Flip His Lid: Give a Warm-Weather Hat for Christmas
Christmas and other late-fall-to-winter gift-giving occasions are not quite here yet, but they soon will stare us down the barrel. While I hope I don’t see a candy cane in any store for quite awhile, there is a little detective work you need to start doing now for successful gift giving. Ever try to buy a ring or a hat for someone at the last minute without having amply snooped for their size? Of course, the trick is, to do it without immediate suspicion. In the middle of November, its far enough off to perhaps make them forget you asked.
You can stumble through a guy’s Fedora Hats collection to read labels, but which one does he begrudgingly wear too tight? Do you know if he doesn’t complain. If you don’t go to a super high end milliner who charges $400 for a hat, many hats are available in Small, Medium, Large, Etcetera. But what is Large? If you look at various hats, anything up through a size 6 7/8 is considered “small.” Other sizes corresponds as follows:
Medium: 7- 7 1/8
Large: 7 1/4- 3/8
Extra Large: 7 1/2-7 3/4
If the recipient falls in between sizes, order the next size up. The sizes only apply to Fedoras, Panama Hats, bowlers, and trilbys. Baseball caps and other casual styles do not always follow suit.
While the serious hat collector may be very particular about their beaver felt hats, and demand precise sizing, more casual versions of their favorite shapes, like straw fedoras offer a change of pace and more flexible sizing. For something a bit different, try one of the many Panama hats for men. You may picture Panama Hats as requiring a white linen suit or, at the very least, sandals, unless you are Harry Truman, a wide variety of styles are made today, including the plaid stingy-brimmed style shown (upper left). While the term “Panama” may evoke a certain hat silhouette, the hats coming out of Panama are more diverse today.
So get going. Sneak a look at hat bands. Insist on getting his hat off the hook at the 5-star restaurant and take a gander at the inside tag. Casually bring up the subject of hat sizes. When all else fails, be blunt. Just say you are writing a statistical report about heads.
fedoras, gift ideas, modern fashion | Comments (2)Update to the Countdown
Call me a geek. Call me a nerd.
The return of the most popular fedora wearing persona returns to the big screen on May 23, 2008. I have included this convenient time clock so that you may synchronize your watch. As of this writing you have less than 52 days to get ready. Are you planning to camp in line to get tickets to “Indiana Jones IV?” With Fandango and other websites, that sort of thing may be a remnant of the past. So, call me a wimp, but I will probably be waiting in line from my desk.
fedoras, film, indiana jones | Comment (1)
