All You Need To Know About Your Cowboy Hat – Part 1

When you drive from other states to Texas, you will see a lot of cowboys- people wearing traditional boots, a pair of washed Jeans and a cowboy hat. This image is so typical that not only people living in the USA but people all around the world know that this represent the Texas Western cultural heritage.

A cowboy hat is not just a simple headwear, it also represent a part of the American culture, tradition and heritage. It is also one of the most traditional has that a man should have in his wardrobe. If you like cowboy hat or consider wearing one, this article will introduce you to the most interesting information about this type of hat and some things you should know about this iconic headwear.

The brief history of cowboy hat:

If you have ever searched for a cowboy hat, you might have heard about Stetson hat. This is the hat maker that commercialized cowboy hat and brought the image of the modern cowboy hat as we know today. The company was founded by John Stetson back in the 19^th century.

Back in those days, these cowboy hats were regarded as a status symbol since they were quite expensive. They were not only worn in Texas but also all over the state. However, they were more popular in Texas thanks to the prominence of ranching.

Cowboy hats are still super popular today. You can choose from different materials such as palm leaf, straw or fur- in some cases, leather. You can also choose from different shapes of crown or brim, which I will mention later on.

Along with thousands of hat band and colors, the choice of cowboy hat for you is limitless.

Let’s warm up by some interesting facts that you might not know about cowboy hats:

• When someone mentions cowboy hats, many people might automatically link it with Western world, more specifically Texas. Do you know that there are more cowboy hats in Texas than the number of people who are currently living in there? The fact might not seem outrage at all as Texas people tend to own more than one hat. I have met some people who own more than 10 hats. They even form their own cowboy hat collection with different models and editions, just like what other people have with their own watch collections.
• Cowboy hat is part of the Texas’s culture and social norms. People often ask other people about their hats, like what the brand of the cowboy hat is and where you get it from. In Texas, you might here people asking “Where did you get that hat?” more often than many other greetings.
• Last but not least, legislators want to name Cowboy hat as the official headwear of Texas.

Can you name different parts of a cowboy hat?

A cowboy hat has no different parts than a traditional fedora hat or a bowler hat. It has 3 outer parts including crown, brim and hat band. Turn the hat around and you will see the sweat band as well as the inner lining. You can see in all of the cowboy hats that there are several stitched lines on the bottom of the crown. These lines are there when hat makers attached the sweatband onto the inner part of a cowboy hat.

Different characteristics of these parts will make one cowboy hat different from the other.

Style Of A Cowboy Hat?

As I mention above, there are numerous shapes of the crease, the crowns and shapes which help to determine different styles of a hat.

Here are some of the most popular shapes of the crease, the top part of the crown:

1. The Montana Crease

It is worth noting that back in the old, different regions own a unique style of cowboy hats. The Montana crease was first seen in Montana and was worn by cowboy living in this place. That is the reason why it gets its name. The Montana crease is also known as the Gus.

The Montana crease with a high crown is effective in term of circulating warm air inside the hat. So people can wear this hat when it is getting colder outside.

2. The Cattlemen Crease

This is probably the most famous crease of the cowboy hat you can see on the market nowadays. Originally, a cowboy hat with such a crease was worn by cattlemen who tended to have a lot of money and high social status. There are 3 variation of the cattlemen crease- the low one, the wide one or the normal one.

This style of cowboy hat is most suitable for a man with a wide and square face. This is a traditional crease but still has a lot of popularity nowadays.

3. The Pinch Front Crease

This style of crease is preferred by more women than men. With the teardrop crease, it can help to make the jaw line look narrower and the face look thinner.

While the pinch front crease was mostly worn by women and the cattleman style was mostly worn by men, nowadays, both genders can find and enjoy cowboy hats from these creases.

4. The Telescope Crease

This crease is probably the most functional crease with a round and flat shape of the crown. With such as crease, it would allow the brim to cover most of your face. In addition, the low crown prevents shot air from growing inside but still ensures the good air ventilation to keep your head cool all of the time.

It was originally brought by Mexican cowboys when they came to Nevada. Nowadays, many people know about this style as the Gambler’s hat.

5. The Tom Mix

Tom Mix is a famous actor in many cowboy movies. He liked carrying this style of hat around and even worn in his movies. When this style was getting more and more popular, people started to call this hat with his name. This style of crease is a bigger and slightly modified version of the Montana crease. And if you have heard about the famous Ten Gallon hat, you should know that this term is used to refer to this style of hat.

While these 5 creases I mention above are the most popular and traditional styles that you can see in a cowboy hat, the types of crown designs are being developed and created more and more over time. There are some other styles of crown including Stockman, Quarterhorse and 007 Minnick, to name just a few.

Besides different styles of creases, you also have different choices for the shapes of the brim.

This image above just mentions some of the most popular shapes of crowns and brims you might have with your cowboy hat. You can leave your brim flat or curve a little bit. Some of the cowboy hat styles have brims that are curved on sides only such as George You can also go for a fully curved brim in style of the Taco and retro.

It is worth mentioning that the front of the brim can shape into different shape as well including round, square and pointed, which you can see in the image above as well.

Do you know that you can customize your own cowboy hat? When you buy a cowboy hat, the seller might ask if you want to leave the hat that way or change it to the style you want. They can shape or reshape the brim, the front and the back bends of the hat for you by steaming or reshaping the inner wire of the hat. You can also reshape your cowboy hat at home as well. Whether you want to brim to curve more or less, steaming or bending can help you meet your requirement.

If you ever come across a site selling cowboy hats, you will be overwhelmed with a huge number of options you might have for such a hat. They vary in material, shapes of the brim or the crown, colors and sizes. Not to mention that you also have thousands of hat bands to choose from. So for me, a cowboy hat is very personal and unique. Although a hat maker might sell thousands of the same hats, with different style or touch of modification, there are no two cowboy hats that look exactly the same. No one can deny the fact that cowboy hat is not only about a part of the American heritage. It is also about individual and personal thing that would not be taken away from any cowboy.

I hope that the article could be able to answer some of your basic questions about the origin of cowboy hats, their parts and different styles available on the market. In case you like to know more about cowboy hats, how to choose the right one or how to maintain the hat at the best condition, check back our site for more articles to come.

By Mike | Published: June 15, 2017