Courage to Wear a Fedora

[tmal]

thanks, and you're right, not terribly informative

 

[Big J]

Well, there are much worse people to be "mistaken" for. Love that movie, and Slim Pickens. I can never decide if I liked him best in Dr. Strangelove, 1941, or Blazing Saddles.

Later

That's true! But I have got to be in a really good mood to pull that off.
Was he in 1941? I'll have to watch that again- my Japanese wife has never seen it, should make her chuckle.

 

[DesertDan]

A wide brim hat has been a part of my daily wardrobe ever since I was a young man (I am 50 now).
I have been in the construction trades almost my whole life and I could never understand why anyone would wear a ballcap with its lack of protection from the elements. I never really cared for cowboy hats so I started out with Aussie 'digger' style hats. From there it wasn't long before I moved to the fedora style.

I confess that I have never felt self conscious wearing them, it has just been the style I wear and I never gave it much thought. I can't recall ever recieving a negative comment and on the rare occasion that I have been hatless I am often told by people I know that they almost didn't recognize me.

So find a style(s) you like and wear it, make it your own, and before long putting on a hat before you head out the door will seem no more remakable to you than putting on your shoes.

 

[GregNYC]

Richard, I agree - go with your instincts.

 

[1961MJS]

thanks, and you're right, not terribly informative

Hi

I could never work out which face type I am, so I gave up. I generally wear a 2 3/4 to 3 inch brim and a minimum of a 5.75 inch open crown, but 6 inch open crowns look good also. I usually wear a center dent or a roughrider crease.

Later

 

[HeyMoe]

odd hatter welcome to the lounge,
when i started wearing fedoras full time two and a half years ago i was the only one in town .
now im seeing straw and fur felt fedoras more and more.

Same boat here. Counted five people in the very small Capitol of Vermont yesterday wearing fedoras. That may not seem like a lot, but if you have never been to Montpelier, VT, it is actually a pretty good precentage of the population. Out of those, I only saw one modern crappy fedora. The others were wider brim and looked pretty good.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Here is the vintage guide to fitting faces:

 

[fedoracentric]

Yes, that is the one!! Thanks

 

[HudsonHawk]

I've bought so many straws and now felts retail that I need to move into vintage and custom.

Out of curiosity, why do you feel you need to do this?

 

[GregNYC]

"Need" might be too strong, sorry. Well, vintage keeps the hobby fresh... The two vintage hats I have are soooo good. Sharp lines and great felt. The there are many decades of hats to explore. How to continue with current makers? I heard Borsalino is having problems these days. They didn't release any summer straws I heard. The retail folks I talked to don't know what's happening for Fall... Part of the hobby for me is wanting to explore lots of different angles and areas...




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[HudsonHawk]

"Need" might be too strong, sorry. Well, vintage keeps the hobby fresh... The two vintage hats I have are soooo good. Sharp lines and great felt. The there are many decades of hats to explore. How to continue with current makers? I heard Borsalino is having problems these days. They didn't release any summer straws I heard. The retail folks I talked to don't know what's happening for Fall... Part of the hobby for me is wanting to explore lots of different angles and areas...

I guess this is what I'm asking...are you a hat collector and wearing one as an extension of your hobby, or are they simply a functional piece of your daily dress. Or perhaps somewhere in between. Point being, I would think the way one views hats in general would directly influence the original question about whether or not one is self conscious about wearing one. Personally, I'm not a collector, and don't have any particular interest in a hat just because it's old or unusual. I'm just a fellow who likes to wear hats, so I don't really think about projecting an image or worry about how others view it. But if I were a collector, I could see how that may be different.

 

[GHT]

I would guess few. That would make the person in his 70s or so and I don't think we have many members in that age category, do we? I think our oldest members are in their early 60s, aren't they? Most of us are under 60, right?

It would be interesting to know the age range of members, though.

1960 saw me celebrate 14 years of age and by 1970 I was 24, so I guess that counts me in. Not quite seventy yet, 18 months away, if the grim reaper leaves me alone.

