So Much More Than a Hat

In past posts I have talked about my love for Western culture and everything that goes along with it. Faith, morals, integrity, respect, courage, conviction, ethics – you can go on and on with words that describe the beauty and fullness of the Western lifestyle.

Growing up in New Mexico, there was a term for people who were white collar during the week but when the rodeo came to town they were all about their wrangler jeans and cowboy boots. Real cowboys called them “Dime Store Cowboys.” If needed, these want-to-bes would go to the local “Five and Dime” store to buy a cheap cowboy hat and a paisley bandana to complete their look. After their one visit to the rodeo their “cowboy stuff” would go back in the closet until the next time the rodeo came back.

I guess, in my own way, I have always been one of those “Dime Store Cowboys.” Even when I was a little boy I loved the idea of being a cowboy.

If my parents would have let me, I would have worn my hat, boots and jeans, with of course the requisite pearl handled, six shooter cap guns with dual holsters, to everything, including church. But, as I grew up and I had to start dealing with reality I dropped the idea of being like Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers or Marshall Dillon in Gunsmoke. Truthfully, it never really left me, it was always there right under the surface.

I went years without owning a pair of cowboy boots. There is a store in Vail, Colorado called Axel’s. I had never shopped there because it is crazy expensive but they have very high quality, beautiful things, some of which reflects traditional western designs. Terrie and I were walking around Vail village one day and decided to go into Axel’s and take a look. Toward the center of the store, on a back wall, was a display of hand-crafted cowboy boots. Just seeing them gave me a little rush so I wondered back to the shelves and began examining them. Before I knew what had happened I was walking out of the store after purchasing a pair of beautifully crafted, hand-tooled, buckskin boots, a pair of boot-leg blue jeans and a cowhide shell jacket. Uh oh, that old cowboy desire was starting to creep back up into my consciousness again. There was one big problem though, no hat.

Fast forward a couple of years, we are driving from the Denver area to Phoenix, Arizona with a stop in Santa Fe, New Mexico along the way. We spent some time walking the beautiful, quaint, back streets of the old section of Santa Fe and ended up in the square which was in the middle of town. Santa Fe, and the square in particular, have a distinct, tangible vibe and aroma. Chile ristras hang in the windows and from the soffits covering the sidewalks. Their fragrance combined with the smell of burning piñon wood permeates everything and creates a warm, comforting atmosphere that is like none other.

The Santa Fe square is well known for its open street market comprised of native Americans with their hand-made jewelry and accessories laid out on colorful hand woven wool blankets. Tourists are free to browse the goods displayed by the artists and then to negotiate a price that works for everyone. As we made our way around the square, we went into various small boutiques and a couple of the larger stores like “Ortega’s” which is a New Mexico institution. Then all of a sudden, I realized I was staring straight into a Lucchese boot store. Lucchese started in the late 1800s in Texas and is well known for producing beautiful hand-crafted western style boots made from various exotic skins and hides. Terrie helped me pick out a basic pair made of goat skin died chocolate brown with beautifully stitched uppers and traditional heels. Then it was back to Ortega’s to find a belt strap and a large belt buckle. It didn’t take long before I was leaving the store with a hand-tooled strap and a sensational silver Zuni belt buckle. You see, I also had an affinity for native American art and jewelry, turquoise in particular. One thing was still missing – the hat.

Over the next few years there were a couple more stops at the Santa Fe Lucchese store. As I continued to build my boot collection I added a pair of Ostrich leg and a pair of Black Caiman. Terrie liked my boots but every time I would mention the missing piece, the hat, she would simply chuckle and quickly brush the thought away.

No good cowboy goes without a great hat but there I was with a really nice boot collection, several western style shirts, proper boot leg jeans, a beautiful silver belt buckle complete with a hand tooled strap and a gorgeous hand stitched cow hide jacket. Still no hat.

2020 – the pandemic, binge watching streamed TV shows, Yellowstone. The best collection of hat wearing cowboys since Ben Cartwright, Little Joe, Hoss, Adam and the hired hands on The Ponderosa Ranch and the TV show, Bonanza. Terrie enjoyed watching the episodes of Yellowstone with me. I saw it as an opportunity and tried to convince her I might look like John Dutton (Kevin Costner) if only I had a good cowboy hat. Despite my best efforts, she again laughed off the suggestion, but she did at least finally tell me to get one if I really wanted one. Of course, in wife language that means fill your silly desire if you want just don’t make any comments the next time I walk out of a boutique with a bag full of new clothes. After 48 years of marriage, I have become pretty adept at deciphering spousal morse code and even though the verbal message was to go get my hat the unspoken message was, don’t be silly, its time for you to grow up.

