Balmoral - sizing, style, etc.

[Zardoz]

Yikes. I was reading this thread at home last night and my wife wandered in and asked what I was doing. I told her I was thinking of buying a Balmoral and showed her a picture. Her reaction was pretty much along the lines of, "I will not be seen in public with a guy wearing a floppy hat with a fuzzy ball on top." Which is why I had reservations about it in the first place. That seems to be the common sentiment around these parts. She, like most everyone else around here, has no experience with Balmorals in a Scottish context, and sees them as something men should not be wearing. Not even with a kilt.

So I think I need to do some convincing before making this purchase. There's no sense in buying a hat that will make my wife not want to be seen with me. Maybe what I need to do is get her to some more Highland Games (she's only been to one) and point out the Balmorals to show her that they are perfectly acceptable on men.

*sigh*

We gotta come up with a name for this fear of toories!

Cocklaphobia is the fear of hats,

Glomus is Latin for "ball"

Maybe Cocklaglomuphobia ??

[ForresterModern]

Glad to hear a good review. It was very much an impulse buy!
Is there a handy spot where you attach your clan badge? I know that more traditional ones have a place specifically for it, but didn't seen one on the tweed version (which is fine with me).

Actually these Bals/tams are made in pieces rather than being a single felted and formed piece of wool, so they have an edge to the top that is very defined by the seam where the top and then side pieces meet. Another seam is where the head band joins the side pieces to complete the hat. The side pieces are not as much space as I am used to in my one-piece tams or Bals and I have not used a cap badge with it to date. I suppose one could, and one could build his own rosette for it as well. You could even build up some inside vertical support for the area where you want to attach the cpa badge to keep it from flopping down under the weight of the badge, as the fabric used for these is somehwat less substantial than the felt typically used for the traditional Bals, which can hold the badge up without inside the cap help. This particular tweed one is of similar weight material to a tweed jacket, so unless one put some facing on the inside to stiffen it up it is relative soft and moldable. A rosette would probably work well enough by itself to support the side of these tams, although I have not tried it.

j

[Lallans]

John, I took him to mean that lots of civvies wear balmorals, too, without the military connotation.
Wear I live, the balmoral wouldn't get a second glance, and lots of non-kilted gents wear them.
The Canadian Scottish Regiment wears khaki balmorals too, so we're used to seeing them around town on our reservists.

Yes you are correct and when I used the term 'connotations' that was implied- when people in my area see you wearing one sans uniform, if they think about it at all, they do not think 'military,' they think 'heritage-obsessed Scotsman'- or perhaps 'babe magnet'

However the glengarry when worn here is for some reason almost always seen as either 'military' or 'pipeband' or perhaps 'military pipeband'. I imagine this sort of thing is regional.

[ForresterModern]

Yikes. I was reading this thread at home last night and my wife wandered in and asked what I was doing. Her reaction was pretty much along the lines of, "I will not be seen in public with a guy wearing a floppy hat with a fuzzy ball on top."

There's no sense in buying a hat that will make my wife not want to be seen with me.


*sigh*

My wife pretty much doesn't want to be seen in public with me wearing a KILT, so once I get her past that on any given date I can pretty much get away with the rest of the kit as I choose to wear, so the Balmoral or tam is little issue for me. But then I started wearing an old knit tam-o-shanter in Dress Gordon colors 25 years ago (complete with the multicolor ball/toorie atop), at least 20 years before I discovered my scottish roots.
It was warm and looked good with my winter coat, and I liked the looks of it---that was all that mattered. Of course that was a few years a one wife ago in time.

You might consider getting a Bal in Navy with a Navy toorie instead of red---less noticeable. And if you get one with Navy dicing that will distract from the toorie even more, while simultaneously showing that you are wearing something of scottish heritage, and not just some funny looking cap with a boall on top. I prefer the diced versions in general, and have several colors. The forest green version diced is similarly less obtrusive as the toorie is the same color as the main body of the hat, and the dicing is also green and white. Although many feel that dicing has military connotations I see photos of many clan leaders among others who wear diced Bals and doubt any specific military connotation is really attached.

[auld argonian]

We gotta come up with a name for this fear of toories!

Cocklaphobia is the fear of hats,

Glomus is Latin for "ball"

Maybe Cocklaglomuphobia ??

Excellent! I may have to join the therapy group for this one...start with a little toorie and work my way up to a big one.

Like so many other things I'd bet that no one really pays as much attention to the toorie as the one who has it sitting on top of his hat. You might think that it's a distraction but everybody else hardly notices it.

Best

AA

[Woodsheal]

Royal or light blue was indeed the color of choice for the Jacobites, reportedly, with a white rosette being what really made the blue bonnet distinguished as being of Jacobite representation.

