Friday 10th
And thus ends hat week children. I do have one more post lined up, but that may take several days to properly complete though. So it’ll be hat week Mtheusday (Meh-thews-day) or something.
But remember loyal fans [and first timers. Hello first timers! Become loyal fans, it's easy] that hat week isn’t just for a week. It’s for life. Well it was actually 16 days, and there’s another one on the way, but I digress….
There doesn’t need to be an occasion to wear a hat, there needn’t be appalling weather (though wear a hat in poor weather) just wear a nice hat for the hell of it. Have a good one, and always tilt to the left.
Oh yeah, go see Monsters vs. Aliens. Watched it in 3D, with 3d glasses that were actually able to fit over my real glasses. And occasionally the 3D is a bit of a gimmick, but it really does help the story along. Enriches the whole experience.
“By Hawking’s chair!”
Hat Week Day 14: The Snood
Soooo we’re really down into the dregs now, because this is the last hat that I own. Well there’s a St. Patrick’s day novelty hat behind the couch and I haven’t addressed the issue of bandannas yet, but if I start that this fortnight long week will never end.
The snood is a strange garment; I own several of them, all of them which I won in my university Pub Quiz. They can be worn in several configurations, two of which I have pictured. It’s actually quite warm when worn face-mask style in the winter, even if you do look a little criminal. It’s cold damn it, and I pull it down when I’m indoors so stop following me security guard. Criminals wear hoodies these days.
Look after the jump for just one of the several hat configurations of the snood.
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Hat Week Day 13: I can’t stop
This is my black beanie hat. It’s the simplest hat I own, and it’s alright in a pinch. The only reason I’m still doing hat week is because I can’t bear to let it go. I wear a hat every day, the only reason I didn’t usually wear them in the daily picture is because I was trying to track me, not me wearing hats. Which is why I decided to do a hat week: me in hats, for the fans you see.
Another hat post tomorrow. And maybe another one the next day. Possibly.
….more than likely.
Edit: I freaked myself out today, I forgot to sign on. The money arriving on Tuesday threw me and signing on completely slipped my mind. Not to worry, I signed on the next day and all was well. It’s a bit fantastic when a rigid system occasionally flexes a little to help you.
Hat Week Hiatus – 2
This post doesn’t relate directly to hats, but if you look back at Hiatus day 1, then you’ll realise something similar is going on in this post.
Taken this morning. For a more recent picture from today look below the jump.
Hat Week Day 12: Special Guest
Hello there Mad Carpenter fans; you’re in for a treat today because you’re meeting my younger sister Stephanie (again) but since this is hat week she’s here to show off her hats.
Clockwise from top left:
1. Black instripe trilby: a fairly recent purchase – Pennys of Letterkenny
2. Black and White Dogtooth trilby: worn in perfectly – Pennys of Letterkenny
3. Blue Engineer’s cap: One of the earliest hats – Can’t remember
4. Black and Red trilby: Found a matching shirt – Pennys of Letterkenny
She’s becoming quite the hat enthusiast. Pennys isn’t a hat shop or anything, it’s just a chain clothing store in Ireland and the UK. So it just goes to show what a little determination and a small budget can get you these days. Just keep your eyes open and you can find some real treasures.
Edit: Stephanie found a nice grey trilby in a charity shop on the morning of the 7th, I’ll get her to email me a picture as soon as possible for inclusion in this article.
My picture after the jump because sadly I’m not wearing a hat today. I’ve run out of hats to take pictures of. Sure I have a beanie or two, but those are necessary hats, not fashion hats. I do have one or two more hat related articles though, then it’s back to regular service.
Hat Week Day 11: Flat Cap
One of the three hats I got for Christmas, courtesy of my brother Eamon. I introduced him in an earlier post in case you want to go back and see me beside him. As a sort of proof… that we’re related.
I prefer to wear it with the top flipped up as it’s slightly tight on my head when the top is clipped down. It’s one of those “One size fits most” sort of things. And if you’ve been reading hat week then you’ll know how I feel about that.
Tune in tomorrow for a special guest and her hats.
Hat Week Day 10: Straw Hat
We’re chugging into April now, meaning that the spring/summer hat season is upon us, and I’ll have to stop wearing my heavy felt, fur and wool hats and start wearing straw. Check out your local Dunnes, Wal-Mart, Marks and Spencer, whatever you’ve got and you’ll notice that they’re selling less beanies and warm hats, and more straw sun hat things. Go on, check. I’ll wait…
Did you check? Welcome to straw hat season. This is my straw hat, it’s a fine wee piece and it’s gotten a fair share of compliments.
