National Western Stock Show: Secrets of the Western Hat and Dress Western Day

After five years visiting the National Western Stock show, I still don't understand much about hats, but I'm getting there. They still seem like strange business attire to me, a kind of costume. I'm way off the mark, I know. Western culture gives the humble hat a high value wherever its boot-wearing owner goes, in jeans or fancy suit.

Hats are one of the mysteries of the National Western Stock Show, especially on Dress Western Day. Why are some black? Why do some have wings while others are flat? Is there an "executive" hat? What are they made of, and why do some cost more than $1,000? This year I realized that I could tell the players pretty easily once I recognized the hats.

Auctioneers wear one type of hat, cowboys another. Ranchers have their own style and executives of livestock organizations have western hats that go well with their suits. At the stock show kids wear red, green and pink hats, and Toyota was giving out huge red foam hats as well.

As an Easterner, I don't know much about hats. Eastern style just doesn't include them. We've even stopped emulating the British and their narrow brimmed styles. On the ranches and plains here hats are, as always, a necessity. The winds, sunshine and occasional rains dictate the protections that the hats must provide.

At the Colorado History Museum a few years back, I got part of the story from a period-costumed docent. He explained that the best material for hats in the early days was beaver pelts. There were lots of beavers to be trapped, but not much local skill in the hat business. Pelts went back to England where they were made into felt material for hats. Nice, well-made hats were shipped back and worn through all the trials of Colorado weather.

Some stores such as the Jackson Hole Hat Co. still make those beaver hats as well as rabbit fur and combination hats, but in general the felt material has been scaled down to more affordable raw materials since their beaver hat goes for about $650. Check this page on their website for an overview of hat styles where you can really picture the type of guy who would wear each one.

At the stock show, hat wearers who are getting their cattle shampooed and blow dried can bring their hat in for a cleaning, blocking and shaping. If you hat has been parked for most of the year, that would be a good first stop when you visit. Your hat is the first thing people see!

The various church services at the stock show are especially reverent as the large portion of the churchgoers who are wearing hats remove them during prayers and replace them on cue. The speaker and musician are wearing hats that emphasize their presentations as their hats bob for emphasis and rhythm.

In the auction arenas and barns, hats show who is here for business. Black and white basic cowboy hats are standard for ranchers and hands, and children of the ranchers wear theirs and attentively learn the trade. Judges and officials managing the business and competition often have a bit fancier hats suiting their position, with hat bands and other decoration.

Even in January, Denver gets a fair amount of sun and hats protect the face and neck. What I didn't realize before is that the broad brim and tight material catches rising heat from the body and helps keep the rancher's whole head warm. Unlike the summer straw hat, the year-round felt hat is strong protection.

In addition to classic Stetson styles, cowboys from Latin countries have introduced new, more ornate styles to the stock show. Some cowboys have also returned to older styles less channeled and more round, like the original "Boss of the Plains." I also saw many basic hats adorned with feathers, silver and turquoise, or fancy hat bands.

Pictures of association leadership and executives show men in hats, and in advertising materials insurance salesmen and real estate folks look from their advertisements in western hats similar to their customers'. That still looks pretty strange to me.

As I return to the stock show I've been trying to uncover the many mysteries of the hats, why people wear certain kinds and the messages of the bends and creases. Some things are clearer now, and if I saw, say, an auctioneer walking the grounds I'd know it. I can tell a "show" hat from a working one, and I know to look to the hat decorations to reveal something about the wearer's life. One big mystery remains, however: does the phrase "wearing many hats" mean that versatile western folks have a closet full of these things?