Fore & Aft / Deerstalker?

[Bugbear]

I wonder if a fore and aft can be folded in half when not being worn like I could do with my beerstalker. Sometimes it's handy to be able to do that to get it out of the way when you take it off.
That's another problem with the straw hats and so on is they take up too much space when you come in and have to carry it around during shopping and so on...

[Jock Scot]

Yes Ted they can be folded in half----Well most of the better ones can.

[Bugbear]

Thanks Jock, that's a very important feature of a hat or bonnet to me.

[Bugbear]

Thanks ThistleDown, that is most likely what I am thinking of with this. I was asking if it is acceptable to wear that style bonnet because as I stated before it is important to me that I be able to fold up a hat or bonnet and get it out of the way when I take it off.

The reason I have that image in my mind is a bit strange. Over here we have a hot pepper called a habanero. In the Caribbean it's cousin is known as a "Scotch Bonnet." They have a wrinkly texture, and are round-ish. To explain why the chili is called that, a painting or picture of a painting is often shown of a man wearing a kilt and one of these wrinkled looking bonnets, and it is usually a lighter blue color. The chili peppers are normally green though... and about as hot as a pepper can get.

* Yes, I know the ghost pepper from the Far East is ten times hotter. *

*** Ok, I went and looked up the Scotch Bonnet pepper.

Scotch bonnet (pepper) - Wikipedia,

Wikipedia says it looks like a Tam o'shanter, but... I'm not sure exactly what a Tam o'shanter looks like. I'm also not sure that is really what the pepper was named after either.
Would you be able to fold a Tam o'shanter bonnet up without ruining it?

[ThistleDown]

Thanks ThistleDown, that is most likely what I am thinking of with this. I was asking if it is acceptable to wear that style bonnet because as I stated before it is important to me that I be able to fold up a hat or bonnet and get it out of the way when I take it off.

The reason I have that image in my mind is a bit strange. Over here we have a hot pepper called a habanero. In the Caribbean it's cousin is known as a "Scotch Bonnet." They have a wrinkly texture, and are round-ish. To explain why the chili is called that, a painting or picture of a painting is often shown of a man wearing a kilt and one of these wrinkled looking bonnets, and it is usually a lighter blue color. The chili peppers are normally green though... and about as hot as a pepper can get.

* Yes, I know the ghost pepper from the Far East is ten times hotter. *

*** Ok, I went and looked up the Scotch Bonnet pepper.

Scotch bonnet (pepper) - Wikipedia,

Wikipedia says it looks like a Tam o'shanter, but... I'm not sure exactly what a Tam o'shanter looks like. I'm also not sure that is really what the pepper was named after either.
Would you be able to fold a Tam o'shanter bonnet up without ruining it?

Ted, you have such a wonderful way of describing things!

I have a very old wool balmoral-style (my father's, I think) that must have been dark blue but has faded to something like a grey-green-blue (parden my colour-perception) and shrunken on the crown such that I can't wear it today. I wonder if it's not the "wrinkled" you refer to?

No matter. A good balmoral you should be able to fold lengthwise (forehead to tails) and stuff into a big pocket without doing any harm to either the bonnet or the pocket. The Balmoral is an acceptable head wear in the Highlands today (although not often worn).

The tam o'shanter is something else again. Perhaps there are some artisans who still make this head gear -- I don't know. As I understand it, however, it was the lowland form of the Highland bonnet we now know as the Balmoral, but larger and more "floppy". Perhaps somebody who makes them now can fill us in on this? Anyway, it was not known in the Highlands of yore as a "tam" -- and is certainly not worn here as such today.

I'm determined to find that "highland bonnet" I referred to earlier and will post a kink when I do.

[Bugbear]

Thanks ThistleDown. The bonnets I'm looking over are at this link:


The Scottish Tartans Museum's Highland Bonnets & Caps
They offer a Tam o'shanter, and there are "woolen tams" in the "HISTORIC STYLES" section. I'm glad I asked because I would not have known they are not worn with the kilt today, but they sound like something I would have chosen to wear.

They do not seem to offer a deerstalker or fore and aft.

However, it does help to know that a balmoral can be folded. I need a bonnet of some sort to go with my daywear outfit.

[ThistleDown]

Thanks to you, too, Ted. There at the bottom of Matt's website were the bonnets I was referring to. If you need to keep your head warm and dry in North America, I suggest you settle on either a standard Balmoral (with the new XMTS badge, of course) or one of the Britt handmade ones.

[Bugbear]

Sounds good, ThistleDown, thank you for your advice.