My boyfriend turned 40 recently, so he has reached that age at which a man must start to come to terms with the fact that he may never – ever – get to see Tom Waits live. Fortunately for him, The Pogues visited Melbourne earlier this year, and he took some comfort in the fact that he would at least get to see a performance by the ugliest man in music, the magnificent Shane McGowan. My boyfriend’s only regret, I think, was that on the night, as we looked around at the crowd gathered at a nearby pub before the show, it became glaringly obvious that he’d missed out on a primo opportunity to wear a cap. He owns a couple of nice ones, you see, and chances to wear them are few and far between as it is.        

Cap, 50 cents

Most of the time, when a person owns a Coca-Cola cap, it’s because they were given it as part of a promotion. But not my eight-year-old. She bought hers. We were at an op shop in Katoomba two years ago and she was rummaging through a basket of hats when she saw it and had a Eureka moment. She really loves drinking Coca-Cola, you see, so it was as if the cap had been made for her. Mind you, this is a girl who says the only thing she dislikes about roller-skates is that they make her  appear taller, and, as she puts it, "I like people to know the truth about me." I wonder if she’s the only person in the world who wears a Coca-Cola cap in earnest: not thoughtlessly, not as a fashion statement, but as  honest self-expression. Like I said, she really loves her Coke. 

Hat, $4 

Henley-on-Todd is an annual regatta held in Alice Springs. Founded by Alice Springs Meteorological Bureau workers in 1962 and run by local Rotary Clubs, it’s like any other regatta except that there’s very little water involved. Competitors race yachts, canoes and other boats through the deep sand of the Todd River with the help of sand shovels, bare feet, wheels and ingenuity. Why is Henley-on-Todd significant to me? It isn’t, really. I just know that if you find a Henley-on-Todd souvenir straw cowboy hat in an op shop and take off the Henley-on-Todd ribbon, you get stylish sun protection in the vein of our most recognisable swimsuit models.