cowboy hat etiquette (San Antonio, Fort Bliss, Panhandle: hotels, living, restaurant)

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by TexasGirl@Heart

A song about touching a cowboy's hat....


YouTube - Chris LeDoux-This Cowboy's Hat

God rest his soul. Country music lost a potential legend when he died.

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

God rest his soul. Country music lost a potential legend when he died.

Yes Sir--not a finer truth was ever spoken!!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Here is the (well endangered, rapidly fading) California tradition.

Felt from say, November until March or April, straw the rest of the year.

Also generally, for dress up, felt, for manual outdoor work, straw.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Jezer

Here I was in Marfa lock, loaded and shootin at the Giant anniversary in Marfa, with my Texas Resistol. Shame I'm not Texan!

I've got one just like that.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by catman

Jezer: "Ro-DAY-o" is ersatz Spanish. My uncle was a rodeo competitor (calf roping) and always pronounced it the other way. He owned a big Western store (Ryon's Saddle and Ranch Supply) on the north side of Ft Worth.

Ro-dee-o.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by .45acp

I dunno where all this 'turqoise' stuff came from...

Richard Petty.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Ro-dee-o.

With the emphasis on the RO and not the DEE.

[bman15470]

thas interesting stuff about the hat but I am now cuiouse about jeans. Are 501s acceptable in No Texas or do you wear wranglers? or both?

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by bman15470

thas interesting stuff about the hat but I am now cuiouse about jeans. Are 501s acceptable in No Texas or do you wear wranglers? or both?

I wear Wrangler Cowboy Cut but I don't have a problem with 501s.

I strongly dislike the jeans that people buy that are black or have tears in them already when you buy them. Why people would pay money for clothing that has been intentionally damaged is beyond me.

[EtiquetteBear]

Originally Posted by NOTAM

question about cowboy hats.........i am from North Texas, where there were strict rules about wearing cowboy hats-no straw hats between Easter and Labor Day...you wore felt...now mind you, i was married to a true blue rodeo cowboy and most of my circle of friends were rodeo/rancher/cowboy types and i dont ever recall seeing straw hats outside of those months.
now here in Central Texas, i see straw hats year round. i was so brainwashed to adhere to that "cowboy hat etiquette" that i would not wear my straw even on warm days here but lately, but broke down since it has been too hot and finally decided to switch out my felt and camo hats for my straw since it seems that it's acceptable.
so yall........anyone know the true answer to this? or is it a regional thing?

This is a regional issue as well as a “tradition” versus more modern etiquette question.
There are no hard and fast seasonal rules as to when a felt must be worn vice a straw. However, there are hard and fast rules as to when a gentleman wears any given hat.
You should choose your hat based upon local custom, the formality of the event, the color, and (lastly) your own personal comfort. Note that your comfort comes last… if all we were concerned about was being comfortable, then all of us would arrive at weddings for foreign dignitaries in our BVDs and a couple of full flasks of whiskey.
The “traditional” rule is that a gentleman wears straw only from mid-May to mid-September. However, it is imperative that the gentleman dresses at least as well as, if not better, than the company he keeps. Thus, if you are arriving for a June wedding (something other than the latest broadcast on “My Big Redneck Wedding,” that involves the lucky couple getting hitched in a duck blind), wearing a straw would be a big mistake. During the “warmer months” a gentleman wears a light-colored felt for an event that warrants something other than cleaning fish and drinking beer with his buddies. For weddings, please wear a silver, light tan, grey, or other similarly colored felt. Likewise, if it’s colder outside, wear a charcoal, dark brown or black felt. Avoid white felt unless you have the suit to go with it (and that does not mean all-white, it just means something that “goes” with the white hat). White hats stand out and are “symbolic” and it’s best to avoid them. They simply are too hard to dress.
Now, what’s the cardinal rule of whether or not you should wear a straw? Well, my rule is if that I can wear a sleeveless t-shirt, or a tank-top, shorts, flip-flops, or hiking boots, there’s not a single reason I can’t wear my straw. If I have to have clean boots (leather cowboy), anything that takes a bolo tie, anything that involves a Western suit, or anything where there will be any kind of “ceremony,” (and that doesn’t include our drunken host opening a new bottle of Jack), then a felt is required. Period -Regardless of time of year.
Finally, remember the rules of wearing ANY kind of hat. When to touch it, when to tip it, when to do a full-off raise of your hat, etc. A cowboy is first and foremost a gentleman, and regardless of how good you look, if you disgrace men in general, and cowboys in particular, by not showing the proper etiquette, then you probably should not be wearing a cowboy hat in the first place.