Headgear; brought to mind because it's raining,

it's January and it's above freezing(God's being nice to us).

I started wearing hats a few years back:
Glare bothers my eyes more than it used to, and
I hate getting rain or snow on my glasses.
Caps work for glare and(mostly) for rain, but if the stuff is blowing from the side, a little more all-round coverage is nice.  I've got a good boonie hat, but sometimes want something not quite so 'ready to dive into the bushes'; my old cowboy hat is getting pretty beat-up and floppy(anyone know how to stiffen felt?), so I wanted something that would be a bit more presentable.  Know what I wanted?

A fedora.

Just because.  I like the way they look.  And Indy Jones wore one, along with Bogey and various others.  So I started looking around, and discovered something:
Do you know what good fur felt hats cost nowadays?  Damn.

So the search commenced, and I happened across wool felt that didn't cut it, and fur felt that wasn't affordable, and then happened across US Wings who had this in the adventure section.  Yes, it's got a Raiders pin on the hatband; I don't care.  It's a good-quality fur felt, it holds its shape, it keeps the wet off my head and it looks good.  And I could afford it.  Therefore, the hat.

Slightly damp as I was outside with the dogs.

Things I've learned since I started wearing it regularly:
You get used to it fast.
Does a wonderful job of keeping the wet off.
It's nice to have a soft brush to clean the dust off.
You understand why, in old movies, you had hat-check girls and coat & hat racks.
Around here you see fewer cowboy hats than you used to; even fewer of these.
It goes as well with my duster(best raincoat I've ever had) as the cowboy hat.
It stays on in the wind better than you'd think.
And you really learn the difference between a decent- or good-quality hat and the synthetic felt crap you see hipster assholes* wearing.

And yes, I have used it with my leather jacket(and belt & holster, and whip, and bag) for Halloween.



*At one time I wondered why daughter seemed to mutter things like that, sometimes with substitution of 'douches';  I found out