Australian Bush Hat

Australian Bush Hat, that's what it says on the label 

This hat is made of leather with a wide brim to protect the wearer from the sun and rain.

The leather is a bit mouldy but will easily polish out, whoever owned it last must have put it away damp.

Around the crown is plaited leather band, its got a cowboy hat feeling and is probably a style used by Australian cattle ranchers.

The crown is creased telescope style from the way its made

Like most bush hats it's vented in the side

Red Decorated Sombrero

The Sombrero the traditional hat of Mexico

A Sombrero in Mexico is any wide-brimmed hat, although for most people outside the region it is also a hat with its brim upturned along its edge.

Its main function is the protection of the head and shoulders from the Sun.

Some like this one can end up highly decorated and are used by Mariachi folk music performers.

This I believe is a full Sombrero but in Mexico there are many types with names suchas Quinciano, Diechinueve, Veintiuno, Veintisiete, Traditional sombrero or modern sombrero.   

 

Too Small for Me

 This coonskin hat is too small for my head. 

If I pull really hard the brim will stretch on but within a few minutes it contracts and springs up leaving it precariously balanced.

Not my hat but part of our crew kit, never seen anyone wear it, so might be something to pass on to a worthy smaller head.

Ready for the Weather

As the United Kindom is hit by a very wet stormy day, I've found this set of pictures of someone who looks ready for the weather.

Many so-called cowboy hats are all basically the same shaped hat until the crown is dented, this one has 2 parallel dents and a relatively flat top, this makes cattleman style, at least according to one website.

This isn't a good quality cowboy hat and wouldn't survive the real world, but OK for fancy dress and LRP

Worn alongside a full-length brown waxed coat.

Hessian Hat

This hat is made of hessian and was purchased from a trader at Chatsworth Country Fair whose key feature was everything hessian.

This is one of those hats that although outwardly rough-looking is actually a quality well-made product and a comfortable hat to wear.

The hat is properly lined with a fabric that is more comfortable against the skin.

The edge of the hat has been frayed, although the fraying as been stitched, secured and tidied so it will remain stable and secure.

The hat brim has a wire running around it which you can use to shape it, such as turning up the brim cowboy hat style like in the photo below.

I can see this hat being worn as a comfortable casual summer hat or used to theme a yokel costume.

Good cooling summer wear, although not waterproof at all.

Marshall Rich

Back in 1872 when I was a cowboy I liked to wear my black hat.

Then one day I got shot in the shoulder by a cat rustler.

I survived. 

The cat rustler realised herding cats was a bad plan and took up baking.

 The cats remain unrustled.

Boss Hogg

Novelty White Cowboy Hat

I surrendered to this hat because it was less than £3, its made of a compressed paper felt. 

These novelty hats are reasonably sturdy even if nothing like a real wool felt hat, they will last long enough as they are not for extended wear.

By the way Boss Hogg was a character from a eighties comedy TV show who wore a white suit and white cowboy hat, an over the top character that sticks in my memory.

How the West Was Lost

This hat is a fedora with cowboy hat styling, the band around the crown is leather and thin giving a cowboy hat look, the brim is slightly wider than typical fedora. 

Most cowboys hat have a wider brim this. 

Most cowboys hats have a wider brim than this. 

This hat is very battered, the felt as lost a lot of its shaping, another cheap find at car boot market.

Coonskin Cap

The coonskin cap was originally worn by native Americans but were adopted by some European colonists as hunting hats 

The hat is associated mainly due to film and folklore with Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, although according to Wikipedia the font of all knowledge Daniel Boone never wore a coonskin hat.

A real coonskin hat is made from the whole skin from raccoon, tail and all stretched over the head.

This reproduction was a gift from my mother when she visited Texas this Autumn, the label says Dan'l Boone Coonskin cap.

Why am I wearing fur inside, its too warm

I surrender

I need a bigger beard

Cowboy Hat

This is a novelty cowboy hat picked up from a bring and buy, well used but fits the part

A basic felt hat with a pinched front, crushed crown, wide brim and leather band around the crown

Cowboy hats where not the most common hats worn in the wild west, derby or bowler hat where much more common and many hat style were worn, but as time past and the wild west became history the stetson or wide brimmed tall crown hat became the cowboy hat we think of today. 

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