You’ve got your Tom Mix, your gambler, your cattleman. There’s the derby, the cool hand Luke, the Mountie.

Before you put a feather in it, you need to pick or fashion an appropriate brim, crown, crease and dent to define your Western persona.

The options are endless, sometimes reflecting regional climates. Where brims are wide, it’s hot. Narrow, the wind blows.

They’re the most recognizable icon of the American West.

With the arrival of summer, the hats are out. Straw or felt, they protect from the elements and, increasingly, are de rigueur when stepping out.

At the People’s Market at Jackson’s Center for the Arts lawn, Michelle Miller offers a variety of cowboy hats she sources from Mexico and decorates. Miller also sells her jewelry from a booth at the sprawling market of local foods, produce, arts and crafts that pops up every Wednesday.

Angus M. Thuermer Jr. is the natural resources reporter for WyoFile. He is a veteran Wyoming reporter and editor with more than 35 years experience in Wyoming. Contact him at angus@wyofile.com or (307)...

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