Something I found useful in getting the 'bottle' (cockney expression for courage,)to wear a fedora. When you dress down, deliberately, wear a panama hat, it will protect you from the sun, and as well as the more conventional shape, you can get one fedora shaped. It's a straw hat mind, so don't go getting caught in the rain, although if it does get wet, you can get it reblocked. A panama will match almost anything that you wear. Then, having built up your confidence, you are only one stage away from your first felt fedora, which I realise that you have already done.

Wear your hat without thinking about it, if you don't notice it, others won't. The more self conscious you feel, the more self conscious you will look. It doesn't matter if you get derogatory remarks on Facebook, that will always happen. Posted by morons who think looking like you have been dragged through a bush, backwards, is cool. Wear your hat with pride my friend.

 

[GregNYC]

It's changing for me, and each phase adds to my confidence. For me, it began on doctor's orders. Then I wanted to look good too. And that brought to mind the B+W films from mid-century. So I looked for classic styles among retail offerings. Bought a bunch. And then I became enthusiastic beyond just having a hat to wear. So I feel myself moving in the direction of collector. I have collected many other things, and there is always the acquisition one makes as a collector where one HAS the item without USING the item. I don't want this to happen with hats!


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[RJR]

You must wear the hat,not the other way around.As many have said,soon you'll feel strange without a hat.

 

[GregNYC]

I'm starting to feel that way now after a month...


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[jkingrph]

Like you I was rather timid about wearing a hat. I have always had a western straw or felt, but even limited their use. A few years back I started with some of the Tilley hats in the spring for rain protection and shade and got to like them, and got a few nice comments so gravitated to one of the straw fedora s from Panama Bob. I could not believe the admiring looks and positive comments, especially from real young ladies, like upper teens , lower twenties, too an old guy, I'll be 69 next month. I next picked up a couple of Arkubra hats , then some custom made from Art Fawcett( that's the way to go) and one of the true Indy models from Steve Delk. I even have some cheap cotton & nylon mesh models from the feed and seed that I use for yard work. I hardely every step out the door without putting on a hat, usually a fedora style. My wife likes the way they look on me, and being in E. Texas likes the style because she can spot me easily across a busy store among the western styles and gimme caps.

Choose your style and wear it, you will be self conscious for a while, but will quickly get to the point where wearing one will be second nature. Also as some mentioned in a earlier reply, try one of the open road styles. I have several including one 20x Stetson felt and a couple in genuine Panama straw, not the Shantung (paper straw) and all have the brims turned down giving more of a fedora effect than the western cattleman styling.

 

[jkingrph]

I purchased my first hat about 10 years ago, an Akubra fed in brown. Like others here I'd always admired Harrison Fords hats in the IJ movies and after years of wanting one I finally took the plunge. It looked so strange to me when I first put it on though that I felt to self conscious to wear it outdoors and it sat in a box for many wears unworn (I didn't find the lounge until just a couple of years ago or else I might have preservered). I think going from not wearing any fedora-type hat at all to an indy style one is a huge step, and I can certainly understand your trepidation.

I had another stab at hat wearing a few years later, buying an Akubra Banjo Paterson. This is a much more casual looking fur felt hat, and not an indy hat at all, and so I felt less nervous about wearing this, but it wasn't quite what I was after; it's crown has a lot of taper and is quite short. But as a 'starter hat' it was great, and just allowed me to get used to wearing hats without feeling too odd. My next hat was an Akubra campdraft, what I consider to be my first real fedora (if you haven't figured it out yet, I love Akubras, the best non-custom hats you can get imo). It's the same style as an open road that many people have suggested, and I couldn't agree with them more. They have large snap brims for sun protection, and tall straight crowns (like the Indy hat), but their thin ribbon gives them (to my eye) a more casual look than a federation. These were my go to hats for quite some time before I started wearing beaver-felt customs, but even today they get some head time here and there.

Just to comment on one specific point


The general public don't seem able to discern any difference at all between a silverbelly cowboy hat, a brown federation, or a black porkpie, as whatever style of fedora I wear I seem to get an equal amount of Justified/Indy/Breaking Bad references, so I wouldn't worry about looking like Indy, unless you also tend to wear brown leather jackets and/or shoulder bags.

