Shark Hat

A novelty hat where the shark appears to bite your head 

This hat is pretty poor, I think the concept is good, but the execution is poor.

The main problem is the hat has no stiffness so the shark's body falls flat, I managed to balance and fluff it a bit so it stood up for these photos, but if I moved my head too quickly it just callapsed again

The rest is just that horrible foam-covered fabric that they make lots of novelty hats from, a case you get what you pay for and you probably don't pay much five pounds would be expensive.

Me miming swimming, please don't hire me as a mime artist

Galactic Empire Cap

This hat is a novelty representation of an officer's cap in the Star Wars universe. 

The rank of First Order in the Galactic Empire 

The hat was originally purchased to be given away as a gift to a star wars fan, but unfortunately was not of good enough quality, so ended up in my junk hat pile.

Made of poor quality fabric over the foam to provide the shape, glued rather than stitched in places and complete with a badge that spikes through the foam into the forehead, making it almost impossible to wear. Avoid if you see it my recomendation. 

Also, it looks grey in the advert, what came is black. 

Better cosplay star wars hats are available although may cost a bit more would be worth it.

Chinese Novelty Hat

You normally can't beat a chinese novelty hat to create a quick oriental fancy dress look 

These are almost throw away cheap, they fit in your pocket and look the part from a distance

This particular hat is however right at the bottom of pile when it comes to novelty hat quality, relying unsuccessfully on thinnest bit of fabric to create a bit of stiffness to brim.

This hat was so cheap you get change from £3 after postage, but you get what you pay for and would not pay much more.

The more I look at the photos of this hat, the more I believe it should go into the bin and never be seen again

Cheap Chinese Style Hat

 This hat is about as cheap as they come and even as a novelty hat not recommended

Mimicking some other watermelon style oriental hats, this is made of some cheap fabric over some thin foam, that both makes it uncomfortable and a poor fit. The shiny fabric is slippery and this makes it readily just fall off your head, no matter how tight you pull it down

I have a similar hat here and although also a novelty hat far more comfortable and better made

This is a Piece of Crap

I've bought some bad hats before, but this has got to be worst.

It's supposed to be a Montera which is a hat that represents the bull and worn by bullfighters, the real hats are not cheap and only wanted one for this blog, so ordered this off eBay, it looks nothing like the real thing, is made of recycled cardboard by the look of it and would not fit anybody comfortably.

Most of the time fancy dress hats, novelty or tourist hats can be decent and while not robust fit the bill and can be worn.

This hat, however, is a lesson learned. 

Will end up in the bin soon as it's taking up space.

Musketeers Hat

This theatrical hat is designed to look like a Cavaliers or Musketeers hat from the 17th Century.

Cavaliers hats get their name from supporters of Kings Charles I during the English Civil War whereas Musketeers Hats get there name from the personal musket wielding bodyguard of King Louise XIII. Both were known for wearing extravagant clothing including hats like this one but decorated with ostrich feathers. 

This wide-brimmed style of hat usually was cocked up on one side or both, one side of the brim was often pinned totally up.

The theatrical hat here is made of sponge covered material, with a wire frame and covered in velvety fabric with a bit of trim. 

Nothing like the real thing which should be made of felt

This hat cost me about 1 pound as part of a batch of hats.

I will get a nice authentic Cavaliers hat one day.

Hat Haul

"You won with a £31.98 bid" is not always good thing until you get the items however when you manage to get a job lot of hats eBay for a reasonable price you hope to get at least a few that make the bid worth it.

This bunch of 20 odd hats worked out to about £ 1.50 each

However out the selection, only 12 were worth keeping and only 9 would I have bought separately, even so, that still about £ 3.50 each which is still a bargain and of those at least 2 of which I would have paid £10 plus to buy individually.

Of the bad are these Mikey mouse ears and heart-shaped deely boppers

Along with the eye patch and foil wrapped cardboard Egyptian style circlet, these were all part of the giveaways

In the good pile several woolen, felt and cloth caps that were well made and well worth it.

Then we have those that fall between, the female headdress below was children's size so given away.

The Red Indian style headband is a bit rubbish but I ended up keeping it

Overall in the good box, I got an excellent felt fez, 3 muffin caps, 2 pillbox/smoking caps, a musketeers hat, another fabric fez and a skull cap, plus in the ok pile a jester hat, the red Indian headband above and sequined bandanna 

Arabic Helm

This lookalike Persian/Arabic/Saracen style helmet is made from fibreglass and has string mail around its rim, it's about cheap a lookalike as you can get before you go into toy helmets but is ok for lrp and theatre where its the impression you need not accuracy or actual protection.

A Sombrero

A Sombrero, mexican hat, basically a very wide brimmed hat with a crown and upturned edge popular in Mexico used as a shield from the sun, these hats are wide enough to cast shadows over neck and shoulders.

This Sombrero however is possibly the worst hat I own, its made of compressed cardboard and is pure tourist tat, I'm sure if I ever got wet it would turn into paper mache. 

Well one day I'm sure I will get a better quality Sombrero but for now this is all I have.

They were also worn by cowboys and in many other Spanish speaking countries