Perhaps it’s inherent with my Boston area, Irish Catholic upbringing, but I’ve always had love for a Kangol. Classic and functional, they add a bit of style* without being anywhere near precious. Unlike blousy, poofy newsboy caps, which are invariably exactly that, a 504 (better known in my native environs as a Scally Cap) balances a dose of nattyness with just the right touch of menace.

Alongside my favorite silhouette, the Casual (what I’ve always referred to as a Bermuda Bell, because that’s what they look like – more on those in a later post), several variations of the 504 have long held a spot in my wardrobe; vintage handwoven straw versions, as pictured above, slowly replacing the standard Ventair for warmer months’ wear.

In the sunnier seasons, the older I get, the hotter and more damaging the sun’s rays become, and the more hasty the retreat my remaining hair beats across my voluminous scalp, the more I’m getting into straw hats in general. But specifically in this specific shape and posture, even when they are not an actual Kangol themselves.

Maybe it’s just my weathered, roundish Irish face, but this style hat just works for me – ask my wife, whose eye I happened to (thankfully) catch while wearing a Kangol 504 on the campus of our alma mater Colby College, some 22 years or so ago. Maybe that’s part of why I’m so partial to them. Should be.

Vintage is, it seems, the only route to acquire such beauties, which frankly is my preferred path anyway. It’s not yet a collection (4 and counting, not including the one I gave to my brother), but it’s well on its way.

*Note: Dudes, if you’re not Samuel L. Jackson or Crazy Legs from Rock Steady Crew, please do us all a favor and don’t try to pull off the backwards Kangol. It ain’t it. Trust me…