Depp+Pharrell+You

So... This is when the world went... *pause for anticipation*...stupid...

It's obscure and vaguely cool. But what can we learn from this?

So, long story short, acclaimed designer and punkstress(<-made that one up) Vivienne Westwood has been making this exact hat since the 80's when it first appeared in her Fall/Winter collection. Cool. It then hit the mainstream in a Rock Steady Crew video called "Buffalo Gals". Beast, right? Right. But I'm not a celeb, and you may or may not be, so there is very few who can pull off this enormous hat at WalMart or even Benihana without ridicule.Cause those are the only two places non-celebs can go. Everyone felt pretty silly after making fun of Pharrell when they found out it was a Westwood. I didn't, for the record.

Now, for us mere mortals, we need reasonability and versatility. Take a look at how Johnny Depp wears a similar one. He has been wearing them for years and they look awesome to me.  The moral: Pharrell wasn't the first.

See, now that's more reasonable, with a hint of high-brow fashion. Tear drop crown with a 2 7/8" flanged brim. Doesn't get much cooler for me.

Here's what I have:

Pure class. It's a medium brown Bigali with around a 2' brim. It is nothing fancy but it gets the job done. The hardest part of owning this hat is maintaining a flat brim. Some hats like these have wire in the edge for molding into a deliberate rough edge. Note: deliberate rough look. When hats without wiring get bent they just look silly and frumpy. Did I just.... yeah why not, frumpy. It has a very tame and conservative dark brown leather band around it. It cost around $45 big ones at a local vintage store.

Note: YOU WILL NOT FIND THESE AT GOODWILL
Just won't happen. Really, it won't.

I despise the commercialization and mass production of those putrid fedoras everyone thinks make them instantly SoHo chic. So they buy 'em on Canal and continue up Broadway. Burn them, burn them all.
If you're a mobster or still in the Mafia, fine, wear it. But I don't think you should be reading Men's Fashion Blog's all day. What would the other Mobsters think?

The Moral:

Pharrell wasn't the first. Don't buy a hat you have to take off when walking through a doorway. Try a ton of them on to see what you like. When you buy, buy small business. And if you hate the hat you purchase, maybe you'll at least learn the circumference of your noggin. 

-from the inside of My Father's Closet