I’ve got a great day job that I’ve been lucky to hold on to for thirty years now… and a night job taking pictures that’s drifting into the daylight. But I’ve also got a dark little secret that I don’t keep very well hidden. I’m into hats. It’s been a long standing thing. I wore a beret in college and caps in my twenties. In recent years I wore a snap brim Tilley hat. Amazingly durable, you can machine wash it and it comes out looking better than new. It was a fixture on my head until it disappeared one night last year. As I went to replace it, I found a key to the door of the world of hats. Ebay. The history of the last century of men’s hats is there for the learning and I was a quick learner. I studied my way through a small museum of vintage hats, many of which now fill our spare bedroom and drift into the dining room and living room as the seasons change. Fedoras, Panamas, westerns, derbies. I wear them all. Bear with me as I share some of my favorites here from time to time.
This 1930’s Stetson Real Nutria Quality is a highlight. It’s a very fine western with beautiful fur felt and gorgeous construction. A bit of moth damage if you hunt for it, but otherwise it’s an 80 year old fossil from the golden age of men’s hats that looks as if it were bought this morning. Inside, a beautiful supple leather sweatband with rolled edge and deep foil imprints… notice the tiny stitches where it attaches to the reed.
Chinese red silk lining with gold imprint.
wide brim and high crown… it feels so good on.
