Cowboy hats are one of the symbolic products of the American culture and western way of dressing that should be fitting. The process of finding the right one has little to do with simply picking up a nice design out of the shelf. Before purchasing a cowboy hat, you must be aware of the way it is supposed to fit. The hat is also a good fit and will keep on your head even when you are on a windy ride and also it is comfortable to wear the entire day. It fits your face in an ideal way and increases your confidence regarding your western wear. A hat that is not fitted properly also gives one terrible headaches and blows away at the most inappropriate time. This is a complete guide to the necessary information of the perfect fit. We do all the things that involve measuring you head to the right size as well as breaking in the hardest felt materials. Now get your soft measuring tape and we will take a deep plunge to the precise specifications of the cowboy hat sizes so that you can ride and work very comfortably.
How to know Your Own Hat Size and Shape.
The process of getting to the ideal fit starts by having the precise information of how much your head is since you cannot just make assumptions of what size you are and hope that you will get good outcomes. Take a soft measuring tape which is flexible and put it round your head somewhere on the middle of the forehead. Hold the measuring tape on your ears about one or two fingers above since this is the exact place that the sweatband of the hat will be resting. Measurement in inches or centimeters and simply compare this to a standard manufacturer sizing chart. Note that, various American brands of hats usually use slightly different sizing measures and thus it is important to check the brand chart. You have your own shape of head, which is as significant as your numerical size of head in quest of utmost comfort. Majority of the people are categorized into three very different classes such as regular oval and long oval and round oval. A long oval head requires a hat, which fits longer in the front to the back without being pinched. Most of the round oval ones need side to side more width to avoid pinching of temples. Putting on the hat that is a mismatch with the shape of your head results in instant headaches that spoil your day. The hat may be far too high on your head, or leave great gaps of it unsightly on the sides. Most of the leading western wear shops in the USA have a special tool known as a conformateur to help in the measurement of the precise head shape. This outdated machine is a good physical guiding line of your head to the hatmaker. This is a fine template which is used by the professions in steaming and shaping the brim and crown in accordance to your personal lines. Spending time to know your number size and your physical form will not make you suffer in the future and spend money in vain.
The Two Finger Rule of Cowboy hats.
Most of the rodeo professionals and hat makers who have been in the field for a long time attest to the old two finger principle when deciding on how a cowboy hat should fit. You need to wear the hat squarely on your head and make sure that there is no physical distance between your eyebrows and the bottom brim. You will find that you can, as a rule, squeeze just two fingers into the vacant place above your brow. This particular positioning makes the hat low enough so that it does not interfere with your forward vision as well as being secure. The hat is supposed to have your head firmly but softly around all the inside leather sweatband. You would like it tight and comfortable enough to ensure that the hat does not slide every time you twist your head. Take a quick and vigorous shake of the head on the side and up and down to ensure that it is secure. The hat should not slip down your forehead, or tilt backwards off your top. The inner sweatband is the final layer of the fit and it should be paid much attention. It is supposed to come into complete constant contact with your skin or hair that is on the full periphery of your head. In case you can easily slide a finger in between the leather sweatband and your head then the hat is way too loose. A loose hat is just like having a kite in a gale and has to be kept in constant exasperating adjustment. An excellent and fit fit will provide you with the unquestionable certainty to enjoy riding horses or working at the ranch or line dance without always holding on to your brim.
Identifying Red Flags of a Person-Organization Fit.
An exciting purchase of the western is soon turned into a very painful experience by wearing a hat that fits badly. The most conspicuous and usual token of a tight hat is a red line that throbs – running right across your forehead. The result of this severe pressure is frequent headaches of high tension following only an hour of constant use. When you find you are getting sharp jabs on the sides of your temples, or the back of your head you definitely need another size or shape. A hat which fits too high on your head is clumsy, and blown away in a slight breeze. This is a high seat posture which typically implies that the interior crown shape has no resemblance to your natural head shape. On the other hand a hat that gulp your ears, and sits on your ear cartilage, is just not fit in you. You may not be forced to bring your ears down, or put them under the sweatband just to wear a hat. There are gap spaces on the sides of your head which means that there is a severe mismatch between the lines of the oval shape. Small holes can be fixed sometimes with special weather stripping or foam sizing tape which is put in behind the sweatband carefully. Nevertheless, using thick layers of the foam to secure a hat on your head, is a sure sign that you have purchased the wrong size altogether. You have to be keen on the feel of the hat when you first put it on since the slightest inconvenience would only grow in size and severity as time goes by.
