Cap-tivating: One Hat's Journey

Girl's got hat-titude!

What gets around almost as much as I do (lol)? My trusty old stocking cap!

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You guys, why is the list of synonyms for "stocking cap" so long? I found beanie, knit hat, skullcap, ski hat, toboggan, tuque, sock cap, wool hat, woolly hat, watch cap, and chook. It's regional and preferential, I suppose, but for the purposes of this very important blog post, we'll call it a stocking cap, or just ... hat.

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While gathering and digitizing my old photos to use on this website, I noticed that my favorite stocking cap was making more than a few appearances (geez, here's another!). The crafty collage above shows me in a handful of places throughout the years sporting said hat. This obviously fashion-forward statement piece was purchased in a high-end department store — likely a Kohl's — in approximately 2006, which maths out to nearly 20 years ago. Before then, I don't remember how I kept the space north of my ears warm in bitterly cold Midwestern winters. Does anyone?

Perhaps it's my preference for cooler climates. Perhaps I seek destinations just to show it off. This hat has logged some serious miles: Iceland, Argentina, Scotland, Antarctica, Maine, California, Norway, Finland, Oregon, England, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and probably others. I've also been called a "Yooper" while wearing it, even though I haven't been to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (yet).

This hat has been worn nearly every cold winter day for two decades and hasn't complained once. It spends the summers hibernating in a closet, away from the harshness of heat and humidity. In autumn, I interrupt its slumber and throw it into the laundry. And then it soon gets back to work on the top of my head for four or five months without much of a break. It might sound awful to some of you to need a stocking cap for five months of the year, but I really don't mind it. How's that song go? "The cold never bothered me anyway!" Yeah, that.

I'd love nothing more than to recommend this particular hat to those of you who also live in or enjoy visiting cold places. The tag on the inside of my hat is completely worn and illegible, though, so sadly, I cannot tell you where to find your own. But it does make me wonder if you also have an article of clothing or outerwear that often travels with you? Lucky socks? A versatile undershirt? Multipurpose mittens? I'm cap-tivated: Tell me everything!