There's More Hats Where This Came From

This hat blog continues at The Hartford York Hat Blog. Join the party!

(and thanks for reading)

Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Hat Collections Make More Than Cents

Frugal For Life blog owner, Donna C, talks about the The Value of Collecting in a recent post, saying that there is a kind of non-monetary value in collections that can be rather priceless. I'm sure the term 'sentimental value' springs to mind, but it needn't be a maudlin emotion.

If a collection of comic books, great art, or hats simply makes you happy (whether by the acquisition process and/or through actual use of the articles) then the collection is of value to you.

By the way, if you want to make an absolute killing on an old hat, place it in a classy box frame with black and white handbills, photos and other memorabilia-type papers scattered artistically round it. Sell it on ebay for a cool grand, send me my 30%, and we're even.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer, Hat Collector and
Very Frugal CEO of Hartford York

If you see your way out of bankruptcy, get free updates of this blog by email or RSS. Can't get much more frugal than free!

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The Fedora According to Biltmore

In his article A Tip Of The Hat To the Classic Fedora, Marshall Ward of the Canadian publication, The Waterloo Chronicle, quotes Biltmore Hats president, Eric Lynes, as saying:

[The fedora represents] an era of classic styling that can be enjoyed today with the right attitude and appreciation of looking good or dressing up. The '50s had the Rat Pack guys and glamourous women like Marilyn Monroe, while today you have guys like Usher or Justin (Timberlake), and girls like Britney (Spears), Paris (Hilton) and Alicia Keys.

Lynes goes on to explain why he thinks people wear hats, saying that the very act of wearing a hat makes this statement: "I am confident and unafraid to be an individual--to be different."

I have often stated (almost verbatim) the same sentiments, but I must take exception to Mr. Lynes' doubt that "dress hats will ever become a widespread accessory again, as they were at the turn of the 20th century, [although] he does believe that men and women will continue the current trend of wearing hats as they increasingly realize the practical function and fashion enhancement they provide."

It's my belief that dress hats will indeed again become as ubiquitous as they once were, mainly due to the ever-increasing influence of mass media programming and the accompanying marketing--in all its forms--and to the fact that younger and highly impressionable children have become targeted.

In other words, little girls who are (still) fans of Britney Spears might well form a life-long love of hats. (Yes, I can find a silver lining in just about anything!)

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you tried to read this post, get free updates by email or RSS. If you understood this post, you really need a little vacation.

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Hats Most Important - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Famed author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is quoted as having said:

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

Elementary, perhaps - but it did strike me I've been echoing the same kind of sentiment for years now. Hats, currently viewed as accessories or non-essential wardrobe items, weren't always viewed as such. In fact, it wasn't long ago that properly dressed men and women wouldn't venture outside without a hat.

It's funny, then, how much of an impact a hat can have. The person who wears it either gains confidence or makes a statement; anyone seeing a passerby wearing a hat is at least aware of the hat, and makes a subconscious note of its existence or (in many cases) forms an instant and quite definite opinion.

Funny how such a small piece of clothing can become such a focal point.

By the way, did I tell you I'm thinking of writing a detective novel?

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you have opinions on hats (except party hats with those stupid little rubber bands that pinch under your chin before snapping), please keep them to yourself, but do feel free to sign up for blog updates by email or RSS.

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September is National Hat Month

I love September. Oh sure, lots of my affection for this month of color and cooler temps is because the entire country is celebrating the fact that it's National Hat Month. However, there are other reasons September is such a favorite time of year for me.

I love that September 15th is Make a Hat Day (which, truth be told, is right up there with Collect Rocks Day). Of course, everyone knows about the 18th being observed as National PlayDoh Day with the always exciting Miniature Golf Day coming hard on its heels.

I've got plans--who doesn't?--for the 22nd (Elephant Appreciation Day), which takes me right into The First Day of Autumn and then The National Bluebird of Happiness Day. Honestly, I can hardly contain myself.

You must be able to guess how much I appreciate the fact that September 30th is the Anniversary of The Invention of the Safety Pin.

Gosh, September's grand. Exhausting, perhaps, but grand.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you're wondering which hat is best to wear on Elephant Appreciation Day, why not join our little Hat Appreciation Club with free blog updates by email or RSS? It's nearly painless.

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Hats Are So Much More Than Headwear

There's a great article called Here and There: Papa's Straw Hat Was A Utility Tool that shows how much hats can be part of someone's life and even identity.