The effects of Hat Materials on the Fit.
The particular content of your cowboy hat becomes a monument in the way it fits in the beginning and how it becomes with age. The best flexibility in the custom fit hats is felt hats which are made of high quality beaver fur or rabbit fur or wool. High grade beaver hat is soft and fits your head perfectly with time and is decades long lasting. It responds extraordinarily to heat and humidity that is applied to it thus making it very customizable to professional hat shapers. You can easily have a hat shaper who is a skilled person to steam a felt hat to remove the annoying pressure spots and make it fit your particular shape of head perfectly well. Wool fabric is much cheaper and also it has a tendency to shrink when subjected to heavy rainfall and due drying heat. The straw hats are the absolute option of hot summer months but they do not act at all like felt hats. Naturally, straw is stiff and far less giving as it comes out of the box. A tightly woven crown of straw can hardly be stretched or changed of shape without being severely damaged to the natural fibre. It is paramount to have the perfect fit and make purchases of straw hats even in the first place. Authentic leather cowboy hats are natural and can be worn as they stretch with time absorbing your sweat and body heat. They are rather hard at first, but gradually become soft and assume a habitual shape of your very head. Remember also that leather is also shrinky when it is left baking on the dashboard of your hot pickup truck. The nature of these various materials is known, which makes you know precisely how there will be a change in the fit. The retailer should always be asked what certain qualities of the particular hat that you are purchasing are stretching and shrinking.
Dressing Your Brand New Cowboy Hat.
Even a hat of the perfect size needs some period of preliminary break in to be in the position of giving the greatest comfort each day. The internal sweatband requires sufficient time to loosen and mold itself to the individual personal brow line. The most natural and the best method of wearing the hat is by wearing it frequently. Begin by putting it on around the house by spending an hour or two at a time in the course of doing light chores. The gradual way this is done is to allow the ambient heat and the moisture vapour of your head to shape the stiff leather sweatband. Do not make the attempt to hasten the process by dipping the hat in water or putting it in a hot stove. Too much artificial heat kills the adhesives within it and permanently causes irreversible contraction which makes the hat useless. In case you are stuck in a tight position that cannot be moved a simple wooden hat jack can be used. A hat jack is a classical stretching tool that puts a rather mild pressure of outward force to the sweatband to increase the sizing somewhat. Take the jack and squeeze it till it fits in a good way and leave it overnight. Under no circumstances should too much steam be used to soften the area of the tightness as it will only succeed in softening the wooden stretcher. You should also take care of your hat when you are not in active use by storing it in place so that you do not ruin your investment. To keep it in that exquisitely designed shape and in a particular fit rest it completely upside down on the crown and not flat on the brim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible to make a too big hat of cowboy hat smaller? It is possible to reduce the size of the wool or felt hat technically with the help of concentrated steam and heat but the end effect is extremely unpredictable. The safer and much more certain remedy of a loose hat is the addition of some special foam sizing tape, directly behind the inner sweatband. Is my hair length a determining factor of the size of my hat? Yes a new short cut hair-do makes quite a tangible difference in fitting your hat to your head. You always have to measure your head then purchase your hat at the exact length that you wear every day. Is it that the hat should get on my ears? No it should be positioned at the point of approximately one to two fingers above the top of your ears so that the sweatband will not rub and chafed when you are working long days. But I would know whether my hat is too small or not. In case you have suddenly the tension headaches or you have found a deep red mark on the forehead after wearing the hat a short period of time it is certainly too tight and needs immediate stretching or change.
Final Thought
The discovery of the correct way a cowboy hat should fit makes the whole experience of wearing the classic western wear much different. The hat that fits around your head perfectly looks much better, and it is so natural throughout the day. Always have time and determine your own oval shape before purchasing because there are different sizes of the oval that suit individuals. Never have a hat that pinches your forehead, or slips down in the aggression of which to your eyebrows. All possible, collaborate with professional hat shapers, so that you can adjust the perfect fit of your costly felt hats. Your hat should be treated with a lot of respect and it will one day turn out to be an extension of your own personal style, which fits perfectly.