Then, there was what could only be divine intervention. For our birthdays our sons and their families had arranged for me and Terrie to have custom cowboy hats made! This was simply too good to be true. Through their business, Brandon and Tyler had met Fred and Coleen Orr. Coleen is a well-known and highly skilled hat maker with clients from all over the world – literally. All we had to do was set up an appointment to visit Coleen at her shop and the rest would be taken care of. You think I wasted any time? No! This was like a dream come true.

Entering Coleen’s shop, Cowboy Up, completely changed my perspective on “the hat.” Her workshop is an amazing display of finished hats, work in progress and tools of the trade that date back well over 100 years. Behind the counter is a beautifully cast, push button cash register. The stools in front of the counter have six shooters attached to the armrests and a cowboy figure as a back rest. There is a cowhide couch accompanied by a hair-on-hide footrest. Behind a half wall is the area where all the magic happens. Counters strewn with various hat making materials and tools. Hats in various stages of completion. Then there is Coleen, adorned in her own flat brim, custom hat. A beautiful woman, gentle in spirit but with strong convictions and faith, rooted in the “western” way of life. A person who has found and followed her God given passion. A true artist. Her medium being Beaver felt, woven straw and various other materials she shapes into works of art designed to not only adorn heads but to make a statement about the history and lifestyle the hats represent.

The process started with Coleen mapping the shape of our heads using an amazing tool that is over 100 years old. She uses the measurements to determine the size and inner shape of the hat. Coleen then had us put on several different styles of hats. She carefully explained the differences in the size of the brim, the height and shape of the crown, and the quality of the felt. Of course, there is also a choice of colors ranging from Silver belly to Brown or Black for men and any one of a number of colors for women. Once size, shape and color are selected the final step is selecting the band to wear with the hat. Custom bands like the ones Coleen sells are interchangeable so changing the band can change the appearance of the hat. With all the selections made, the six-to-eight week process of making and customizing our hats began.

I have to admit, I was a little like a kid anticipating Christmas or a birthday and waiting for the hat delivery day was not easy. Finally, I received a text from Coleen asking us to set up a time to come by the shop for the final fitting and delivery of our new hats. Terrie had selected a blue/grey color accompanied by a complimentary decorative band. Mine is a little darker than “silver belly” with a woven leather brown and black band. Coleen would put the hats on our heads, use her fingers to sense how they sat, where there might be unwanted gaps or pinch points and then go to work with her steam machine perfecting the final fit. I watched as her hands firmly but gracefully worked with the felt. Each tweak she made was like an artist completing a painting of a beautiful and compelling subject. I never thought I would see Terrie wear a cowboy hat but at the end of the process she loved it and she looks great in it. Like me she was inspired by what Coleen does, the history, the importance, the passion she has for her art and her customers. Each of us was overwhelmed by the quality of the finished hats, complete with labels on the inside band showing the hat is custom made for us individually.

I am so glad I never succumbed to the desire to go buy an off the shelf hat that really would have carried very little meaning or any real sense of the lifestyle and history that I now understand a little better. When I put on my Cowboy Up hat my first thought is of Coleen and the way she has claimed and pursued her Ephesians 2:10 calling. As I start to wear the hat more, I am getting used to comments like, “since when did you become a cowboy?” What those people don’t understand is how that hat on my head connects me to so many memories, life experiences and long time aspirations. The hat takes me back to the western way of life, the heritage I always wanted to claim as my own.

Although I am sure most real working cowboys would differ with me, I do not consider myself a “Dime Store Cowboy.” True, I have never lived or worked on a ranch. I have never owned a horse, roped a steer or slept in a bunkhouse. But the western lifestyle is embedded in my heart. It is not a fleeting infatuation produced by a TV show set in Montana. Nor is it a “to be ignored” fantasy. True, at my age and stage of life I will never be a real Cowboy but when that hat goes on my head I am connected to a culture of faith, morals, integrity, respect, courage, conviction, ethics and all of the good things that are synonymous with the western lifestyle. I am also connected to an artist named Coleen Orr. Some people have Picassos, Rembrandts, or Monets. Others own sculptures, carvings or other cherished pieces of art. I own a Coleen Orr Cowboy Up hat, and it is so much more than a hat.

I am now awaiting the delivery of my second hat. This one will be black, shaped like the one in the picture. And yes, I am that little boy again, still anticipating a day that will hold the intrigue and excitement of Christmas or a birthday. The day the next hat will be delivered, shaped and finished into another work of art.