Saturday, 30 September 2017

Revenge


Men: Have you noticed how trouser pockets are becoming shallower and shallower? I cannot sit on an ordinary chair now without small change cascading out of my trousers and clattering on the floor. This is how I lost my pocket knife in deepest Wales but miraculously had it returned. Women: You don't use your pockets, so you would not have noticed.

At one point in my never-ending - almost Arthurian - quest for the perfect tweed hat, I called up a very traditional hatters in London to be told by an elderly assistant that they no longer make a particular type of wide-brimmed hat, due to a shortage of Harris Tweed. Maybe they make the brims with the off-cuts from three-piece suits? If so, why are they so expensive?

As the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness ripens on the bough and threatens to fall onto a pile of soggy leaves, shortly - and hopefully - to be covered in a thick layer of snow, the old yearning for the hat returns. You know the one.

Just to get my own back on you (you know who you are) who put up those irritating clips which cannot be turned off by the viewer, I have put up the one above.

I found it when searching for a still of the same hat. I have never seen it before. It could be very useful to send to a hatter, so long as the hatter is sensitive enough to know the difference between this one and all the mediocre, mingy-brimmed, low-crowned, thin-tweeded others.


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43 comments:

  1. New World 30 September 2017 at 04:23

    I use pockets for everything. I too like deep ones. The new fivers are a nightmare, all they want to do is escape like jumping frogs. And now the tenners are the same.

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 04:33

      Fivers and tenners need to be constrained in a wallet. I often get caught out by a squashed washing-up sponge which uncurls itself and crawls off the sink like a caterpillar.

      Delete
    2. New World 30 September 2017 at 04:35

      It has driven me to contactless. No more useless small change.

      Delete
  2. Jacqueline @ HOME30 September 2017 at 04:52

    i want you to find your hat ....you would think that there MUST be someone, somewhere who can make you one.
    I love a pocket but I don’t really keep anything in them ..... i’m sure H.I wouldn’t ruin the line of her lovely clothes by putting anything in her pockets ( unless maybe when she is working.) Maybe, as you have got older, your body shape has changed which has changed the line of your pockets ?!!!!! XXXX

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  3. Jane Karwat30 September 2017 at 05:22

    I am waiting for Weave to swear. You used mellow fruitfulness again. Good luck on your quest for your perfect hat.

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    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 05:43

      I don't that is going to happen unless coming out of general anaesthetic.

      Delete
    2. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 05:44

      Oh wait - she just has, sort of.

      Delete
  4. The Weaver of Grass30 September 2017 at 05:23

    Never mind the hat - there's that quote again. Are you deliberately trying to annoy me???

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  5. The Weaver of Grass30 September 2017 at 05:25

    Here you are then Jane - Sod the mellow fruitfulness. (that is about the extent of my swearing - I think there is enough language without adding the f word although I am thinking it!

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  6. Cro Magnon30 September 2017 at 05:36

    I did once own a brown Harris Tweed 'flat cap' that was just perfect for me. I stupidly lent it to a very pretty Parisian girl (who fluttered her eyes at me), and never saw my lovely hat again. I still miss it 40 years later!

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 05:45

      I've never wanted a flat cap. Anyway, I am sure she has grown out of it now.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous30 September 2017 at 05:42

    There used to be a milliner in Lyme Regis. As for pockets, perhaps you could take up sewing and add them yourself.

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 05:46

      I am thinking about making the hat myself - seriously.

      Delete
  8. Jennifer30 September 2017 at 05:52

    There goes that damn quote again! I'm glad it's almost October!

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    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 06:25

      Soon 'twill be the season of holly and mistletoe.

      Delete
  9. donna baker30 September 2017 at 06:35

    I thought I had found your hat for you once and when I picked it up, it was hard. I thought no, it wouldn't do. They must have dipped it in glue.

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    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 06:43

      Oh! What a strange thing to do. Thanks for thinking of me.

      Delete
  10. Joanne Noragon30 September 2017 at 07:04

    I try to keep out of your esoteric discussions, but...
    You had a had made once. You thought it would be perfect, but it was a regular fedora, made of tweed, and we never saw it again.
    Harris tweed is generally a twill, like your jeans. Stiff, not supple. The fabric in the sketch is plain weave, and it looks close to the openness of burlap. The hat probably has a thin lining to hold its "unstructured' look. It's not Harris tweed. Find it and you have reached Nirvana.
    Over and out.

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 07:36

      Thanks for that information Joanne. The hat I had made was just not quite right - more Robin Hood than Basil. I think that the material could be varying kinds in the same style and give a good effect.

      Delete
  11. John Going Gently30 September 2017 at 07:30

    Is that a dreaded GIF ?

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  12. LaurelB30 September 2017 at 08:10

    Tilley TW2 an excellent wool, wide brimmed attractive hat, made in Canada. I'm sure they are available everywhere. DH has one and it looks great.

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    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 13:19

      I can spot a Tilley hat from half a mile. They are ok but NOT what I am looking for. Too Canadian. Believe me I am an expert.

      Delete
    2. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 13:51

      I thought that the Sydney Opera house was a Tilley hat for a minute!

      Delete
    3. Vivian30 September 2017 at 15:50

      OMG, that is the funniest thing. What is "too Canadian"? In America, it means that you apologize too much.

      Delete
    4. Tom Stephenson1 October 2017 at 03:53

      And say "Eh?" at the end of every sentence?

      Delete
    5. LaurelB1 October 2017 at 17:31

      Google the TW2, eh. Not your average Canuck Tilley.

      Delete
    6. Tom Stephenson2 October 2017 at 02:13

      Yes, thanks Laurel. I do know this hat. It is almost right, but not quite (I am very fussy). The thing about Tilley's is that - although they are very good-looking - they are a bit too rakish and stiff for me. What I like about the above hat is that it looks a bit mis-shapen and casual - just a bit more generous in spirit.

      Delete
  13. Shawn30 September 2017 at 08:11

    When we visited Scotland in the 80's, my husband I bought Harris tweed hats. They had a rounded crown and a brim that was the same width all around. But you want one that has a front and a back, right?

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson30 September 2017 at 13:22

      Well I don't want half a hat, but I don't want a fore and aft either.

      Delete
  14. elegancemaison30 September 2017 at 15:24

    Have you tried Snooks the hatters in Bridport? http://snooksthehatters.co.uk/

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  15. elegancemaison30 September 2017 at 15:29

    And more - pockets!! 'Pockets'which contain necessities (not just a hankie) were originally separate from clothing and eventually became handbags for women. Men's clothing seems to exist in the twilight zone between trouser pockets and 'manbags'.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Shawn1 October 2017 at 13:14

    Thank god they did.

    ReplyDelete

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