Black, Brown or Gray? -- Universality

[B. F. Socaspi]

I don't find myself attracted too much to brown fedoras, but I won't rule them out entirely. I do find myself attracted to gray ones. Black ones I'm impartial to.

Therefore, I'm hoping to get a gray. However, I was wondering if it looks odd to wear two different shades of gray, as I don't know that the fedora will match the gray of my pants or of my trench coat.

 

[duggap]

Well, let me render my disclaimer first. I am not the most color coordinated person around and I don't currently have a girlfriend to assist me (women have so much better taste in colors than I do). But my first hat was a medium grey that I wore with everything blue/grey. To me grey is very forgiving and tends to blend well with most other shades. Oh and welcome to the lounge. Your turn to buy.

 

[tortswon]

Welcome

As one Philly guy to another, welcome to the Lounge. There are a number of us from the home of the World Champion Phillies here. Make yourself at home and don't hesitate to ask questions. I'm still new and I ask a lot.

As to your gray question, I wear gray with any gray shade as well as black. I go with my mood when selecting my hat du jour. You may feel differently. That is what personal style is about. Best, Sam

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

I would've figured the city home to apparently the country's ugliest, rudest people would lack style.

Cheers to finding out otherwise.

 

[JoeSki]

I sport a fedora dark grey in color and I recieve between 1-5 compliments daily on it despite what I wear. So I'm going to say grey is a pretty safe color.

 

[Hat Head]

Here's a link addressing your question.

Hat Color Tips

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

Mkay. Thanks everyone!

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I love gray, and I have many gray hats. It is true that some grays don't work together, but it's rare. The main problem is that a dark gray fedora with a bluish undertone can be very hard to "dress down" so watch out for that. Medium grays, like Granite and such, are the most universal.

 

[ScionPI2005]

As someone with the genes that give me light hair and blue eyes, I've been told that darker colors look better on me, so my favorite color for fedoras is naturally gray. The others here are right: gray is a very neutral color and will blend well with any other grays, blacks, blues, and even white.

If you get your hands on a granite, graphite, steel, or similar gray fedora, it should work out well. And welcome to the Lounge!

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Yup; grey.

I've got fedoras in different shades of brown, beige, taupe, green, silverbelly, blue, even an old maroon western. I've also got a lot of greys and I've noticed that I tend to go to them more than the others. It's just so easy to get a grey fedora to synch up with other colors in the outfit.

Welcome and show us what you end up with!

 

[demian]

Well, some thoughts from my steep learning curve recently on fedoras.

Although many people seem to own so many hats and all hats can be made to work with proper wardrobe, some work better than others for natural reasons.

I would (and was) rather indifferent to browns as well. But due to my dark brown eyes and olive complexion, well, I just could not get away from it.

When I put a brown hat, darker in particular on, it just suited me perfectly. Spot on. Blended. It was not an accessory, know what I mean?
Yet when viewed alone on a table or within an image, did not spark my interest at all. I thought how boring..

People with fair skin would be more suited to greys, lighter the skin, lighter the grey.

Greys do not work well with me, yet for you may be ideal. Black I really don't care for as a hat personally, and could never carry it off as an everyday hat.

As one fellow put it here somewhere, " black makes me look like a gangster out of an old movie or a Hasidic Jew"..

Of course light skin, and grey hair can pull it off, with a narrower brim...

I spoke with Graham at Optimo upon bombarding the poor guy with information on myself and an image or 2 as I am not one to buy several hats. I wanted a "go-to hat".

Oddly what he said on the phone contradicted his site leaving me a bit perplexed, stating that a hat is not like buying a suit, etc...as I first wrote above, when in fact I agree strongly with what is written on his site.

A hat accentuates your features like no other "accoutrement"...(say it with French accent ;-)

Therefore, IMO, if searching for a go-to type of hat, complexion and hair color play a very fundamental role I feel.

What looks good on the table may not *fit* you. Some colors just blend into you...of course so do styles, etc....crown height, brim, binding...I too like bound brims, but it makes them too formal and make me look *old*...but they are beautiful to look at and admire!

Hope this is somewhat helpful and you are now thoroughly confused..
Ciao.

 

[NonEntity]

All good advice above, especially demian's.

Let's put it this way: If I could have only one hat, it would be in a light but-not-too-light to medium shade of gray. Akubra's Moonstone is an exceptional gray. Anything in this range of gray tones is very versatile; it may not be the perfect complement to everything, but it won't clash with anything.

Lighter shades of any color, gray included, can be worn more months out of the year, by the way, so that aspect would stretch its versatility even further.

As for the hat gray matching the pants or trenchcoat or suit gray, it's actually preferable for an accessory color to NOT EXACTLY match the clothing fabric color--perfect matches look like a uniform and suggest a lack of imagination. So some contrast is a good thing.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

it's actually preferable for an accessory color to NOT EXACTLY match the clothing fabric color--perfect matches look like a uniform and suggest a lack of imagination. So some contrast is a good thing.

