What Your Cowboy Hat Says About You In Wyoming

In Wyoming, we celebrate the cowboy. Shoot, we're the Cowboy State, our official state sport is rodeo, and you couldn't throw a rock and not hit someone who is wearing a cowboy hat. Many of those hats have a story, and you can tell by their condition. Sweat-stained, bent in the perfect spots, and not to be messed with. When I think about the relationship between a person and their cowboy hat, I always think of Chris LeDoux's tune "This Cowboy's Hat":

You'll ride a black tornado 'cross the western sky
You'll rope an ol' blue northern, and milk it 'til it's dry
Bulldog the Mississippi and pin its ears down flat
Long before you take this cowboy's hat

It's fascinating to see all of the styles, shapes, colors, and looks of someone's hat. I've spent quite a bit of time at Boot Barn over the last few weeks, and I was chatting with Erica about her hats. She says she has multiple cowboy hats that are in different colors. I spoke to another associate named Caleb, who was shaping a hat for a customer. When they're getting a hat ready for a customer, there's quite a checklist of questions.

Are they shaping the brim, the crown, what shape they're looking for, what type of hat they're looking to shape, and get a few more details before they begin. When you're buying a hat, you may not need or want any changes, but if you have a particular style in mind, it's available.

I'll tell you, there is a bit of pressure involved in purchasing your first hat.

• What material?
  • Straw/ Palm
  • Felt/ Wool
  • The X factor
• What size?
  • Head shape
  • Head size
  • Face shape
  • Shoulder width
  • Stature
  • Snug test
• What crown shape?
  • Cattleman
  • Gus
  • Telescope
  • Rancher
  • Open
  • Gunslinger
• What brim shape?
  • Curled up
  • Tipped up
  • Pulled down
  • Flat
  • Bullrider
  • Rolled

That's a lot of pressure and factors to look at just to figure out what your cowboy hat style should be, right?

I've been following a company called Wild Hats on Facebook for a while, and they show how they create their customizable hats. It's really helped me understand a bit about what you can look at when making your cowboy hat fate.