The blue bonnet was not unique to - or symbolic of - the Jacobites. They wore it because all Scots commonly wore it, including Lowlanders and soldiers in the Highland regiments of the British army (hardly Jacobites!).

As Forrester states, the color of one's cockade, not the bonnet, was the indicator of political allegiance....

[Old Hippie]

Her reaction was pretty much along the lines of, "I will not be seen in public with a guy wearing a floppy hat with a fuzzy ball on top."

Not sure where you live, but if you want to see Balmorals in one of their natural habitats, arrange a vacation in Ottawa in May or June.

The young colour guards and bandsmen (and bandswomen) from the various training units are all there as part of the ceremonial guard for Parliament Hill and the Governor-General's residence. They stay in their own barracks at Carleton University, and there will be hordes of balmorae around all the tourist spots. You'll be out of place if you aren't wearing one.

:ootd:

[creagdhubh]

A quick question or two for you experts...

In light of a recent discussion, I'm going to try wearing a Balmoral. It's totally not my usual style of headwear, but I'm going for the traditional look. Rather than continue to hijack someone else's thread (which I apologize for), I'm starting this one for my questions.

It seems that Glengarry Hats has the best price on what I'm looking for: just a plain Balmoral, no dicing. I like the sky blue one because it would probably compliment the blue in my tartan, even though it's not exactly the same shade. Plus, if I'm honest, my wife prefers that I wear light blue because she says it brings out my blue eyes.

So the first question is: a sky blue Balmoral doesn't represent anything I should be aware of, does it? A military unit, police, Jacobite sympathies, etc.? Not that I would mind making a 'statement' by wearing a certain color; I just want to know what 'statement' that would be. I have read that the dicing is a military/police thing, and that certain colors represent military units. Do any of them apply to sky blue with no dicing, and plain black band/toorie/rosette/tail ribbons?

Second question: Sizing. The only other hats I own that come in a fixed size (i.e. aren't adjustable) are cowboy hats. And I typically wear a 6-7/8. They are usually a little tight on my head but stretch in to be comfortable after I sweat in them a couple of times. Now, Glengarry Hats only carries the Balmorals in sizes 7 through 8. So size 7 is as close as I can get. If this ends up being a tad too loose, what are my options? I think I saw someone mention that in the military they will buy them oversized and wet them, then let them shrink to fit. Will this work? Or will I be relegated to trying something else, like stitching in a hat-band liner?

Third question: badges. Is it common for people to wear a Balmoral with no clan badge or other decoration with the rosette? Or would that be a minor fashion faux-pas like wearing a kilt without a kilt pin? I can always invest in a clan badge to match my clan kilt pin, but that's extra money I really don't want to spend until I decide the Balmoral is my style. Would people talk about me behind my back if I wear a plain Balmoral with no badge?

And the fourth question, on the subject of badges: is a clan badge worn over the rosette (with the rosette as the background), or beside it? I could swear I've seen badges worn both ways, but I'm not so sure.

Thanks for answering my dumb questions.

No question is a dumb question mate! Take a wee gander at the below images. Everyone else has said pretty much what I would recommend. Good luck!




Also, Kinloch-Anderson out of Leith (Edinburgh area), Scotland is where I purchase my balmoral and glengarry bonnets. Mine are all plain style-no dicing-in assorted colors and color combinations of the touries (the ball or pom pom on top of the bonnet).

www.kinlochanderson.com

[ForresterModern]

Third question: badges. Is it common for people to wear a Balmoral with no clan badge or other decoration with the rosette? Or would that be a minor fashion faux-pas like wearing a kilt without a kilt pin? I can always invest in a clan badge to match my clan kilt pin, but that's extra money I really don't want to spend until I decide the Balmoral is my style. Would people talk about me behind my back if I wear a plain Balmoral with no badge?

And the fourth question, on the subject of badges: is a clan badge worn over the rosette (with the rosette as the background), or beside it? I could swear I've seen badges worn both ways, but I'm not so sure.

Thanks for answering my dumb questions.

As stated by others the only dumb question is one that is not asked but deserves to be.

RE: your third question you can wear a Bal without a clan badge on the rosette, although depending on the color it might look a little naked bereft of that adornment.

RE: your fourth question, the clan badge is worn centered on the rosette when one is present. When not present, as in a tam, you can either add a rosette (they can be bought separately in a variety of colors or even made yourself) to pin your badge to or simply pin it on the side body of the Bal itself in the same location. Not strictly up to standards but not necessarily off limits either.

hope this all helps.

j

[Tobus]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm going to take a "damn the torpedoes" approach and buy a Balmoral anyway. If the spousal unit can learn to live with it, great. If not, well, I can always sell it later or figure something else out.

I may wait, though, until after I get my new kilt in the weathered tartan. Then think about color options once I've seen how the new kilt looks.