Really and truly I fancy a straw gambler hat. But they’re a tad hard to come by over here.
Which reminds me! Some table polishing children:
http://www.themadcarpenter.com/donations/
It is now possible to donate to The Mad Carpenter via paypal, and if you do donate, you can put a link to your website underneath the paypal button. Cash would be very much appreciated to fund my various endeavors, such as Project S, which I’ll let you know about in the coming days.
Hat Week Day 9: Helmet
A minor back story with this one, I got my bike repaired so that I could do more cycling and less relying on people with cars. Got it all done up for 140 euros, then realised I had no bike helmet. After looking around at the selection I found it to be pretty poor, so I took a scobe on eBay and found the following
Snazzy isn’t it? It’s made of durable ABS plastic, it can take a knock or two and it’s much more interesting that the usual fare. I wouldn’t suggest it for motorbike riding, but it does me on my bike.
My White Bicycle
That song is about cocaine. Or some other white powder. Great song.
Edit: Just realised I’m listening to songs from the Vietnam war era, and wearing an American Military Helmet. Nice one Dave
Hat Week Day 8: Top Hat
Today I show you the proverbial crown in my hat collection. The most epic of my hats. The Top Hat.
Isn’t it a bit awesome? A bit really awesome?
So I was in Derry one day, with about 30 minutes to kill between the bus that left me in Derry and the bus that was going to take me the rest of the way home. Made a wander over in the direction of a local fast food joint when I happened upon The Walled City Market, a local market that operates in Derry every couple of months. So I wandered around to see such delights as hand woven baskets, jewelery, fortune telling, and an entire pig on a spit.
See the end of this compelling story after the jump.
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Hat Week Day 7: Beret
My beret, the second of my hat collection. This was the tipping point at which I discovered that I was collecting hats. I got tired of waiting for hats to fall into my lap, so I took it into my own hands, measured my head, went to the army surplus store in Letterkenny and ordered a black military beret. This has also provided the true measurement for my head, as the beret has a great big 61 printed on the inside.
I don’t often wear it, as I tend to think I need hats with brims to make my head look the right size.
Tomorrow – The proverbial crown in my hat collection.
Au revoir capitaine.
Hat Week Day 6: The Outback Hat
Once more unto the breach… Day 6 of hat week.
This is probably my least worn hat of late, it is the dirtiest, it is the lowest quality, it is essentially the worst. But damn it all if I don’t love it. It’s the first real hat I ever bought.
Well that’s not strictly true, there was one other proper hat first. Used to wear it all the time. Unfortunately I only hat it for about 3 months until it got stolen. As such it’s very hard to track down a picture of that hat, so here’s the best I’ve got.
Oh the horrors of youth. And disposable film cameras…. But yes, that was a great hat, it was really inexpensive, and if I saw it again, I’d buy it again.
More info after the jump.
Hat Week Day 5: Tricorner Hat
Hello and welcome to the recommencement (that word is a lot longer than I thought it was) of hat week.
Today we look at probably the strangest hat in my collection: A tri-corner hat. I had fancied one for ages, but the ones that I found online were either too expensive, or they didn’t ship to Ireland, so the interest waned until I purchased a rather shapeless “Fedora hat”. The brim was cowboy wide, but wouldn’t hold a cowboy shape and the band was a thin leather studded number. My brother described it as a “tourist hat”, and although it was a gift for him he took no real interest in it.
After the hat lay around for a few weeks unworn and unloved, I decided to have a crack at making it into a tri-corner hat. That endeavor can be seen here
It’s different, it’s weird, I rarely wear it, but damn it if it’s not a nice hat to stick on while mooching around the garden, or drinking in the sun. More tomorrow.
Hat Week Hiatus: Hat Hair
Hello there and welcome to the hat week hiatus day.
I’d like to take a few moments of your time to talk about hat hair. My hair has been getting steadily longer since the last time I cut it, which was pretty early on this year… or maybe it was last year… I don’t think I’ve cut my hair since I started the blog actually… Getting sidetracked.
Hat hair. It’s apparently one of the reasons that hats are in decline these days, owing to the fact that people are putting much more stock into their hair. Personally I say hat hair be damned, but that’s not going to work for everyone reading this.
It’s pretty simple really: If you’re really worried about hat hair, don’t wear a hat. If you really love hats, your hair isn’t as important as your hats. But there is a crowd of people out there that want to wear hats, but hate hat hair, so for youse: some tips.
1. Buy a light hat. Heavier hats, such as top hats and bowlers, tend to leave a ring around your head where they sit. Buy a straw or canvas hat so the hat is sitting on your hair, not pushing it down.
