toorie trouble

[AllenJ]

I like the look of Balmorals- I just really dislike the puff ball toorie bobbing around up top. Has anyone tried snipping it off? Would that be sacrelige or put a large hole in the top?

[Monkey@Arms]

Don't know, but have you considered a caubeen? very similar but no pom-pom. The one pictured here is from Glengarry Hats



Best regards,

Jake

[thescot]

Just save yourself a lot of money and buy a beret.

[thescot]

But then, part of the look of a real bonnet is the toorie and the bow in the back. Kind of adds to the overall look and keeps it from being a beret!

[auld argonian]

So you could say that a Balmoral is kind of like a beret-with-an-attitude.*

Best

AA


*This is meant as a joke....please....whoever...don't feel the need to go into a lengthy and tedious diatribe about the ethnological differentiations between the origins of the beret and the balmoral complete with footnotes and a bibliography and a forward by some professor who's been doing research on the history of world headgear for the past thirty years...

[MacWage]

So you could say that a Balmoral is kind of like a beret-with-an-attitude.*

Best

AA


*This is meant as a joke....please....whoever...don't feel the need to go into a lengthy and tedious diatribe about the ethnological differentiations between the origins of the beret and the balmoral complete with footnotes and a bibliography and a forward by some professor who's been doing research on the history of world headgear for the past thirty years...

Darn!!!!!!
I guess I need to put my reference books back up . . .

[Dirka Skene]

So you could say that a Balmoral is kind of like a beret-with-an-attitude.*

Best

AA

Or you could say, it's a beret with team spirit!

[Retro Red]

I like the look of Balmorals- I just really dislike the puff ball toorie bobbing around up top. Has anyone tried snipping it off? Would that be sacrelige or put a large hole in the top?

I'm with you AllenJ, I dislike the "puff ball" on top of the Balmoral, too!

The Balmoral is indeed in the same hat "family" as the beret, just a bit floppier with tail ribbons & puff ball.

I own 3 Balmorals in different colors & the first thing I do is take a stitch ripper, go into the inside of the Balmoral & rip out the stitches holding the torrie. Once I've removed the torrie & the threads, there's no visible hole; it's like the puff ball was never there (just the way I like it)! I also spray a mist of water all over the Balmoral & shape it to my head.

For most of us, part of wearing kilts is all about freedom in what we wear. So, if you want to remove the torrie, exercise your freedom, mon - go for it!

Here's a photo of me in one of my torrie-less Balmorals (I'm the one on the left with the Claymore). Also, here's a pic of a stitch ripper, in case you're unfamiliar with one.

Cheers!

[thescot]

Red's dead on. And so is monkey. No one really pays much attention to the details of your bonnet anyway, and those caubeens look pretty good.

As to forming the bonnet, I've taken to soaking my own in cold water as soon as I get them in, and then letting them dry outside. I squeeze out the excess water, put it on wet to get the shape of my mis-shapen head, and then I put it carefully in that shape outside, out of the direct sun to dry. It makes it nice and floppy and gets rid of the sharp creases around the edge.

For some reason, Retro's pistures showed up as little boxes with red Exes.

[Dreadbelly]

The poof ball is there for a reason... Along with our flashy garters and skirts, the poof ball is there to help us pick a fight.

"Ye makin fun of me wee pom pom there laddie?"