cap, not a fashion statement soldier, wear it properly”

Hats can say a lot about someone.

One interesting aspect of modern military fashion is the varying ways of wearing the beret. There are a few different styles depending on nationality and arm of service. A beret isn't just a beret. The Royal tank regiment has a way different from Airborne and then there are the various French and American fashions to the extremely floppy style to the lump style, the squared style and others. It's an identity.

The method of getting the tight pulled down look customary in American service is to tear out the lining and wear the beret during a hot shower getting it soaked. Then outside molding it to the head. A blow dryer can help speed the process. Repeat until you get that tightly sculpted Airborne Ranger look.

Royal tank regiment I am told when on the tank you perch it on the back of the and pull both sides down for wearing headphones. Once off the tank, one would pull it down so the badge was just over the eye. There are practical reasons for this. The RTR were the first British troops to wear berets and wanted a fashion unlike the French, and one that worked on a tank.

Then there is tracing the evolution through the 18th century of the jockey cap into to Dragoon helmet and the Grecian influence that changed that into the classic Curaissier helmet. And there are as many style of czapkas (Polish Lancer helmet) as there are nations that wear them and then the attempts late in the 19th to make them a practical cap and eventually the square topped field cap still worn in the Polish army. Headwear is fascinating.
last edited on Nov. 3, 2024 3:01AM
Ozoneocean at 4:24PM, Nov. 3, 2024
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bravo1102 wrote:
Hence a gentleman had his hat “perched atop” his head as opposed to the working class gob having his pulled down around the ears.
Unfortunately that doesn't work for brimed caps. That brim is for shading the eyes so it should be the right size. Of course for barracks attire one could have a hat slight too small to wear high on the back of the head and low at the front. It was the style among certain units to roll up the crown and tuck it into the body of the cap so it perched on the top of the hat. Some senior NCOs upon seeing this would grab the hat and unroll it and then pull it down on the soldier's head. “It's a field cap, not a fashion statement soldier, wear it properly”

Hats can say a lot about someone.

One interesting aspect of modern military fashion is the varying ways of wearing the beret. There are a few different styles depending on nationality and arm of service. A beret isn't just a beret. The Royal tank regiment has a way different from Airborne and then there are the various French and American fashions to the extremely floppy style to the lump style, the squared style and others. It's an identity.

The method of getting the tight pulled down look customary in American service is to tear out the lining and wear the beret during a hot shower getting it soaked. Then outside molding it to the head. A blow dryer can help speed the process. Repeat until you get that tightly sculpted Airborne Ranger look.

Royal tank regiment I am told when on the tank you perch it on the back of the and pull both sides down for wearing headphones. Once off the tank, one would pull it down so the badge was just over the eye. There are practical reasons for this. The RTR were the first British troops to wear berets and wanted a fashion unlike the French, and one that worked on a tank.

Then there is tracing the evolution through the 18th century of the jockey cap into to Dragoon helmet and the Grecian influence that changed that into the classic Curaissier helmet. And there are as many style of czapkas (Polish Lancer helmet) as there are nations that wear them and then the attempts late in the 19th to make them a practical cap and eventually the square topped field cap still worn in the Polish army. Headwear is fascinating.
Yup, styles of wear are important- you have to know how and why something is worn a certain way in order to wear it right and look right.

Speaking of too small hats in the military- The traditional Australian Army slouch hat (green broad brimmed hat with one side folded up)… In the modern army that is only worn for ceremonial occasions and it's gotten TOO small, it looks absolutely stupid. They wear it perched and strapped and have the stright side of the brim perfectly flat… OMG it's dumb.
Look at pics, film and paitints of the troopers actually wearing it in combat in Vietnam, WW2, WW1 etc and it looks cool. The hat fits, they wore it with style and panache… as opposed to people who ONLY wear it for ceremony instead of all the time so it looks awkward and silly.
Ironscarf at 5:13AM, Nov. 4, 2024
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I only recently learned the silk pile used for those antique toppers can't be made any more. Or is it a case of the antique top hat sales and refurbishment market being so lucrative, there's no incentive to ‘rediscover’ the process?
Ozoneocean at 4:37PM, Nov. 4, 2024
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Ironscarf wrote:
I only recently learned the silk pile used for those antique toppers can't be made any more. Or is it a case of the antique top hat sales and refurbishment market being so lucrative, there's no incentive to ‘rediscover’ the process?
It's true, it's extinct! As the wearing of top hats got less and less popular the amount of factories and looms to make them dwindled till there was only one left run by two brothers.
and that ended when the brothers feuded and one destroyed the very last loom :(

So MANY of those silk pile hats were made that you could usually find a good quality second-hand one and the formal events requiring them are soooooo few now they I think the biggest user of those hats are costumiers for film, TV, and entertainment rather than real people XD

Now that the amount of the hats has finally started to peter out there's a new process for making fake ones: they use fur skins that are brushed very carefully so they get the shine and the pattern of the silk pile hats.

So, yeah, no call th remake the old looms. Though if demand came back people could definitely make them again after a bit of research.

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