Can Anyone Pull Off a Wide-brim Fedora?

[Grizzly Adams]

The only person not able to pull off a wide brim fedora doesn't have a head.

 

[scottyrocks]

My favorite fedoras are 2 1/2 to 2 7/8". I have a couple that are 2", and they look good on me, but I just prefer the wider brims. I'm not a big guy. I'm 5'9", 155 lbs.

 

[Detective_Noir]

The only person not able to pull off a wide brim fedora doesn't have a head.

The Invisible man?

 

[mayserwegener]

Yes. One theory is that hat wearing stopped when the stingy brims in the 60s stopped them from being functional. At least thats one of many theories.

The person or persons that came up with that one must not have looked at past eras.

 

[Chief000731]

I don't care for the stingy brims... just my opinion though...

 

[tonyb]

Brims widths tended to widen and narrow along with lapels and neckties. Just check out mid- to late-1940s men's fashions. Wide brims, wide lapels, wide ties.

But that just points to the hazards of paying too much regard to the styles of the day. A man's body and face shapes might not be well suited to contemporary fashions. I see period photos from the early to mid-1960s and I often can't help but think, Sir, I have no reason to doubt you are (or were, more likely, at this point) a fine human being, but you are just too round for those skinny lapels and that narrow-brimmed, tapered-crown hat.

 

[suitedcboy]

The Invisible man?

I think a freely suspended wide brim is preferable to a freely suspended stingy.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

I don't like the look of stingy brims on me at alll..

2 1/2 is generally my style but with VS hats I can wear a 2 3/4 and pull it off for some reason....

Panama's 2 1/2 are my choice for every day wear and 2 3/4 are only for yard work, I just don't like the look on me with 2 3/4...

Now with all that said,, I could just be flat out dead wrong but after all it is my head and I look at it with my lid on as I leave the house every day, I want to like how the hat looks on me or I won't wear it - no matter how stylish it may be... Just my two cents

 

[Detective_Noir]

I think a freely suspended wide brim is preferable to a freely suspended stingy.

quite true

 

[KC Capellor]

I like my smallest trilby-like Resistol fedora, a Telstar 3X Kitten Finish, for sporty, lightweight, comfortable, close fitting wear its 1 3/4" brim and 4" crown don't get hung up on door frames of sports cars or woodland foliage while hiking or hunting.
Most of my '60's Resistol "stingy-brims" have 1 7/8" brims with 5 1/2" crowns and are quite well proportioned on my medium frame and head, like my favorite New Era 5X Kitten Finish:

In my opinion, the 1 3/4 - 2" brims look great with any modern casual or business attire. My widest fedora brims are only 2 1/4" and look plenty wide and very classic and dressy.


That said, on my frame fedora brims wider than 2 1/2" begin to look look quite "1930's gangster" - a very cool vintage look to be sure, but not my bag for everyday casual or dress wear. At this point my San Antonio Beaver 35 and Dalworth 3X come in with the near ideal proportions of 2 5/8" brim and 5" crown with the "Open Road" style providing the perfect hybrid of casual and dress wear. No wonder this is still one of the most popular style of felt hats period.

When the weather gets really hot - like now - I don't think anyone could argue against a broad brimmed Panama for both form and function. I don't care what shape my face is, when it is 110 in the shade a 3" brim and a ventilated crown on a white Panama hat make darn good fashion sense! Cheers and everybody stay cool!

 

[ChrisB]

Bushman-3 1/4" for me.

I pull it off by grasping the brim with my hands.

 

[Dan Allen]

What brim I wear sort of depends. I will go down to a 2" but feel more comfortable with 2 1/2. I am 160 lbs at 5'10" and small framed and some times I feel overpowered by my open roads at 2 7/8 and 3". That being said, my fishing hats are a 3 1/4"
Stetson #1 quality and a 3" Dorean safari hat. If I find a stingy brim of any quality a grab it- the wife with her long hair looks great under a stingy brim, so it just depends.

 

[1961MJS]

...Most of my '60's Resistol "stingy-brims" have 1 7/8" brims with 5 1/2" crowns and are quite well proportioned on my medium frame and head, like my favorite New Era 5X Kitten Finish:

Hi KC

You look good in the stingy I left in (In my opinion), but I think the wider brims fit you better. I just saw your location, bad timing, I just moved from Wichita to Oklahoma City, so now I drive through Tulsa to go back to Illinois, not KC.

