I grew up outdoors and live in a rural area now. Historically, I was a ball cap kind of guy. I have worn a straw hat for sun protection, but I just bought my first winter cowboy hat in dark gray. I am learning more about them, but what are folks favorites? favorite brands? favorite colors?
Cowboy hats
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Last: 10 mo ago by TXAG 05
Catalena Hatters in Bryan
Or Stetson
Or Stetson
Catalena Hatters in Bryankingj3 said:
Catalena Hatters in Bryan
Or Stetson
Catalena
Stetson Open Road
I'm interest in this as well.
I wear an old 7X Resistol with a rancher's crown in the winter and an inexpensive Twister straw hat with a brick crown for the summer. I also bought a leather concho hat band for the straw hat (the band cost more than the hat, but I can transfer it to another hat if I need). They are both fine.
I tend to like a flatter brim than is fashionable these days. It's not completely flat, but it doesn't curl up much. One major advantage to this is that it helps keep the sun out of my eyes from the side. I've sunburned my eyes several times while wearing a cap, but never while wearing a hat. The dermatologist likes it that way, too, in order to help keep the sun off of my ears and help protect them from skin cancers.
Back in the 70s, I wore a flat brimmed black hat with something like a telescope crown and a red, white, and blue hat band around it.
I tend to like a flatter brim than is fashionable these days. It's not completely flat, but it doesn't curl up much. One major advantage to this is that it helps keep the sun out of my eyes from the side. I've sunburned my eyes several times while wearing a cap, but never while wearing a hat. The dermatologist likes it that way, too, in order to help keep the sun off of my ears and help protect them from skin cancers.
Back in the 70s, I wore a flat brimmed black hat with something like a telescope crown and a red, white, and blue hat band around it.
blue star for pure beaver
Catalena Hatters in Bryan
I've been tempted by those from time to time. With the flatter brim, it's a very nice classic style.MAROON said:
Stetson Open Road
If you look at the photos from when Oswald was shot in the police garage on that Sunday morning in November, 1963, the police detective who was escorting Oswald was wearing a hat that looks like it might have been an Open Road. It looks really good on him.
I have a felt and the toasted straw. Love the hat. Back in the day a lot of ranchers wore open roads. Much easier to wear while driving in your truck due to the shorter brim.
Catalena, cattlemen's / rancher, Silverbelly
I think that Stetson used to give an Open Road hat to each new President. I wonder if they still do it.MAROON said:
I have a felt and the toasted straw. Love the hat. Back in the day a lot of ranchers wore open roads. Much easier to wear while driving in your truck due to the shorter brim.
This. Products, friendly knowledgeable service, and skill set all top notch. I have 6, including straw and felt.wareagle044 said:
Catalena Hatters in Bryan
You're the guy that kicked Mr. Posner in the face?eric76 said:
Back in the 70s, I wore a flat brimmed black hat with something like a telescope crown and a red, white, and blue hat band around it.
I've never heard of a felt hat being called a "winter cowboy hat" but I don't mind it.
There's really 4 levels of felt cowboy hats if I had to think about it.
Level 4: This is going to be your American 1000x type of hats that are stupidly expensive just because they are made out of exotic furs and have gold buckles. These are not worth it unless you just want to spend the money to say you have a mink hat. I've only seen the cartel type wear these.
https://shop.besthatstore.com/amr-1000x-4-1-4-lte-lo.html
Level 3: These are going to be your Shortys and JW Brooks type of hats. They are truly custom made to fit your head and overall really good hats and worth the price if you are going to wear your hat just about every day. The 100x hats are worth the couple of $100 extra since they will last a lot longer than the 50x. These hats are what most performance horse trainers wear.
https://www.jwbrookscustomhats.com/
https://shortyshattery.com/
Level 2: This is where I would put companies like Catalena, Resitol's 100x hats, American Hats 100x and most other "custom hat" makers. If they don't build the hat to your head shape then they are not custom hats. They are just custom hat shapers. Any hat that is 20x or above would fall into this category as well. These are good hats and there are no problems with them, they are just not quite the level that the hats above are at.
Level 1: Any hat that is below 20x. Good hats and what 90% of people get because they are relatively inexpensive yet look good. Just be prepared to have to get it reshaped often the more you wear it. The less the x, the less durable it is and has a hard time keeping it's shape.
