The story starts with cravats versus ties. I never liked ties, as I felt like I was being hanged every time I wore one. As I approached 50, I started wearing Ascot ties, but after a few years, I grew frustrated with the limited fabric choices available. So I took matters into my own hands and purchased different fabric swatches from the Marché Saint Pierre in Paris' Montmartre. My daughter then transformed the swatches into bespoke Ascot ties, and the results were better than expected. I proudly wore my unique bespoke Ascot ties to meetings with high-level officials and executives.
However, I had bought too many fabric swatches and had a lot left over. My daughter, being very conservative, handed them back to me more than 10 years later when I retired. I kept them in a cupboard until the "Eureka Day," when I looked at my ageing hats and realized they were becoming boring. It dawned on me that it wasn't the hats themselves that were the problem, but rather the neglected hatbands.
So I looked online for new hatbands, but found them to be just as dull as the ones I already had.
I started experimenting with my leftover fabrics and was pleased with the results. Some visiting lady friends were so impressed that they wanted some for themselves.
And that's how the idea for the PapHat was born. I saw the potential in using my unique fabrics to create distinctive hatbands, and thus OurHatsDeserveBetter was born.