After grazing on today’s infographic I immediately googled the latest western I’d seen, True Grit, to compare the hat styles used. It seems like The Dude sports the old Montana Crease and his stubborn side-kick wears the un-touched Open Crown.
I didn’t really know that hat folding or creasing was a big thing. I didn’t even know cowboy hats could be creased. I’ve only seen the different folds and thought it had always been that way. Back in the heyday of the cowboy, the way the hat was creased said a lot about the person wearing it. You could take one look at a man’s hat, know he was a cattle-wrangler, was raised in Arkansas and the type of whiskey he drank. Well maybe not the last one, but many regions had their own custom way they would fold or crease their hat. Different races, occupations and sexes could also have a custom crease.
Cowboy hats were a treasure to the cowboys because the sun is miserable. I think we can all agree with that after this summer. That big star that our planet rotates literally burns eyes and skin. Having a way to fold a hat that can take the bite off will always be welcome.