The most important part of the hat is the shape though. If you want to look at what hat shapes are in style just look at the hat shapes of the calf ropers who were in this year's NFR and go from there. Don't get some goofy shape that makes your nice hat look like it came from the Loves off of I35.
There's really 4 levels of felt cowboy hats if I had to think about it.
Level 4: This is going to be your American 1000x type of hats that are stupidly expensive just because they are made out of exotic furs and have gold buckles. These are not worth it unless you just want to spend the money to say you have a mink hat. I've only seen the cartel type wear these.
https://shop.besthatstore.com/amr-1000x-4-1-4-lte-lo.html
Level 3: These are going to be your Shortys and JW Brooks type of hats. They are truly custom made to fit your head and overall really good hats and worth the price if you are going to wear your hat just about every day. The 100x hats are worth the couple of $100 extra since they will last a lot longer than the 50x. These hats are what most performance horse trainers wear.
https://www.jwbrookscustomhats.com/
https://shortyshattery.com/
Level 2: This is where I would put companies like Catalena, Resitol's 100x hats, American Hats 100x and most other "custom hat" makers. If they don't build the hat to your head shape then they are not custom hats. They are just custom hat shapers. Any hat that is 20x or above would fall into this category as well. These are good hats and there are no problems with them, they are just not quite the level that the hats above are at.
Level 1: Any hat that is below 20x. Good hats and what 90% of people get because they are relatively inexpensive yet look good. Just be prepared to have to get it reshaped often the more you wear it. The less the x, the less durable it is and has a hard time keeping it's shape.
The most important part of the hat is the shape though. If you want to look at what hat shapes are in style just look at the hat shapes of the calf ropers who were in this year's NFR and go from there. Don't get some goofy shape that makes your nice hat look like it came from the Loves off of I35.
Back in 70's, a 10x Stetson with chopped 3 1/2" brim and obscene feather band.
Now a 20x Black Gold for play, and 200x Silver Belly dress, and both Resistol. They just fit me better these days even though Stetson and Resistol the same company.
Back in the day it was high crown. Now both are. LSD crown I guess.
Now a 20x Black Gold for play, and 200x Silver Belly dress, and both Resistol. They just fit me better these days even though Stetson and Resistol the same company.
Back in the day it was high crown. Now both are. LSD crown I guess.
I said winter because I didn't want to exclude wool hats. I get that felt is nicer, bu I just wanted to start a conversation and learn some stuff. Thanks for the detailed post as it was exactly what I was looking for. I also wanted to hear folks discuss shape and or color.
O'Fallon's in Santa Fe is pure custom. Each hat takes a year to make. Top of the line
I was often called Billy Jack back then even though Billy Jack's hat had an open crown and his hat band was mostly blue and white.TOM-M said:You're the guy that kicked Mr. Posner in the face?eric76 said:
Back in the 70s, I wore a flat brimmed black hat with something like a telescope crown and a red, white, and blue hat band around it.
I frequently use billyjack as an e-mail address and computer login because of that.
I used to sit in class spinning that the hat on my finger. I had one prof who would get so distracted that he sometimes seemed like he had forgotten what he was saying.
Here's Billy Jack:
Back then, I had a very full beard which I shaved off in the early 1990s.
One summer back in the late 1970s I lived in Robert's Front Porch House on Church Street. One night in heavy rain, I was wearing it and an old wool overcoat (wish I still had it) coming around the back corner of the Circle K behind the house and ran into someone coming the other way. (Lots of people walked through there to go to the Dixie Chicken.) I sure made him jump. He clearly wasn't expecting to meet someone on that shortcut and definitely not someone looking like they hadn't been in civilization that year.
2 panama straws, 1 palm leaf, a 30X silver belly, a 20x black gold, a 4x absolutely wore out silver belly and my favorite of all a 4x black stetson that I've owned for 54 years or so.....all with a cattlemans crease and a crown a bit taller in the back than the front.
I'm a Catalena loyalist, but there are plenty of good places to get a hat. Just make sure you get it properly fitted because the wrong fit can give you a headache and you won't ever want to wear it.
As for the shape, it's your hat, however you want it to look is the right way to shape it.
As for the shape, it's your hat, however you want it to look is the right way to shape it.
That makes since. Just about all of the working cowboys I know ditch the felt and wear a Stormy Kromer when it is really cold. I have the waxed rancher and even when it is -25 it keeps my head nice and warm.
