I miss Hats and Hat Bands

[EDELWEISS]

Back in the day, at least back when gentlemen wore hats, (my dad wore a hat to cut the grass), they also wore hat bands. I remember seeing guys with Zebra hat bands and even Leopard bands. It was a way of showing off or at least showing their taxidermy and hunting skills.

Im miss gentlemen wearing hats, not the fools who leave the tags on and wear them sideways; but Stetsons and Fedoras and even straw "Boaters"...and yeah I miss the taxidermy hat bands. I was roaming around the local Tandy Leather store and saw "printed" hair on cowhides and calfskins with exotic designs (Tiger etc)....

Hmmm when is the last time you saw a Tiger hat band??? I think Im gonna "do" a Tiger hatband and a sling and maybe a thin accent on a belt..... Just remember its a fashion faux pas to mix your prints! The Fashion Police are watching.

 

[rookhawk]

Agreed.

My "pithy" response:

 

[Ray B]

Wanting to avoid a false peace (faux pax) I'm seeking opinions of what sort of band could be used to replace the standard silk as is presently on the hat. It is worn with overcoat to black-tie events.

 

[EDELWEISS]

Wanting to avoid a false peace (faux pax) I'm seeking opinions of what sort of band could be used to replace the standard silk as is presently on the hat. It is worn with overcoat to black-tie events.

View attachment 166188

Hmmmm Black Tie definitely requires something special--have you considered Panda?

 

[CAustin]

I like them gents! Now do you wear them?

 

[Red Leg]

Rand, Nathaniel's, and Baron make the finest hats in North America. This is a Rand hard at work in coastal Mozambique.

 

[Scott Slough]

Will band hats do?

 

[rookhawk]

I like them gents! Now do you wear them?

I don't wear the Pith hat, I do wear the Steston style with zebra band. I also wear a Tilley style with snap up sides. I finally figured out two good reasons for those snap up side brims: you hear much better with them up, and you must snap up the one side if you are carrying a rifle slinged to shoulder. When hot sun comes, they come back down. I digress...

In any case, I think its a great way to use scrap leather/hide from safaris. Any other uses for scrap material from safaris? I neglected to bring back giraffe bone which I regret having now learned its uses for knife handles. Warthog tushes are the finest stable ivory for which to make shotgun beads (and are not regulated like elephant ivory for travel legalities), I had a warthog leather made for wrapping recoil pads. Hippo feet for jars, humidors and book ends. I'm always interested in proper uses for excess materials, the hat band being just one noble use. (incidentally, the zebra shin is where the best pattern for hat bands comes from and it is almost always discarded when a rug is made...have them save it!)

 

[mdwest]

View attachment 166163

I barely noticed the hat...

Was too busy eyeballing the Gurkha Humidor in the background

 

[rookhawk]

I barely noticed the hat...

Was too busy eyeballing the Gurkha Humidor in the background

Hah, yeah, my weakness. I had a little humidor that held about 500 cigars that I outgrew. I found that Gurkha and it looked like nice furniture for my library and it holds an easy 1000 cigars.

When I came back from Havana in 2003 I had 1400 cigars in tow. I had many, many friends for a brief period of time. The cigars were all smoked and I now realize I'm actually not that likable.