Headwear for a cold evening formal event

[Liam]

Perhaps it's the camera angle, or, my eye-sight I don't know, but your Fore and Aft picture looks to me more like a ""bucket style " hat. What I don't see, at even a third and forth glance, is the protruding "fore" and aft " bits-----well alright we can't see the back!------- and the "crown" (where the head goes) looks almost flat, at the Sumit, as opposed to the usual rounded dome. I am not trying to be pedantic here but I have to be honest, your picture of your fore and aft could be more than a tad misleading to those who don't know.

Just saying.

It must be the straight on camera angle. I searched my photos and they are all straight on. I wil post a picture of it the next time I have an opportunity to wear it.
😉

[OC Richard]

A while back, at Jock's suggestion, I got one of those "fore and aft" hats.

For our California sun (a couple days ago it was 87f and blazing sun though approaching the middle of December) I found that it just isn't sufficient. Getting sunburned ears or sides of the neck isn't acceptable.

Thus I, like so many other people here, wear all-around brimmed hats when attending Highland Games.

Bottom centre and right don't work here. Neither do ones with narrow brims.

[Jock Scot]

Oh quite right, the fore and aft does not work well even in Scotland, sometimes. In bright sun, which does catch out even the locals at times, I reach for my Panama which deals with those situations perfectly. However, a Panama does not deal with the normal weather conditions found in Scotland and a balmoral or, more likely, a fore and aft copes with our mixed weather pretty well. There is no one fix, in hat terms, that deals with all weather situations in Scotland or, in my experience many other parts of the world either. Although the Aussie "slouch hat" does in my experience, has done a pretty good job of being a "Jack of all trades", in the hat department in that part of the World.

[Pleater]

Over the years I have seen the Tilley hat or close approximations become a normal addition to the kilt. Our weather down on the south coast of England seems to be becoming far more ferocious, so a broad brimmed unsinkable hat with a double chin strap is a good safe bet almost any week of the year and any time of day.

The Cornish lads used to favour broad brimmed leather hats with their names embossed into the band, but they seem to have almost vanished from the scene - perhaps the maker has gone out of business.

I used to see a few women in kilts, but then girls began to wear ridiculously short tartan skirts and now a days kilts are about a 99% male garment.

Anne the Pleater

[MacKenzie]

Now Anne, there's nothing at all wrong with girls in ridiculously short tartan skirts.

[RGM1]

Surely you don't wear a hat indoors?-------------------

---------Jock now dives for cover!

Not usually, however, there are exceptions such as when as a Commissioner to a Jewish troop, I visit their facility. Bonnet would be bad choice. I would melt.

[Jock Scot]

Not usually, however, there are exceptions such as when as a Commissioner to a Jewish troop, I visit their facility. Bonnet would be bad choice. I would melt.

A fair point, but, with the greatest of respect, I was talking about Scottish civilian kilt attire. Not religious regalia.

[RGM1]

Not being religious, just respectful of their custom.

[geomick]

They have some stock Balmorals which are less expensive than ones made to order. If they have my size in stock, I'll pick from those and probably order a bottle green diced (like the link above leads to) at some point in the future.

They offered 4 in stock options in size 59. I selected the bottle green with diced band (like what was linked in an earlier post). The price was 85 pounds, plus the postage and packing costs. I am having them wait until after New Year's to ship it (trying to minimize the likelihood of postal errors in transit). So I should have it mid-January.

[Jock Scot]

Not being religious, just respectful of their custom.

I am not religious either. To be honest, I could not even consider doing that. However, I respect your choice.