This morning, it popped into my head that I wanted to know the history of the Flat Cap. It sounded like a job for my favorite story teller and fact enthusiast, so I fired him a text. Apparently my text was a bit ambiguous, as he then told me the tale of how he became a Flat Cap wearer. Complete with picture illustrations – normally camera shy I don’t think I have ever seen so many pictures of Ben! It seems to me like an excellent tale for a blog, so here goes. A short history of the many hats of Ben.
Ben claims his first experience of a Flat Cap was at around the age of 15 in the Aberdeen M&S. He tried it on for a laugh, and it turned out not to be any more ridiculous that anything else he was wearing. Prior to that he wore this hat – quite literally a flat cap. Sadly, it began to rot when he left it damp in a bike pannier for too long. Having known Ben more recently, leaving things in bike bags to go moldy is a specialty of his.
After the flat hat, during his teenage years, Ben became a pretty committed beanie wearer. Some of which he still has and uses today – some of which have headed off on adventurers of their own. When his hair was longer, and needed to be contained under a helmet, Ben regularly choose to wear Buffs as bandanas. Around the time off the beanie Ben purchased his first Flat Cap in Keswick – made of black corduroy – the Flat Cap had arrived.
Sadly the corduroy cap did not last long before it headed off to pastures new, and Flat Cap number 2 was purchased. Never again was a corduroy cap as good as that first cap. First times are always special.
Cap number 3 (in Australia) arrived in a ricksaw and left in the cinema. It was around this time that Ben began experimenting with different styles of hat, Often a trilby but occasionally more outlandish varieties.
Once Ben moved to Edinburgh in his late twenties his Flat Cap wearing really doubled down (this is Ben’s expression, what does it even mean?). He swiftly persuaded others to join him in his Flat Cap wearing club. Ben informs me that a Flat Cap is ideal for his job as it keeps the sun off his face and makes him look dignified. No comment.
Adventure Most Ordinary 