Here, here. Way cool when there's a combination.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

On an aside, the FL's search tool is really pretty bad, so I'll just ask here.

Anyone have pictures in an Akubra Bogart?

***Edit***

An Akubra Casual would be nice too.

 

[NonEntity]

Don't have an Akubra Bogart--yet--but I do have a Casual I got last winter for extensive business air travel. I figured if someone sat on it (see below), I would not have to react in my usual way, which would lead to an immediate appointment with Security, notoriously unsympathetic.

Anyway, the Akubra Casual is superb in every way but its name, as it's actually quite dressy, though any fedora can dress down. You know the song, "You Can Leave Your Hat On"? Well, that's really dressing down.

Its 2 3/8-in raw-edge brim makes it just into fedora-width territory, and the 1-in grosgrain ribbon is neither narrow nor wide. The straight front-to-back center crease and the two shallow side dents are well executed but plain. Overall, the Casual is a conservative hat. This is not a hat to re-bash, for Akubra's Pliofelt is specifically made to easily return to its pre-formed shape.

Most crushables are wool felt, but the Casual is real fur felt with a really nice hand and extreme pliability--unlike the crushable Akubra Traveller that has a "memory strip" in the brim that will kink if you bend it much at all.

Keep in mind that the Casual is, like all crushables, necessarily unlined and has a fabric sweatband. But the price is about the same as fully lined Imperial quality Akubras with reeded roan leather sweatbands. The fabric sweat conforms immediately to your head, so there's no break-in at all. Those are the inherent trade-offs in any crushable.

Also, I've not seen the Casual in gray; it may be available, so check all the Akubra online vendors. Mine's charcoal, a couple shades lighter than midnight black, but light-years beyond anything you could call gray, yet you might be attracted to this versatile color, as well.

I would definitely recommend the Akubra Casual to anyone who wants a just-barely-fedora-style hat that he never has to worry about.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

Hmmm. I think my current leaning is the Pisa by Stetson in steel.

 

[MattJH]

I would've figured the city home to apparently the country's ugliest, rudest people would lack style.

Cheers to finding out otherwise.

Another Philadelphian here. I just took a walk to the Starbucks at 9th and South and then walked down South Street looking for some nice cutoff gloves. I saw 4 men wearing fedoras, not including myself. I think the national media equates confident/isolationist with "ugly and rude."

 

[MattJH]

And to answer the original question, if you have a medium grey fedora and a medium brown fedora, you're set in regards to color coordination. Everything else is just personal preference or aesthetic accessorizing.

 

[NonEntity]

As I said previously, if, you must have only one hat, make it gray.

And I agree, Dumbjaw, with only two hats, a gray and a mid-brown are the two colors to have.

At three, add a charcoal. Everybody needs a charcoal. Or a true black. Can't decide? Get both.

With four--make that five--one hat must definitely be a fawn. Without a fawn, there's a GAPING color hole.

But there are many shades of fawn, each so distinctly different. Better get all of them.

And we've completley overlooked the green family--loden, moss, olive, sage, palm, mint, lush, bay leaf, British khaki, grass (bermuda, Kentucky blue, zoysia, buffalo, St. Augustine), to name a few. Once of each should cover the bases; after all, we're in the midst of a green revolution. You want people to think you believe global warming is just a theory?

Back to brown, such a broad spectrum that begins with the darker fawns. Since we got all of those, it would be outright discrimination to not get all the brown shades, as well. You wouldn't not hire a qualified brown-skinned job applicant, so why should headgear be any different? That's why we have Affirmative Hat Plans!

That raises the subject of the tones lighter than fawn--sand, bone, ecru, eggshell, beige, putty, moonstone, pearl, silverbelly, ivory, cement, stone, and, of course, white. In accordance with the balance principle, since you already have all the shades on the dark side of of fawn, you must necessarily get all those on the light end, as well. Fair is fair.

Oh, taupe, gotta have a taupe--or two, maybe three, more--as no two taupes are the same.

That should about do it, at least for the basic colors.

Now on to the supplementals--blues, reds--to be on the safe side, one each in a graduated array of shades.

And then there's the exotic colors...

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

Another Philadelphian here. I just took a walk to the Starbucks at 9th and South and then walked down South Street looking for some nice cutoff gloves. I saw 4 men wearing fedoras, not including myself. I think the national media equates confident/isolationist with "ugly and rude."

I think the national media is silly.

If you didn't find 'em, I can never remember the name of the place, but I always get my cut off gloves at that one hole in the wall by 3rd street (?). It sells a ton of cheap glasses, belts, bandanas, t-shirts and jewelry, mostly for women. They have 'em for a couple bucks. I always lose 'em, but I do like 'em enough to buy them every year.