I spotted this grafitti in Melbourne and thought it perfectly matched my post for today… it says:
“I gave her my heart but she wanted my hat.” at the bottom
I do love a good hat, and it seems to be an accessory taking hold of men once again. At one point it was ettiqutte for men to wear hats consistently and a little rude not to. Perhaps this is no longer a sartorially elegant a world we live in, however at least we are lucky enough to have more expression in the way we dress these days. So we consider the choice to wear a hat a way to communicate our personal style and interests.
I’ve noticed hats a lot more frequently since Menswear Day at Fashion Week, and also whilst perusing a lot of street style sites. Hat’s aren’t just for men of course, as women seem to have adopted a love of hats, worn with double monk strapped shoes, a rather wonderful statement. I look forward to seeing how far this goes and if one of my friends turn up to meet me one day, donning a hat of some sort, be it a trilby, or even flat cap. Perhaps not, but one can hope.
So where to pick up such a hat in London? Jermyn Street holds home to Bates, a wonderful 100 year old hatter who can now be found in a store called Hilditch & Key. I must say my favorite hatters is Lock & Co, founded in 1676, a beautiful old store on James Street near Green Park. As you might have guessed this year I’m traveling frequently between London and Melbourne studying bespoke shoe-making. While in Mebourne I discovered a charming store called SMART Alec.
SMART Alec, (the hatters of choice for Geoffrey Rush), was a perfect hat shopping experience, for a number of reasons. The hats were beautifully presented but in a relaxed environment, where you are free to try on any hat which might take your fancy. Michael, the eccentric owner is a keen lover of hats and avid campaigner to see more men wear them. He has always had short hair and told me he wears the hats like a women would wear a hair style. The store is a perfect mix between the traditional hat stores in London with the shopping experience to suit a more modern lifestyle.
I ordered my hat (due to the fact that I am a size 59 they were out of hats for deceptively large heads), a green wool Trilby. If you are in Melbourne do pop along to SMART Alec .
A photo I took at Bates Hatters:
SMART, Alec…Hatters + the man himself.
The store’s hat styles:
The hat I ordered: green wool Trilby, I’m sure you’ll see an post of me wearing it soon.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Wearing a hat requires confidence on 2 counts: 1) to stand out among a sea of non-hat wearers looking different but 2) to not be concerned with the aftermath of ‘hat hair’ when you actually take off your hat!
A man who wears a hat confidently has a great sense of self……….and style.
Keep your hat on!! (ahhh an old Joe Cocker tune just popped into my head)
I think wearing a hat these days is really impacted by your hairstyle – without short or neat cut hair, hats are a big risk… Obviously I’m referring to the first commenter’s post about the dreaded ‘hat hair’
I wear a hat every day, everywhere I go. I own one “ball cap” that I wear to the local hockey games but other than that, it’s pub caps for dressing down or a fedora for work or out on the town. There is a haberdashery where I live but because a well made hat isn’t cheap, I’ve found a great resource online called HatsInTheBelfry.com (no, I have no affiliation with them) that I have sent people to that expressed interest in “trying the hat thing”. Now they can get a good hat at a great price and see if it’s really something they want to do before plunking down several hundred for a great hat. As for the hat hair thing, I always knew there was an upside to being bald.
BC -Thanks for the tip Sir, I love a good fedora. It’s cool that you have a hat for each occasion.
Meena: – Thank you for reading, I agree on both parts.
Best,
Christian