Civility Wears a Hat - Theodore Dalrymple

[cookie]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,17516038-7583,00.html

 

[Nick D]

Interesting article to read.

One thing that occurred to me, though. In his example of walking down a dark street and encountering a man in a proper hat vs. cap with the brim over the eyes and hood pulled up, how different is that from some noir situation where you encounter a man with the brim of his fedora over his eyes and the collar of his trench coat up? How would we today react, not neccessarily people in the 1930s and 40s.

 

[DrSpeed]

Cookie, I agree wholeheartedly!
:eusa_clap
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=30730

 

[Charlie Noodles]

What about the 'gangstas' who favour the nicer hats? What if the chav embraced a homburg rather than a fake burberry cap? Civility might wear a hat. But this is because they are not mainstream and appeal mostly to certain circles. If everyone wore them then the perception would no longer be accurate. Because you'd have more of the uncivil donning them as well as the rest.

 

[thunderw21]

What about the 'gangstas' who favour the nicer hats? What if the chav embraced a homburg rather than a fake burberry cap? Civility might wear a hat. But this is because they are not mainstream and appeal mostly to certain circles. If everyone wore them then the perception would no longer be accurate. Because you'd have more of the uncivil donning them as well as the rest.

Agreed. The premise of the article, while I agree with it, is set in the olden days when 'civilized' men wore 'civilized' hats. There were exceptions to the rule, as the article pointed out, but as a whole it was true. For the most part civility was the rule of the day back when hats were normal. Today we're into 'shock value' and the young mainstream hat wearer follows in lockstep.
Today's hip hop culture has to some extent brought back the hat in it's own image. I fear that today the homburg and fedora is more a part of hip hop culture for a lot of folks than it is a part of a culture of tradition and respect.

 

[Slim Portly]

What about the 'gangstas' who favour the nicer hats? What if the chav embraced a homburg rather than a fake burberry cap? Civility might wear a hat. But this is because they are not mainstream and appeal mostly to certain circles. If everyone wore them then the perception would no longer be accurate. Because you'd have more of the uncivil donning them as well as the rest.

From the article:

"Of course, everything depends on cultural context. At one time Hitler wore proper hats (though he seems to have abandoned them as soon as he attained absolute power), as did Chicago gangsters and the politburo of the Soviet Union when it assembled on top of Lenin's mausoleum. Proper hats are thus no guarantee of moral rectitude.

Irrespective of the meaning of proper hats in times gone by, we always live in our own social and cultural context, and the fact is that certain kinds of hats do convey civility and others convey incivility."

Of course there are always exceptions to every rule, as with the example given in this thread of "gangstas" adopting proper attire, but as they say, it's the exception that proves the rule.

 

[Selentino]

Good point. a Homburg used to be a nice respectable hat. I won't touch one now.

 

[Charlie Noodles]

I didn’t think the rebuttal about Hitler and such was really worth a mention. The general tone seems to suggest ‘more nice hats = more nice behaviour’ which is rather silly.

There’s something to the idea of a person filling out and playing a role they’re given. An example being the Stanford Prison Experiment. But what it means to be a dress hat wearer is not set in stone. You could be the Green Hornet, Elwood P. Dowd, Al Capone etc.

People look at dress hat and see different things, our fellow hat wearers who consider themselves ‘gangsta’ proves this. With fedoras for instance there’s a big perception in society that all of the gangsters of the Golden Era wore the hat but no one else did. Some here may feel more civil for wearing a hat. But by the same token the next guy might feel like a hardcore, bloodthirsty Mafioso.

 

[Slim Portly]

*shrug*

I looked around but I didn't find an online forum with tens of thousands of posts devoted to thugs wearing nice hats, but I suppose it's possible that we ladies and gentlemen here are the exception rather than the rule.

lol

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

For the most part, it has always seemed that finer attire and better behavior go hand-in-glove, shall we say.

Many people, when conscious of wearing "proper" clothing, a dress hat counting as such, feel a certain subconscious responsibility of sorts to act in a civilized manner.

Of course there are always exceptions but generally this phenomenon holds.

An interesting by-product of carrying a concealed weapon did it for me. I became immediately aware of the responsibility that goes along with that right and noticed myself being even more courteous and patient with people in order to ensure that I never am the cause of an altercation or an escalation of hostilities.

The hat is for me an outward symbol, a reminder to the world of a more stylish and respectful period in time. I love it when it promotes conversations along these lines when I am in public.

 

[Garrett]

I really enjoyed this thread, especially Gene's last post. Well said, man. :eusa_clap Oh yeah and BUMP!