So I'd say just stick with it, you'll get used to the feeling of a hat on your head so much that you'll start feeling strange when you don't have one on!

Well said. I started my felt odessy with the Banjo Patterson, then to the Campdraft in open crown models which I shaped myself.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I have collected many other things, and there is always the acquisition one makes as a collector where one HAS the item without USING the item. I don't want this to happen with hats!

I can say the same. Collected a lot of electronic machines (mostly computers) but I can't use them nowadays because there is no use for them. Technology moves too fast!
A hat is a hat and I can wear the same hat I bought 10 years ago in the next 20 (or more) years. Can't do that with a computer.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Hello to all of my new friends in the forum!

I've been lurking about a bit and learning quite a lot as well as thoroughly enjoying all the pictures of you fine ladies and gentlemen in your awesome hats, that I felt the need to join and briefly introduce myself. Also... I have a lingering question I only discovered as I first began wearing a fedora.

A bit of background: due to a skin cancer concern about two months ago (I'm that new to hat wearing) I learned that my old trusty baseball cap wasn't cutting it and wide-brimmed hats were the way to go. Where I live (central WI) baseball caps and the occassional cowboy hat (usually the straw variety mostly worn by farmers in my neck of the woods) are about it and I just couldn't get into cowboy hats. I remembered the hats my grandfather used to wear and felt that was the only option.

I also felt I didn't have the guts to actually wear one, let alone where to buy one.

My wife found an inexpensive fur felt off of amazon she liked and got one for me without my being aware - turns out it's the "officially licensed Indiana Jones" one. I felt a little corny - like a 47 year old man playing Indy in the backyard - but my wife likes it and it's beginning to grow on me. I know it's not a "real" fedora, but I'm learning.

Anyhow, I'm discovering that I'm either more self-conscious than I realized, or just gutless. It seems to me that it takes a bit of steel in the nerves when you first begin wearing a fedora inspite of all the sound medical reasons in the world to charge on. Honestly, like many of you, I've made the commitment and am not turning back - like I said, it's growing on me - but I still must be honest that I can feel a little uncomfortable, especially in busy public places like a department store or eatery. It seems I'm the only man in my town of 45k that wears a fedora! Standing in line is almost painful sometimes.

I'm sure this timidness will pass as this becomes a part of my daily routine, but how did you begin? Were your experiences similiar? I never thought twice about how wearing a fedora takes courage - and I only recently learned of all the hating online associated with fedoras which only adds to this (thank God for the fedora lounge) - but it seems that not only am I taking measures to protect my skin, I'm growing more as a man.

Maybe that was what my wife was thinking? I would love to read some of your stories of those early days to help add steel to my nerves.

Hello. You will find yourself here and in good hands. There are a ton of people that can tell you so much about hats and what to look for, tips on everything you can think of (and then some). And that is just the start, you can see other parts of the site, the forums go into many topics from sunglasses to shoes, and for us "Gals", we have a section all for ourself now, in case your Wife would care to venture along....

As you may know (if you do not you will soon know how to find this out) your hat size, and you cruise the Classifieds here, you may see something that is your size, a bargain in the selling price, and...really eye catching for your own personal self image.

My Husband wore a Fedora for a long time and had "no clue" as to the history of the maker, or even had he noted the hat size, all he knew he liked the look and it was a vintage hat in near new condition.....THEN I wanted to help get my Husband on this site, so....oddly I was able to contact a "Lounger" that was on eBay selling hat oriented items.....and "BOOM"! Here we are! Now, we are not all perfect, but the norm around here is you can about trust things to be really honest, and if someone makes a mistake, the more experts hanging around will jump right in and let you know what is correct, "if" they know! I think not one person could ever learn enough of facts and dates and histories and makers of hats...but a few sure know tons.

As my Husband would say, "stick around, this is the place to be"!!!!:bounce:

 

[Dumpster Diver]

wear em if you got em.