Hats?

**Derek Conley** · 27th October 08, 08:33 AM

Excellent advice and it most certainly makes sense. Thank you!

**csbdr** · 27th October 08, 10:34 AM

i wear a tweed flat cap alot with a kilt, in an appropriately matching color. Mainly because, try as I may, I think Balmorals and tams look absolutely ridiculous ON ME. You fellows seem to wear them well! I ordered a TOS from What Price Glory recently and after Halloween, you'll probably see it up for sale here. My wife just gives me the "you're kidding, right?" look when I've put it on. Bad sign! Chris

**Jock Scot** · 27th October 08, 10:49 AM

If you can wear the kilt, sure as night follows day you can wear a balmoral! Give it a real try!You won't feel so bad after a while, its bound to look far better than any tweed cap or ToS, when you are wearing the kilt---------honestly it will.

**macwilkin** · 27th October 08, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

If you can wear the kilt, sure as night follows day you can wear a balmoral! Give it a real try!You won't feel so bad after a while---------honest!

Well said, Jock.

T.

**Woodsheal** · 27th October 08, 03:31 PM

I admit to often wearing my brown tweed "newsboy" cap with my kilts. I dearly love the thing! Mine is Irish-made from these folks:
http://www.hannahats.com/caps-page-0-5906.html

Honest opinions; does it look stupid?

**gilmore** · 27th October 08, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

For some reason,that I don't know, flat caps have not been worn with the kilt in Scotland, since about 1914.There is plenty of photographic evidence of tweed caps being worn with the kilt before then. It is now never seen as kilt attire here. Usually we go bare headed when wearing the kilt, the occasional balmoral is seen and apart from pipe bands, members of the tartan army and visitors, the glengarry is almost never seen as civilian wear,nor is,I am glad to say, the John Deere type hat. If the weather is too bad most kilt wearers(rare anyway)will wear a "fore and aft".

I have always heard that here in the U.S. flat caps went out of style because they became associated with being worn by criminals and other unsavory folk in the 1930's and '40's or so.

I would like to wear a balmoral (or even a glengarry) more often, but once again a problem we have is that clothing that evolved for Scotland's climate isn't always so good elsewhere in the world.

I have had one skin cancer already, and my dermotologist strongly encourages me to wear both sun screen and a hat that shades the face and neck, if I must go out in the sun, in order to avoid others. I have read that in Australia and the US and other sunny places settled by Europeans the incidence of skin cancer is on the rise. Most of them aren't too serious, especially if treated in time, but melanoma can be fatal.

I have taken to wearing a fairly wide-brimmed Panama straw hat outdoors with a kilt, the kind that was worn with a suit in the South until a couple of decades ago, something like these http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...h+Images&gbv=2 It's cool, well-ventilated, and gives some shade. It might not be entirely correct or consistent, but I don't think risking cancer is sufficient reason to be excrutiatingly fashionable..

**BoldHighlander** · 27th October 08, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by gilmore

I have always heard that here in the U.S. flat caps went out of style because they became associated with being worn by criminals and other unsavory folk in the 1930's and '40's or so.

That maybe, but there seems to have been a resurgence of the flat cap, at least around here. You can't swing the proverbial dead cat without striking someone sporting one (& it's not just the local college crowd wearing them either). Toss in the occasional (& around here rare) 8-panel newsboy, like my own

I know they are very popular with my friends in the greaser-rockabilly scene in California & across the country.

**BoldHighlander** · 27th October 08, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by Woodsheal

I admit to often wearing my brown tweed "newsboy" cap with my kilts. I dearly love the thing! Mine is Irish-made from these folks:
http://www.hannahats.com/caps-page-0-5906.html

Honest opinions; does it look stupid?

I like it Brian, but then since I'm a fan of that style of cap I might be the wrong chap to ask

**Derek Conley** · 27th October 08, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Woodsheal

Honest opinions; does it look stupid?

I think it looks great.

**Jock Scot** · 28th October 08, 03:14 AM

Gilmore, I think that any Scot would adapt their headwear to the conditions they find themselves in ,particularly as we are all wiser than we used to be about the cancer risks. I have always thought that,with the kilt, a Panama would be just the ticket for hot climes, or, of course a topee, such as Jamie wears. I have to say that to my Scots eyes, a flat cap worn with the kilt looks worse than awful, I do, however, wear one on nearly every occasion when not wearing the kilt.