OlongJohnson
10-15-2016, 10:32 AM
I've been thinking about this for awhile, but DB's leather briefcase thread pushed me to post.
I have no urge to end up with a snowflake hat, but I need something that will look good and function here in TX. Something for outdoor wear, that will keep the sun off and withstand a bit of sweat (since I can break a sweat just walking out to the car in the morning with the humidity around here). Reasonably durable, but it's OK if it requires reasonable handling and care. It's not hard to find hats for sale in Houston, but there are two problems in my search so far:
First, every time I've gone into a store specializing in western wear or hats in the area, I look around and ask myself why I'm there. I'm a rural west coaster at heart, and although I learned to drive when I was a kid on a 1948 John Deere and five minutes later was working the field, country music is about the only genre that doesn't make it into my CD collection or Pandora station list. I don't want to look like I'm trying to look like a drugstore cowboy or Texas Ranger. The style I'm thinking is a lower crown with a flatter top and narrower, flatter brim. Along the lines of what Clint wore in a lot of the movies, but not close enough anybody would get the impression I was trying to wear a copy of them. I can find stuff like that online, but not in stock in a place where I can inspect it for quality or try it on for fit.
Second, and actually harder to solve, I have a strangely shaped head, apparently. I have a prominent forehead, and my skull is proportionally longer front to back. The effect is that whenever I put on a hat, the band section is stretched front to back. Certain cuts of baseball-style hats work OK with that, but none are excellent. And any hat with a brim ends up getting pulled out of shape. The effect is made much worse if there's any front-to-rear curvature of the brim, as in the process of stretching it over my head, the brim and hatband get flattened out (shortest distance), and the taper section, the front of the crown, gets compressed vertically, with a big bend or wrinkle. And stretching the flat brim into a different shape causes all sorts of warpage and distortion. Together, those effects ruin any possibility of it looking like a quality piece that fits. If I try a hat that's long enough front to rear, the sides of the band are floating in space. Even hats that are soft enough to kinda work don't really work.
So I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a hat maker who will make a hat fit to the shape of my head (as in requiring a visit for them to measure my head), and has a suitable range of styles. And ideally, somewhere not too far from east Texas.
I have no urge to end up with a snowflake hat, but I need something that will look good and function here in TX. Something for outdoor wear, that will keep the sun off and withstand a bit of sweat (since I can break a sweat just walking out to the car in the morning with the humidity around here). Reasonably durable, but it's OK if it requires reasonable handling and care. It's not hard to find hats for sale in Houston, but there are two problems in my search so far:
First, every time I've gone into a store specializing in western wear or hats in the area, I look around and ask myself why I'm there. I'm a rural west coaster at heart, and although I learned to drive when I was a kid on a 1948 John Deere and five minutes later was working the field, country music is about the only genre that doesn't make it into my CD collection or Pandora station list. I don't want to look like I'm trying to look like a drugstore cowboy or Texas Ranger. The style I'm thinking is a lower crown with a flatter top and narrower, flatter brim. Along the lines of what Clint wore in a lot of the movies, but not close enough anybody would get the impression I was trying to wear a copy of them. I can find stuff like that online, but not in stock in a place where I can inspect it for quality or try it on for fit.
Second, and actually harder to solve, I have a strangely shaped head, apparently. I have a prominent forehead, and my skull is proportionally longer front to back. The effect is that whenever I put on a hat, the band section is stretched front to back. Certain cuts of baseball-style hats work OK with that, but none are excellent. And any hat with a brim ends up getting pulled out of shape. The effect is made much worse if there's any front-to-rear curvature of the brim, as in the process of stretching it over my head, the brim and hatband get flattened out (shortest distance), and the taper section, the front of the crown, gets compressed vertically, with a big bend or wrinkle. And stretching the flat brim into a different shape causes all sorts of warpage and distortion. Together, those effects ruin any possibility of it looking like a quality piece that fits. If I try a hat that's long enough front to rear, the sides of the band are floating in space. Even hats that are soft enough to kinda work don't really work.
So I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a hat maker who will make a hat fit to the shape of my head (as in requiring a visit for them to measure my head), and has a suitable range of styles. And ideally, somewhere not too far from east Texas.