Me Hat

[BoldHighlander]

From "Panache answers the big kilt Questions"

#3 (Concerning Hats)


"Out of all the kit a gent can sport no item is more personal than his hat. I have seen kilts worn with cowbow hats, native American head dress, pith helmets, flat caps, top hats, panamas, fedoras, fez hats, knit caps, berets, in addition to glengarries, tams, and balmorals. What looks right to me on my head might not be to someone else's taste. What looks right to them might not be to mine. Unless you are wearing some sort of uniform or adhering to some specific dress code wear the hat that suits you...and don't mess with a guy about his hat...EVER!"

As a confirmed life-long hat fan, all I can add is to quote another passionate hat wearer:

"You ought to know better than to touch another man's hat!"

~ James Butler Hickok
Wild Bill (1995)*



(*yeah, I know it isn't a real accurate historical film, but it is one heck uv'a ride )

[Jock Scot]

Ok I am not wanting to start up a bush fire here-----maybe I should stop now-----but as you are wearing the kilt and you are quite right in saying that the glengarry is useless for weather protection(its useless anyway) and the balmoral is not much better in really heavy weather, its pretty good as an alrounder though, then the good old tweed fore & aft, or the slightly more flamboyant Deerstalker is perfect for the job. We in Scotland do have our share of weather too, although not the extremes that you chaps over there seem to get.

Now, in all seriousness (no I am not wanting to stir up a hornets nest, so please no hornets!) and with the greatest respect to every one's personal choice; just what is the attraction of the flat cap when worn with the kilt? Flat caps a fine when worn with other forms of attire that is for sure, but to my eyes they make the whole "kilt look" all wrong, particularly with those very modern "cheese cutter" things that have barely enough cloth to cover an egg, never mind a head. In all honesty I would much prefer to see you chaps wearing -----SIT DOWN EVERY ONE-------a "John Deere" type hat, rather than a flat cap! Each to their own.

[be da veva]

I've got a Tilley T5. Great for sun, wind, cold and snow. There is also the lifetime guarantee, which means it will last as long as your kilt and then some...

[ForresterModern]

I was waitin' for Jock to jump into the fray on this thread, and there he comes right on cue and right on "his" point. Jock, no one is arguing your feelings about the flat cap with the kilt, only their own. You have already said you would rather see the kilt worn with a "John Deere" style ball cap than with a flat cap, but on this side of the pond we would be just as aghast at that sight as you would be at the flat cap one. Different strokes for different folks. And I fear Jock that you will never understand that difference, and that is okay. We are, despite our heritage, different peoples molded from our different experiences and living in different social environments.

Long live the flatcap. And any flat cap wearers, join us in the social group "Flat Cap Confederation", started by Zardoz, our current king of flat caps.

Love your spirit and your style Jock, just don't always agree with it my dear friend.

jeff

[Jock Scot]

JEFF.

Just like a trout you have risen to my perfectly presented fly! I wonder if that other trout(Mr Z) will succumb?

Yes of course I accept that we all have our differences of taste and style, we would be living in a very boring world if we did not. With a good dollop of humour thrown in too and life is a wee bit better all round.

I do find it very interesting that one part of the world, generally speaking, really dislikes a piece of cloth put together as a cap when it is worn in combination with another piece of cloth--the kilt. Whilst another part of the world with many similarities, though of course with many differences too, find the same piece of cloth put together as a cap when worn with another bit of cloth--- the kilt, so appealing. Thoughts any one?

[Panache]

CHEERS! ith:

Link to the rest?

They are indeed written, but I'm not sure if the forum is ready for all the answers at one time!

Cheers

Jamie

[ForresterModern]

Jock

Rise and bite acknowledged, dear friend.

I think the difference is as simple as different tastes and customs that develop over time and space, kind of like the french who enjoy mayonnaise on their pommes frites (chips to you chaps, french fries to us yanks and probably the rest of the civilized world), while we yanks prefer ketchup. Different strokes for different folks.

