Why are cowboy hats curved up on the sides?

I would have gotten away with a flat-brim.

https://youtu.be/wzSYH0nT6Qk?t=15

The modern cowboy hat is at least as much a stylistic and cultural symbol as it is a practical piece of headgear. Do you know what the most common hat in the “Old West” period of the US was? The bowler. Even cowboys, railroad worker, and gunslingers wore them. Very little sun protection there, but it was sturdy, and it would stay on in the wind.

I thought it was mostly to prevent a lasso from catching it. Also style. 8)

Ehso wrote:

The modern cowboy hat is at least as much a stylistic and cultural symbol as it is a practical piece of headgear. Do you know what the most common hat in the “Old West” period of the US was? The bowler. Even cowboys, railroad worker, and gunslingers wore them. Very little sun protection there, but it was sturdy, and it would stay on in the wind.

Source for this? Up until when are you referring? It’s well known that JB Stetson’s “Boss of the plains” hat was far and away the most widely worn hat in the “old west” period, specifically BECAUSE it had a wide brim for shade and was sturdy and hardy to stand up to the elements and hard use.

Originally the boss of the plains was sold with a flat brim and open crown. This means the top of the hat was rounded, not creased like they are sold new now. The crease in the top of the hat in the old days was a product of how you picked the hat up, how you held it, how it was pinched in your fingers over time when you took it off or put it on. Similarly did the curve in the brim happen. If you took the hat on and off by grabbing the brim, the brim would bend and roll in your hand, and eventually the roll would stay put there while you wore it too.

I join the OP in puzzling over why the cowboy hats of the last 70 years or so have the brim so severely curved up on the sides. I think it is purely a fashion thing, and has been so long enough that now even “real” working cowboys don’t know the difference. Plus the fact that you probably can’t even buy a flat-crowned regular felt hat these days. If a cowboy wants real shade rather than costume fashion he is better off buying a rattan gardening hat from Home Depot or something.

Damn Son, the curvature on the sides is to keep the rain water from a dripping off the sides onto to your neck when a riding on a fretful day.

There were other cowboy gangs that wore different hats, but after a long bloody feud and many shootouts and saloons destroyed, the curved-up-hat gang prevailed. Wear a different style at your peril.

A quick google turned up a bunch of stuff like this:

Of course course many types of hats would have been worn, and Stetsons obviously became increasing popular, but as far as overall popularity and ubiquity in the American West pre-1900, the bowler/derby would be number 1.

There’s only one hat that matters

Ehso wrote:

A quick google turned up a bunch of stuff like this:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/legendsplay.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/how-common-was-the-bowler-or-derby-hat-in-the-old-west/amp/

Of course course many types of hats would have been worn, and Stetsons obviously became increasing popular, but as far as overall popularity and ubiquity in the American West pre-1900, the bowler/derby would be number 1.

I don't know, I think we need to make a distinction between types of people / occupations / activities in the late 19th century american west. There's a tendency to assume everyone but everyone back then was a range-working cowboy, without exception. Which obviously isn't true. I'd say among town-people like bankers, merchants, etc whose interaction with the outdoors and the elements on an average day was probably on par with that of most modern american office workers, the bowler or other short-brim hat was by far the choice of the day. But I think anyone working outdoors under the sun or rain in any capacity would have obtained himself a stetson. Of course a great many people simply had to wear whatever they could get their hands on.

Funny, as far as hollywood depictions go, the curved-up brim of the movie "cowboy" didn't come into vogue until the early 70's or so. John Wayne's brims pre '70 were all pretty flat or gently curved. Clint's hats were always flat-brimmed too.

Has anyone seen those hardhats made to look like cowboy hats? I mean actual OSHA certified plastic hard hats, meant to be worn on construction sites, but shaped just like a modern cowboy hat. With the sharply turned-up sides and everything. Ridiculous.

Partly it is a style thing. I live in an area where horse people are pretty divided between the Texas style and the Vaquero style gear Texas is the curved up brim, full length chaps and lower boots. Vaquero hats tend to be flat, chinks are worn instead of chaps, and boots are cut taller. This is a Vaquero (also called Buckaroo style) style hat

http://www.aztexhats.com/images/aztexcustommens/AzTexElkoCowboy.jpg

I asked about this as a kid and my Dad said that the upright sides mimic a horses ears being up and relaxed. And so the horse thinks you are being friendly. I have no idea if this is true - our horses don't seem to care if I am in a traditional hat or a baseball cap. It is true you are less likely to rope your hat if the sides are up but only for fancy ranch roping where you aren't always swinging the rope over your head.

Even with the sides turned up you still get a lot of shade benefit.

At the end of the day it is mostly a style thing. And it changes all the time.

Makes it easy to reach up and take your hat off, wipe the sweat off your brow with your arm, and put it back on.

With a wide brim you'd have to awkwardly reach your arm around wide, and then the brim would be slapping you in the face as you tried to wipe your brow.

Why?...

So three people can fit in the cab of a pickup.

Jeez! That one is so old.

Ummm....ever heard of Billy Jack?

https://www.google.com/search?q=billy+jack+hat&rlz=1C1CAFA_enUS640US651&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=Jud0FhqYQQIIaM%253A%252CpT_dDXupGwsZkM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kR3_93shN4ivK8I1c0nqd4qVTqAAg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQxqiuvLfhAhXnmq0KHcZQCHcQ9QEwAXoECAgQBQ#imgrc=I0eC7xAdLlSe4M:&vet=1

I promise to stop trolling threads with inappropriate and vulgar comments.

I write this wearing a cowboy hat on my head. The sides turn up naturally from handling, as said already above. That was the old days. The hats were higher quality, better felt, thinner, softer, more pliable but still held shape. Watch an old western with John Wayne and see how a wind could blow the brim flat but then it would return to position. Now days everything of course is cheaper and shoddier. People buy cowboy hats for looks, not function, like pre faded jeans. So you only find them now with the brim curled up. The felt is cheaper and worse quality, and they have to impregnate it with shellack cement to make it hold its form, so consequently new hats today are hard as a rock and stiff as a board, like wearing a hat made of wood. Luckily a good condition vintage hat is still cheaper than a brand new one, and the quality is leagues better.

Back in the day your brim would curl up over time through hard use, but now people buy hats and baby them, keep them totally clean like they are wearing a tuxedo, so if sold with flat brim they would stay flat forever. But they still want that authentic look, so the brim is curled at the factory. Kind of reminds me of some poncy dentist spending 12 grand on a Rolex dive watch and then being careful to take it off before he washes his hands lest a drip of water splash onto it. And the dang thing designed to survive 1000m ocean depth.

Why do they sleep with their boots on?

If you take a dump in the cowboy hat, you can easily empty its contents in a toilet or trash can thanks to the curve brimmed. That’s the reason