3843  Tango Hat

Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 01:38:48 -0600
From: Bruno Romero <romerob@TELUSPLANET.NET>
Subject: Re: Tango Hat

David wrote:

>Is there any particular reason that gray became the preferred color for a

compadrito hat? <

My 2 cents:

I am not sure gray was a preferred hat color given the task of color
matching the jacket, pants, shirt, handkerchief, boots for dancing, or
embroidered slip-ins for walking(alpargatas). The compadritos like the
morenas (women of black descent) took good care of their appearance in the
way of cleanliness and matching well what they wore despite their low
income. This information is described by Juan Wilde's book "La Argentina
desde sesenta aņos atras" 1977. I would have thought that the gray color
would have made a compadrito look much older with long hair, when he
actually was a relatively young person.

The compadrito was stereotyped unfortunately in the posture and the hat he
wore, but few looked inside into his dance, which communicated a world of
richness of the popular manifestations of the people.

Cheers,

Bruno

In Spanish:

David escribio:

>Hay alguna razon en particular para que el color plomo fuese color

preferido del sombrero del compadrito? <

Mi parte:

No estoy seguro si el color plomo fuese el color preferido dado el arduo
trabajo en entonar los colores de las otras prendas como el saco, los
pantalones, la camisa, el paņuelo, las botas para bailar o las alpargatas
bordadas que usaba para caminar. Los compadritos como las morenas se
cuidaban de lucir bien y de su figura a pesar de tener bajos ingresos
economicos. Esta informacion aparece en el libro de Juan Wilde titulado "La
Argentina desde sesenta aņos atras" de 1977. Yo soy de pensar que el color
plomo hubiera hecho lucir al compadrito de mas edad con su pelo largo cuando
el fue una persona supuestamente joven.

Desafortunadamente el compadrito fue personificado por su parada y el
sombrero pero pocos miraron hacia el interior de su baile el cual
manifestaba una gran riqueza que fueron las manifestaciones populares del
pueblo.

Saludos,

Bruno

Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 12:36:26 -0600
From: Brian Dunn <brian@DANCEOFTHEHEART.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango Hat? vendor from San Telmo

Hi Michael,

Hats are almost always too small for me, but I got two very nicely fitting
felt "tango hats" (one gray, one red) in extra-large, from a vendor in San
Telmo:

Claudio Pollan
La Fundamental
Giuffra 382 San Telmo, Buenos Aires
Tel 4362-7681 / Cell: 15-4057-8984
lafundamental@yahoo.com.ar

Given what you're striving for, I'm led to understand that the "important"
thing, for the "authentic compadrito/porteno" look, is to have the brim
rolled down in front somewhat, so that it could almost cover your eyes when
the hat is worn at a somewhat rakish angle ;>

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado USA
www.danceoftheheart.com


-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 7:03 PM
To: TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: [TANGO-L] Tango Hat?

Anyone know of a good source of hats similar to the stereotypical
"compadrito" hat? We've got to do a period piece for a gig and I need to
find a wide-brimmed fedora in an extra-large. I checked at hats.com and
found one called the "Tango" made by Bailey, but it doesn't look like
the brim is wide enough, and the only others I have found look more like
Al Capone hats.

Thanks,
Michael
Tango Bellingham