Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Felipe Delerme writes about a New Era iridescent New York Yankees fitted.
A couple of weeks ago I saw this kid I know in the club and he told me he almost didn't recognize me without a hat on. I should of slapped his ass for getting out of pocket like that but we been cool for a little while so I gave him a pass. But also, until recently I've probably worn a fitted almost every day outside of the two or three just after I get a haircut so in a way I guess he had a right. I've fallen back on the lids a little this summer, but they've always served a greater purpose than just keeping my head warm. For people like myself, a fitted is just as much a flag, broadcasting an alliance of some kind (sport and otherwise), in ways the first baseball players probably never even imagined.
When the above cap first arrived at the office, immediately it reminded me of the infamous Cam'ron New Era. This came out back around the time Cam mentioned something about hiring a team of scientists to invent his own color and every other rapper was bragging about smoking the purple-est piff procurable. Side by side, the hats aren't very much alike at all, but I'd like to imagine the purple-teal iridescence of my cap is what his team was working toward. Assuming, of course, that team wasn't just a bunch of Dipset interns smoking weed and fucking around with the color palette in Illustrator to "piff out" the mixtape covers.
This hat works for me for a couple of really simple reasons. It's a Yankess cap and a perfect match for Jordans. Specifically, the "Aqua" VIII's (which I never really liked), but also the "Grape" V's, which I played myself in waiting to buy, only to incur a ridiculous limited-availability markup some months later. By itself, the cap is a bit more "Flashing Lights" than a lot of the others I own, but in all of its flamboyance, it's still just a New York Yankee that matches my J's.