Have you been by the Saint Joseph Stetson outlet? Stetsons aren't what they used to be, but are still decent hats. I own a Stetson Temple in Brown. I wear it a lot in the winter (which apparently won't be long down here).

Later

 

[animator]

I've never liked the way stingy brim hats look... that is just my opinion. So whether it looks good on me or not, I'm wearing wide brim hats.

 

[Dewhurst]

As everyone else has said, your overall stature and face size will go a long way in determining what you should wear. Although, I would like to point out that there are too many theories. At the end of the day, you gotta go with what looks good to you. And possibly anyone close to you. Allowing, of course, for adjustment time.

Personally, I'm 5'9", 172 pounds, slim, and no stand out shapes or features to my face. I believe that I look good in my kinds of hats, but my favorite brim size is definitely 2"-2 1/4". I zing at that width. Just my preference though. And I have hats with much more generous brims that I wear when I feel like it or when the weather permits. 2 3/8" to 2 1/2" are on the top of my scale, and I only go larger than that when I am going for a certain look or just want to block as much sun as possible.

 

[Mario]

I started out with stingy brims and went on to 2 1/2", 2 3/4" and even 2 7/8" brims. After that I started to develop a love for the 30's style fedoras with their shorter brims and taller crowns. My favored brim width is now at 2 1/8" or 2 1/4". It's a rather nasty coincidence that those lovely 20's/30's fedoras are so hard to find these days.

 

[seabass]

i started with stingys also, but this was about 33 years ago & they were good quality felts (used thrift store hats)
i moved to San francisco from NYC &i started buying bigger brims due to the nice felts & cool colors. I did not know these were special vintage hats. I just bought em used thats what i did & clothing, over 30 years ago there was a ample supply of vintage clothing & hats & they were better quality & cheep compared to new stuff. I was dressing Vintage & did not know it i always wore high waisted pants untill the supply ran out & i grew wider sorta like Fred Mertz, but Hey he was Cool ! (i can see myself now Metamorphing) from Ricky Ricardo to Fred Mertz during my lifetime................LOL
I have even taken wide brims to cut down to a stingy size as a young man..
there was this hatter on geary st & he knew 2'' & Butt-Cheeks (bash) was what i wanted,,,he always laughed but he was a Old-School hatter & times were hard for Hatters a while back.
i was a young kid cutting nice hats But that was the fashion 30 something years ago Stingy's.
Heck i was cuttin the beautiful finished edges we covet in vintage nowadays( ea. ) a Whippets thick binding, a Cav-edge... now i like em wider because it works for me better & i cant really pull off a modern stingy no way funny stuff to short a crown too nowadays....
so i like a wider brim & most of the time i leave the Brim snapped up or have em flanged straight.
I would think most folks & face shapes can pull off a wider brim today.... its just a lot of of guy's dont know how to wear em Like way up high in front thats not not going to work with a wide glide but thats how the young crowd wears em (easy to blow away with the slightest breeze) Hell i was in a Beautiful Museum with all my Grand kids in San francisco
at a Harry Houdini exhibit & this guy had a Beautiful super wide vintage on & my 10 year old grand son is laughing Papa lookit it's backwards & it has a big hole on the pointy part...
im trying not to look & Geez what a Mess. I had a Stratoliner with a flat brim.... we nod But i had to teach my boy that dont laugh & dont wear your hats funny have respect for other's..
My Boy was sporting a Vintage Adam Milan & the other boys had old newsie caps on,,, but thats how i was raised,, If i went out with Grand pa a hat was on me so we get looks yea.
But im not Concious of looks & or attention been hatted tooo long to notice really
SO GO FO THE WIDE BRIM ! & ENJOY IT

 

[Mario]

I also shortened a few brims myself and even reattached the binding.

 

[seabass]

I also shortened a few brims myself and even reattached the binding.

I have had that done well actually the Hatter just put the binding back he said it was no extra charge & it was the kind of binding that was wide on the Bottom of brim & super thin bead on top with a nice top stitch i think it was a Borso
Cant replace a Cav edge well hey i never asked heck !

 

[Rabbit]

& he knew 2'' & Butt-Cheeks (bash)...

Say, Che, what's the meaning of this colorful expression?