Dueling Gaucho

Overview

An Oakland Dueling Gaucho is a black wide-brimmed hat worn by all duelists in Oakland, CA. It's wearing when dueling, along with the bombacha trousers and dueling plaid, is traditional and honors to the Scottish and Argentine duelists and lizard ranchers who settled this part of Northern California.

Description

A proper Oakland dueling gaucho is black, flat-crowned without indentation, with a wide, flat brim with a wire stiffener. Ladies gaucho may have a slight curve to the brim along the sides. Traditionally made of monitor leather, firm wool felt has become popular due to the commercial decline of the California Monitor.

Above the ears on the left and right are grommeted holes through which the Dueling Ribbon is threaded. The ribbon lays along the back of the crown, and is tied under the duelist's chin.

Local children scramble to be the first to throw a victorious duelist's gaucho into the air after a win, though the duelist will remove their ribbon before handing the hat over, as the fluttering ribbons are considered an impolite snub to an otherwise honorably defeated opponent.

Dress Gaucho

A dress gaucho is a duelist's hat that is worn for non-dueling occasions. Being more formal wear, the tradition is for more indentations and curved brims, especially among female duelists. A dress gaucho does not have ribbon grommets.

Colors other than black are also common, though black remains the color of those who consider themselves serious duelists, as well as traditionalists and old-money Oakland families.

Dueling Use

Oakland duelists tie on their gauchos as the final step before beginning a duel. If a duelist's gaucho is knocked from his or her head at any time, they are considered to have been "honorably defeated". A duelist who removes their gaucho and flings it to the ground stylishly is considered to have surrendered. Simply throwing one's hat down is acceptable, but will incur the jeering of the crowd.

Duelists who choose a red dueling ribbon with which to tie their gaucho use a special knot that rarely if ever comes undone. This is to signal that they will not surrender, will not stand for "honorable defeat", and intend to fight to the last of their ability.

Category: Mystical Oakland