The hat I put on most when it’s chilly is the PS Watch Cap – I’ve 4 and put on them continuously in the course of the winter, given my lack of hair means I at all times want one thing on prime.
However when it’s slightly moist I additionally recurrently put on a suede flat cap, as a result of the height supplies higher shelter for the face, and since the fabric is extra strong than cashmere. I nonetheless often put on a brimmed hat like my fedora from Optimo, however that’s a selected search for me, reasonably than an on a regular basis one.
These suede caps I put on have popped up recurrently on PS through the years – they had been from Lock & Co, the Tremelo mannequin. I wore it with the Bridge Coat after we first launched it, and likewise with the navy Donegal coat when we shot that in Oxford.
However a few years in the past Lock stopped doing the Tremelo in my favorite dark-brown suede, and so I assumed it was alternative to do what we’ve so typically achieved through the years – grow to be a retailer of the product ourselves with a view to make it out there once more.
That is the brand new hat we’re placing on the store at present. It’s the identical mannequin, fashion and sizing as Lock’s Tremelo, simply in essentially the most versatile materials for me – a extremely dark-brown suede.
Why do I discover it versatile? As a result of tweed variations are slightly tougher to put on – they arrive with extra baggage, whether or not it’s Final of the Summer time Wine or Peaky Blinders. I’ve a pleasant one in Fox charcoal wool – most likely the best tweed one to put on – and it’s nonetheless not easy. Suede is extra deliberate, a acutely aware alternative away from that conventional workman’s staple.
Tweed additionally absorbs rain extra and may get slightly soggy, so I discover suede higher. To be clear, I’m not carrying the suede when it’s raining onerous, as I may put on fedora; it’s often when there’s the specter of rain, or maybe I’ve an umbrella too: in the identical manner as I’d put on a waterproof coat.
Type sensible, my favorite factor to put on the cap with is a tailor-made overcoat, as proven above. That is my double-breasted overcoat from B&Tailor, and I feel the cap seems explicit sharp with tailor-made coats like this – prefer it’s sheltering the face in the identical manner the collar is sheltering the neck.
I put on the cap with my tweed Liverano coat too, however not likely with a tweed jacket. Under are a number of photographs of me carrying my caps through the years, so you possibly can see them with completely different coats. The tobacco suede can also be cool, however I discover the brown extra versatile so we determined to supply that color first.
The opposite factor I like about flat caps is that they will have a really completely different fashion relying on how they’re worn, so I requested photographer Milad Abedi to take a number of photographs in the best way he would put on his (under).
He’s gone for a coat in the identical manner as me, however a extra relaxed, barely outsized raglan, and extra considerably, likes carrying it backwards in addition to forwards.
One thing Milad and I each have in widespread, in fact, is that we each have beards. However I feel a flat cap is sort of versatile with completely different face and head shapes – like most hats it is only a query of proportions, whether or not bearded or not.
The caps are available in 4 sizes: 56, 58, 60 and 62cm, roughly equal to a small, medium, giant and additional giant. In inches that’s 6⅞, 7⅛, 7⅜ and 7⅝. The height is six inches.
I’ve a pretty big head and put on a dimension 60, a big. In brimmed hats I’m often a 59 or 60, and in different hats which are sized I’d often be a big. Milad is identical. The caps do stretch slightly bit over time if they should, I’d say by at the least a centimetre – however provided that they’re tight and should.
The cap is supposed to sit down midway down the again of the pinnacle, and the height be simply above the extent of the eyebrows on the entrance. However similar to a felt hat, there’s a truthful quantity of fashion in the way you put on it – flat brimmed or extra curved, stage or at an angle. Personally I like quite a lot of curve (like my baseball caps) however set stage. Milad prefers extra of an angle.
When it comes to care, the suede doesn’t essentially want a waterproofing spray, however when you’re prone to put on it within the rain loads, it’s a good suggestion.
Like all suede, it advantages from being brushed often, to take away grime and convey up the nap. That’s significantly helpful when the hat has been rained on. When moist, don’t place the cap on a radiator or one other warmth supply, as that might make it shrink. If the hat does shrink, a hat jack is efficient at stretching it.
The suede cap is out there now on the PS Store. If anybody has any questions – on this cover or on caps on the whole, please do let me know.
Under, some extra previous photographs of me in mine. Pleased to hyperlink to any of these articles if individuals would love.
