New Hat

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Since getting a bad sunburn on our trip to the Sacred Valley a couple of Saturdays ago, I have been looking for a good hat.  There are plenty of cheap mass-produced ones here, but a) most of them don't fit my MASSIVE CRANIUM, b) they don't really have much 'feel' to them (whatever that means), and c) many of them have too small of a brim to fully protect my pasty white neck.

On Friday night Monica and I were wandering around seriously looking for a hat that worked.  There were a couple options that looked close (a nice traditional felt hat that was just about large enough, and a cloth hat with some nice colors and patterns), but nothing really clicked.  Finally we made it into a small leatherworking shop and saw some beautiful leather hats hanging on the wall.  I tried them on, but they were all a bit too small, and the brims were not quite enough to cover my neck. 

The gentleman in the shop informed us that he makes the hats by hand, and that he would be happy to make me a custom one.

Miguel Angel... yep, that's the Spanish form of Michelangelo
This obviously appealed to me... first off, judging by the quality and number of leather goods (purses, belts, hats, wallets, etc) he was an incredibly skilled leather worker and makes high quality items, and second, I would much rather support local artisans than buy the mass produced stuff you find everywhere.

After discussing different options with him, we decided on a design.  All black leather, white stitching, larger than normal brim (11 cm vs the normal 8 or 9 cm), fitting 1 cm larger than normal to account for my HUGE head, chin strap, with a band made from the traditional patterned cloth.  I gave him a deposit, and was told to return on Monday after noon to pick it up.

Well, Monday has finally come... after our trip to Sacsayhuamán after work, we went down to the historic center to pick it up.  Suffice it to say, it is gorgeous, and even better than I could have hoped for:
I love the wave-motif design around the sides, and the white stitching really works well against the black

The band adds a nice touch of color

Miguel Angel's signature stamp, and location (Cusco Peru)

In addition to looking amazing, it covers my pasty white (now glowing-neon-pink) neck
If you are in Cusco and want some one-of-a-kind leather goods, I can highly recommend this leather artist.  While it cost more than the factory made cloth hats, it was not that much more, and the quality makes it more than worth it IMHO.

Miguel Angel's brochure and contact information


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