2. Make sure your hair is dry. If you put a hat on wet hair then it’ll dry in the hat hair position and stay like that all day.
3. Consider a hair cut. Wash your hair, let it dry, put the hat on and talk a walk to your barber or hair stylist. Get them to cut your hair in a style that you like, that’s also hat friendly.
Those are your main tips for today, and doesn’t my hair look good?
I think it does.
Hat Week Day 4: Ushanka
Welcome to day 4 of hat week. Today’s hat is a much more seasonal number, generally a winter hat and very, very snuggly warm on the head. I call it the Mad Russian.
It has ear flaps that can be worn up or down: there’s a little clip that connect them either on the top, as in the picture, or clipped under the chin to keep the wind out. I think you’l agree that it looks a lot more stylish than the usual beanie hats that people wear to keep the cold out, and it’s actually a little less restrictive on the head.
I bought it in Dunnes Stores, an Irish chain store, selling clothes, food, liquor, furniture, home wares… whatever you need really. It was in the impulse buy section near the clothing checkouts, and at 10 euros I couldn’t help but buy it. It was marked “Once size fits all”, and I was wary because generally that means “One size doesn’t fit Dave” but it snugged right on there, and kept my head nice and toasty all winter.
While Dunnes sold them in November of last year, I doubt that they still sell them. Various styles are available at various prices on eBay my favourite of which being the following
So to all those who fancy a big hairy hat, or it’s just a bit chilly where you live, get yourself a trooper hat. The Russians call it an Ushanka.
In case you’re wondering why I’m smiling: yes I am still in pain, and yes Solphadine are awesome.
Hat Week Day 3: Bowler hat
Welcome to day three of hat week, and day one of Dave going on about his injuries. That’s right, this morning I fell while walking down the hill. I twisted my ankle, cut my elbow, there’s some swelling in my knee and my shoulder is absolutely killing me. But enough about that, today’s hat.
Now, this is probably the least favourite of my hats, mainly because it’s not as tall as a derby hat which is what I was expecting when I bought it. However, when I fell today the hard felt of the hat stopped me cracking my head open, so I’m guessing it was a good choice. Lucky. If you want one of these bowlers follow the link. Though I would suggest getting this derby as I think it looks better.
As for my friends on the other side of The Atlantic, head on over to villagehatshop.com for all your hat needs. Some great stuff on there.
…I don’t work for either of these websites by the way, I just like their merchandise.
Hat Week Day 2: Cowboy Hat
Ah hat week. I’ve been putting it off for so very long. I’ve been waiting for a new hat purchase to mark the occasion, but alas, I haven’t been able to get my hands on one. In fact the last hat I got was for Christmas. I say hat, it was 3 hats. Including today’s hat!
Forgive the smirk, but when you put on a hat like this you become John Q. Shitkicker, it’s nigh on impossible to not cop an attitude and feel like you could bounce bullets in a cowboy hat.
It’s the largest one that I could get imported into this country without having to pay massive import fees.
There are lots of articles and things out there about the cowboy hat, and it’s really iconic, especially from an American standpoint, etc etc etc. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to show you my hat, and then to tell you where you can get one. Yes you! The one on the left… no… HEY! Over here jackass! Yeah you, you want a John Q. Shitkicker hat? Then follow these links.
If you are of the American or Canadian persuasion and you want one of these hats go to The Village Hat Shop and buy it. It’s soft felt so it’s a bit crushable, and it has a wire in the brim so you can shape it. Shape gently though, you don’t want to put a corner in the wire, or you’ll never be able to unbend it. It’s unlined, but you know… it’s cheap.
To those of us in the Old World, make your way over to Hats and Caps and buy one. It’s a great way to start off in the world of hats, unless you want to go to yesterday’s post and check out my information on The Fedora Hat.
More hatness tomorrow. Press 91, then wait for my instruction to press 1 again.
Hat Week Day 1: Fedora
Hello there followers, and welcome to Hat Week with The Mad Carpenter. Now, just a note about hat week; it will be longer than a week because I have more than 7 hats. I think I have 11… either way this is act as a sort of inventory of hats and a vehicle to informing you about the different types of hats there are because generally the only hats that are sold in chain shops (Pennys, Dunnes, Wal-Mart) are things like this
Not that there’s anything in particularly wrong with that hat, it’s just that it seems to be the only choice out there aside from those Cadet Caps or Beanies. Don’t even get me started on baseball caps….
Now. The purpose of hat week is to show off my various hats from the practical, to the ridiculous. So let’s start with a classic: The Fedora.
See the picture of the day and my hat theories and advice after the jump.
