Head West

I have a massive collection of mesh caps that have accumulated in my front hall closet. They are incredibly handy for bad hair days, hiking mornings, pickleball, providing me with essential shade for Colorado living. Plus, it's impossible to leave a brewery or mountain town without acquiring another one. They multiply like rabbits, but with better branding. Even after I do a seasonal purge, there they are again, stack upon stack.

While I also love my collection of cowboy hats (come by honestly as a CO native with a Dad who wore cowboy boots with his suits until retirement), the trucker hat has become my go-to. It is the golden retriever of headwear—friendly, practical, and impossible to hate. They fold, they bend, they survive being tossed in glove compartments and backpacks for months.

This isn't just personal quirk; it's Colorado culture. Boulder in particular, with its mix of university life, surrounding agricultural communities, and outdoor-loving spirit, has been the perfect breeding ground for decades of functional cap-wearing. Long before trucker hats became commercial staples, Coloradans understood the value of practical headwear (except in 1910, as evidenced in the above picture). Our mountain culture has always prioritized function over fashion, even if the specific styles have evolved.

The added beauty of Colorado's trucker hat obsession is that it democratizes mountain style. Tech executives and ski bums wear the identical mesh-backed style. Your hat might cost $12 or $55, but we all look equally ready to summit a fourteener or grab breakfast burritos.

So embrace the foam-fronted madness. Join those of us with embarrassingly large collections. The trucker hat isn't just headwear—it's a badge of belonging, a practical necessity, and proof that sometimes the most democratic fashion choices are also the most enduring. Because in Colorado, having just one trucker hat is like having one ski pass—technically possible, but missing the entire point.

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