Color wise, it's hard to go wrong with black, dark grey, chestnut and, silverbelly.
Color wise, it's hard to go wrong with black, dark grey, chestnut and, silverbelly.
Walk into Catalena and have Scott show you around
There used to be a rough rule of wearing your felt hat from Labor Day to some time between Easter and Memorial Day. I usually switch in late September and again about San Jacinto Day. Also, I wear the felt hat year round to church, weddings, and funerals.StockHorseAg said:
I've never heard of a felt hat being called a "winter cowboy hat" but I don't mind it.
There's really 4 levels of felt cowboy hats if I had to think about it.
Level 4: This is going to be your American 1000x type of hats that are stupidly expensive just because they are made out of exotic furs and have gold buckles. These are not worth it unless you just want to spend the money to say you have a mink hat. I've only seen the cartel type wear these.
https://shop.besthatstore.com/amr-1000x-4-1-4-lte-lo.html
Level 3: These are going to be your Shortys and JW Brooks type of hats. They are truly custom made to fit your head and overall really good hats and worth the price if you are going to wear your hat just about every day. The 100x hats are worth the couple of $100 extra since they will last a lot longer than the 50x. These hats are what most performance horse trainers wear.
https://www.jwbrookscustomhats.com/
https://shortyshattery.com/
Level 2: This is where I would put companies like Catalena, Resitol's 100x hats, American Hats 100x and most other "custom hat" makers. If they don't build the hat to your head shape then they are not custom hats. They are just custom hat shapers. Any hat that is 20x or above would fall into this category as well. These are good hats and there are no problems with them, they are just not quite the level that the hats above are at.
Level 1: Any hat that is below 20x. Good hats and what 90% of people get because they are relatively inexpensive yet look good. Just be prepared to have to get it reshaped often the more you wear it. The less the x, the less durable it is and has a hard time keeping it's shape.
The most important part of the hat is the shape though. If you want to look at what hat shapes are in style just look at the hat shapes of the calf ropers who were in this year's NFR and go from there. Don't get some goofy shape that makes your nice hat look like it came from the Loves off of I35.
I can see why ropers would wear a hat that curls up tightly, but I'm not a roper. I spent a fair amount of time trying to learn to rope as a kid, but I never really caught on.
I don't remember seeing many people with hats curled up like that when I was a kid or in the movies. The main exception I can think of was Roy Rogers -- he usually wore one more curled up than everyone else in the movie but I don't remember ever seeing him wearing one as curled up like you see now.
People who like the sides curled up seem to think that the only proper way to set your hat down is on the crown. I want it flat and set mine down on the brim so that it won't be as likely to curl up.
Been a fan of my SunBody palm leaf out of Houston. Like the athletic fit to them.
If you look at any pictures of actual cowboys and ranchers in the 50s-70s, they are most of the time wearing hats with curved brims. The only flat hats I think are cool is what the buckaroos out in California wear. But I am not a buckaroo so I don't wear a buckaroo hat.
American Hat Makers, Resistol, Rodeo King, & Tenth Street Hats.
Some slight curve was fairly common, but not so often heavily curved like we see now.StockHorseAg said:
If you look at any pictures of actual cowboys and ranchers in the 50s-70s, they are most of the time wearing hats with curved brims. The only flat hats I think are cool is what the buckaroos out in California wear. But I am not a buckaroo so I don't wear a buckaroo hat.
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StockHorseAg said:
If you look at any pictures of actual cowboys and ranchers in the 50s-70s, they are most of the time wearing hats with curved brims. The only flat hats I think are cool is what the buckaroos out in California wear. But I am not a buckaroo so I don't wear a buckaroo hat.
Clint Eastwood in all classic spaghetti westerns.
I like palm leaf for straw hats. Very durable and easy to reshape if they get soaked.
I've thought about trying to get something for my old campaign hat to to go on the front and start wearing it again on occasion.
Aggie Rodeo team 1953-54
Recently picked up a Stetson Range in fawn color. My great grandfather wore one very much like it. It's fast become a favorite of mine.
I have the felt and toasted straw too. Love these hats. Also grabbed the hemp one which is a perfect in the middle hat between straw and felt.
If y'all are ever up near Santa Ynez check out KJ Murphy. Excellent hatter.
https://kjmurphys.com/
If y'all are ever up near Santa Ynez check out KJ Murphy. Excellent hatter.
https://kjmurphys.com/
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