Jock, I will wear a flat cap home from work tonite in your honor, just not with a kilt.

jeff

[skauwt]

i wear a quarter-eight brown corduroy hat and always went with that saying" A man without a hat is only half dressed " im unsure who actually said it but ive stuck by it,
a hat is as important to me as the footwear on my feet

[MacMillans son]

JEFF.

Just like a trout you have risen to my perfectly presented fly! I wonder if that other trout(Mr Z) will succumb?

Yes of course I accept that we all have our differences of taste and style, we would be living in a very boring world if we did not. With a good dollop of humour thrown in too and life is a wee bit better all round.

I do find it very interesting that one part of the world, generally speaking, really dislikes a piece of cloth put together as a cap when it is worn in combination with another piece of cloth--the kilt. Whilst another part of the world with many similarities, though of course with many differences too, find the same piece of cloth put together as a cap when worn with another bit of cloth--- the kilt, so appealing. Thoughts any one?

Jock,

I wonder if it could be that although the flat cap has not been in style in the Highlands since 1920 or so, that it was the first example, to many of us over here
(via photographs) of how the kilt was worn. That initial "imprint" may make it similar to Scots actually seeing their father's or grandfather's attire as an example of traditional. Our first positive experience of a thing may be the one that lasts the longest, and is the one we base all subsequent experiences or examples on.

Those are my solicited thoughts.

Brooke

[xena]

Well, I think I understand where some of the divergent opinions come from. Glengarries, Tams and Balmorals are the historic headress for kilted fellows. Fair enough.

Other hats are therefore "foreign" to the native Scottish dress. But, being foreign, and therefore strange-looking, to a traditionally minded kiltie, does not necessarily mean it's wrong. Just different, and maybe odd-looking to some. But, I think this has to do with perspective.

Jock has just mentioned that he'd rather see the "John Deere" type of hats on kilties rather than flat-caps. Fair enough. The flat-cap is paticulary English in it's origin, and the more recent baseball, or trucker, hats (lovingly referred to by Jock as "John Deere" hats) have all the practicality of the flat cap, but none of the "Englishness" of the flat-cap.

From my perspective, being a chap who grew up in the Canadian prairie farmland, surrounded by people who listened to nothing but twangy Country and Western music, drove pick-up trucks with gun racks in the back window, who perceived dressing-up as wearing a shirt with all the buttons still attached and a clean "John Deere" hat, and who actually are living examples of most of Jeff Foxworthy's jokes (I kid you not!), that particular hat is something I would not want to be caught dead in.

But that's just because of my background.

If I'd have grown up somewhere else, I'd likely have a different opinion.

So, from my point of view, I'd rather see kilties wearing flat caps than the "John Deere" type hats because they seem (to me) a dressier option than the often slovenly baseball caps.

Does that make sense? I guess I could also say that the further you are from the UK (perhaps physically as well as culturally) the more the boundaries between consituent nationalities that make it up, blur. So, for an American or Canadian, the distinction between Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish are less clear, as these are often thought of generically as "the old country". I suspect there's a similar blurring between Canadians and Americans for folks from the UK. I've often heard of Canadian tourists in the UK being derided for being "<insert impolite term here> Yanks", when they were actually just lost Canucks looking for directions. Do Britons have a clear grasp on the distinctions between Canadians and Americans? How about New Zealanders and Australians? Probably not. And that's okay, because from their perspective, the distinctions understandably blur.

Now, I want to be perfectly clear and say that I'm not trying to bash any nationality or bring any sort of politics up! Absolutely not! I'm just making a sociological observation that cultural perspective is involved here.

As well, whenever a hat is used for practical purposes, it matters not a whit what it looks like, IMO. I'd wear a Ushanka with a kilt if it was cold enough, and I'd care not about how badly I was clashing cultures. Similarly, I've got a wide-brimmed fedora I wear when it's raining (since I live in Vancouver now), and it works great for keeping the rain off my glasses so I can see.

That's just my two kopecks worth of thought. I hope it makes sense to the reader.