Evelyn Richardson writes about her father's faithful hat, the hat he used to not just to shade his face from the broiling sun as he worked in corn and tobacco and hay fields, but also as a cooling fan and even an egg and baby rabbit holder, and as an extension of his arms when herding cattle or shooing chickens.

She says

His straw hat wasn't much to look at. A new one became conditioned pretty quickly. The inside leather band was soaked with sweat and the discoloration oozed through to the outside. Dust settled in the greasy ring to make it even more noticeable. My mother gave orders for him not to lay it on the clean white counterpane.

No matter its condition, she still liked putting on her dad's hat and to this day, when she pictures him, "he has on his straw hat, pushed back with a little of his white upper forehead visible under the brim."

Thanks for the memories, Ms. Richardson.

And thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you are dabbing your eyes (or blinking rapidly), you're obviously touched and should get free updates of this blog by email or RSS.

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Bring Back The Beret

Bill Bonner of The Daily Reckoning has more unsolicited advice to offer: this time, he's counseling France, its government and entire tourism industry. His words of wisdom?

Put berets back on the heads of Frenchmen and you will give the nation’s largest industry a big boost.

Some pretty sound reasoning backs his byte. He's fighting against uniformity and for uniqueness and those unforgettable glimpses of local color that tourists and travelers yearn to see. Lose the interchangeability of the sights of so much of this modern world, vive la différence, and wear your beret, France.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you read this post with élan (or any other friend), get free updates by email or RSS.

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Gentle With My Hat, Please, Officer

Newsday.com reports that the Transportation Security Administration has issued a directive advising the nation's 43,000 airport screeners to scrutinize anyone wearing a head covering that might hide explosives (or monkeys) -- be it a cowboy hat, turban, baseball cap or beret.

Okay, I get the explosives bit and I'm all for it but I was completely unaware of the monkey-under-the-hat smuggling incident that apparently took place on a flight into LaGuardia Airport earlier this month. Now you know I've been wearing hats all my life and maybe it's just me, but it really never has occurred to me (until a moment ago) to use my headwear as a form of animal transport. Several immediate concerns comes to mind, and most of them involve extreme danger to either my hair or hat.

Also I do have some trouble thinking that a beret can hide anything larger than a ladybug.

However, if there's a market niche somewhere in this story just begging to be filled, I'm your man. I'll give this whole thing some considerable thought and get back to you.

In the meantime, my advice still stands. Your head belongs in your hat. Nowhere else and certainly nothing else.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you've got a monkey on your back or in your hat, join our merry little hat band for free updates by email or RSS.

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Sequins on Your Trapper Hat

On her blog, Style Bubble, Susie Bubble bemoans the fact that so much cold weather headwear is confined to simple hat shapes like berets and watch caps (beanies, she says, don't count), and she'd love to see other shapes.

Such as?

Well, top hats are mentioned (small and perched on the side of your head) as are bowlers (play up the Chaplin associations and wear with satin lapelled blazer, t-shirt but contrast with black skinnies), and then she touts the trapper, a great winter hat with the same silhouette as a trooper or bomber.

The trapper that caught Susie's eye was shiny: of it she said, I sort of secretly liked the clash of impractical sequins and the practical outdoors shape.

OK, the trooper pictured here doesn't have sequins, but the dainty embroidery and use of sinewy lambs wool to frame a pretty face is (doesn't always have to be mine) is, I think, completely beguiling for the same reason - the play between the delicacy of the trim, the practical durability of the leather, and the expected bite of cold temperatures.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you're shivering just reading this post (seems to happen frequently, by the way) get better soon, and then get free updates by email or RSS.

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Who Else Is Waiting For Fall Hats?

Diana Bobar is waiting impatiently to wear her faux fur hat and--according to her blog entry--she's been waiting since July 26th!

I too am looking forward to putting on some tweed newsboys and walking hats this fall. I really don't know if I could happily live in a place like California where moderate weather year-round nearly erases seasonal contrasts. I mean, I'd be happy never to shovel again, of course - but to give up the glories of my Mink Trooper? I think not.

Thanks for understanding,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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categories: straw hats summer hats panama hats straw fedora hats straw fedoras winter hats fedoras cowboy hats leather hats Kangol hats Borsalino hats Scala hats Stetson hats Wigens hats fur hats fall hats autumn hats hats for winter wool caps hats women's hats men's hats fashion humor