Blinder Bucket Hat

A bucket hat designed to veil and shed light. A while after returning from my month-long road trip out West, I began developing ideas for how I wanted to present this capsule. At this point, I had already decided on the overall designs for the Dual Mule Trousers and Canyon Longsleeve, but had not conceptualized an idea for a hat to complete the set. Early in July, I spent some time up north in Hayward, Wisconsin, a home away from home, to spend time with family, friends, and decompress. Over the holiday, I had an opportunity to visit one of my good friends who was back in town from Seattle to see his family, and he happened to have a cabin close to where I was staying. The night before we were all sucked into our familial obligations, we had the chance to connect at his cabin. I had driven myself and a friend over, so we had originally planned to just stay for some pleasantries and maybe a cigar. Shortly after the whisky started pouring, we knew that that would not be the case. Many hours later, after no shortage of drinks were had, my friend and I drunkenly stumbled down the hall in anticipation of our bunks for the night. What we were met with were the same bunk beds I had seen year after year since we started coming to this cabin as teenagers in high school, listening to Bon Iver, Bon Iver on our drive up. It felt all so familiar and nostalgic, but connected with me differently than it usually had in the past. 

Immediately, I noticed the quilts adorning the beds where we were to lie, and I was transported back to where I stood in awe of the landscape of the Badlands and Grand Canyon, where I was just months before. The quilts were constructed with muted tonal lines of color that resembled the stratified sediment layers visible in the Badlands and Grand Canyon. I was additionally struck by the line-stitched finish on top, which created a beautiful illusory effect. This concept caused me to imagine my wanderer strolling through the basin of a canyon in sweltering heat, needing something: a sun hat to keep him in shade. 

Finishing a bucket hat with a fabric reminiscent of sediment layers was the idea that laid the foundation, theme, and finish for this capsule, and it came to me 2 months after my trip. The primary design detail of this bucket hat is the “Blinder” brim, which is patterned in a way that it transitions seamlessly into the crown and blocks the eyeline of the wearer when fully worn down. Due to the extended nature of the brim, this hat can also be worn brim up in the front like a fisherman's hat, or fully up like a sailor's hat. Finally, this hat is finished with accent vertical topstitching, as well as brim topstitching, which perfectly achieves that same illusory effect I was so obsessed with.