The Man in the Bowler Hat

"I am the unnoticed, the unnoticable man..."

So begins the poem "The Man in the Bowler Hat" by A.S.J. Tessimond.

I only found out about this poem a day or two ago and it has fast become one of my favourites, right up their with the majority of Eliot's work. It is brilliant, and I suggest you read it out aloud to yourself a few times (with gusto) to find out why. I'll be reading a lot more Tessimond over the next few days, but this one struck me for a number of reasons.

Firstly, this poem is exactly how I've been feeling lately. I've felt a lot like the man in the bowler hat:

I am the man too busy with a living to live,
Too hurried and worried to see and smell and touch:
The man who is patient too long and obeys too much
And wishes too softly and seldom.

Secondly, because I bought myself a bowler hat!

Why? I hear you ask.

Because, about 9 mths ago I bought myself a Fedora. A nice charcoal grey fedora that seemed to suit me very well. I've never really been a hat person - especially not for baseball caps and the like - but a Bogart-style Fedora caught my eye one day whilst I was passing a hat shop, and so I bought it.

It took a bit of courage for me to wear it confidently in public. Hats for men have definitely been out of favour for the last 40 to 50 years and you get some strange looks walking around in jeans, a t-shirt and a black fedora. But, mainly those looks were appreciative double-takes - 'what? an old fedora? it actually looks pretty good' - and many people told me so. Anyway, it took a while but, over the last few months that hat has become a little bit of a trademark for me, and not something I've seen anyone else under the age of 60 wear.

So, imagine my annoyance when I see trendy 'fashion' fedoras (ie not real wool-felt, but just cloth) in Just Jeans, and Target and even Go-Lo rubbish/reject stores! And... people are starting to wear them! Everywhere!! Arghh! Suddenly, my little trademark hat that it took me so long to work my way into has become this season's fashion statement for both men and women.

What did I do? I went straight down to the hatters. I looked through the collection and found what I wanted. A Bowler Hat!!

I had no idea they still made the things! But I am so happy that someone does.

I put it on in the shop and turned to the mirror.

Wow! Instant! Just like that, the hat was mine.

9 Months to get used to a Fedora, and an instant to know the Bowler Hat was the hat for me.

I've been wearing it all week now - to the shops, the post-office, the pub, to pick up the kids from school - and the looks are even stranger, BIGGER double takes than I got before... but the look always ends with a smile and a genuine 'Cool hat, man'.

I'm very happy with my Bowler Hat.

But then, if it really does look good, will everyone else pick it up? Will 'fashion bowlers' become next years hat trend?

I certainly hope not.

Fedoras were 50yrs out of date when I bought mine.

Bowler Hats are almost 100yrs out of date.

If I have to go back much further I'll end up wearing one of those silly caps Lord Blackadder wore in the first season.

I just don't have Rowen Atkinson's ears to pull off something like that!