Fedora hats are rarely sexy - or so does she think...

[gtdean48]

How do you mark a thread to be ignored?

 

[Yeps]

It is interesting, I was just looking out of curiosity at the difference of opinions between askmen and esquire on hats, and esquire is much more favorable. Generally, it promotes much better dressing than askmen. I assume it is for a different audience.

This is a quote from an article:

Now don't get me wrong: Hats are sexy, and I encourage them. But if you decide to partake, do yourself a favor and invest in a high-quality fedora.

 

[Mulceber]

I feel like people are getting too emotional about this: no matter what you wear, there's going to be someone who disapproves - it's inevitable on a planet with ~6 billion people. Frankly, I can even agree with her on a couple points:

1. Most of the people whose photos she posted actually didn't look good in their hats. Many of them were wearing designer label hats that weren't even really felt, and the rest were wearing ultra-modern felt hats that still don't look good. In many cases they weren't even wearing hats that matched their features well. Three of them she thought looked good: Indiana Jones, the Blues Brothers and some model wearing a straw golf hat. In other words, 2/3 of the ones she thought looked good were wearing relatively vintage styles.

2. I agree with her that if you're looking to exude sheer sex appeal, fedoras probably aren't the best way to do it. I know I wouldn't wear a hat (any hat) on a first date, as it would obscure my face and make me seem more remote and less personable. I think in the beginning when you're trying to establish a relationship with someone, wearing a garment that makes your face harder to see - even if you're only wearing it outside - probably isn't a good idea. So yes, I can to some extent agree that Fedoras aren't the definition of sex appeal, but then again, I don't think any one of us is wearing a hat so that we can be the next great pickup artist. We wear them because they're stylish and we like the way they look. If the author of that article doesn't get that, who cares? She has her definition of style and we have ours. And I think ours is definitely the more enduring one. -M

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

The points about the efficacy of militant feminism could be a whole 'nuther thread!

Still, I don't think hats make people sexy. Except where a male's hat denotes a certain level of manliness, etiquette and style... I guess that could be a sexy thing in a round about way... the whole concept of a hat screams propriety and manners, not "sexy."

Heck, even women wore hats for other women to see, not men. Have men ever looked at a pill box hat with a feather and a bit of gauze and said, "oh, THAT'S sexy"?? Somehow I doubt it.

I think this woman misses the whole original point for a hat. Covering one's head was meant to be respectful. It was not supposed to scream promiscuity. It's just that fedoras have so fallen out of use that most people -- like this young woman -- seem to have forgotten what they were for (that's why we are here on the forum, because others have lost touch with the hat).

Lastly, some may say that a woman wearing a man's fedora is sexy. Well, that may be but think about why that is. It says that said women is being "daring," and unconventional. It tells the man that she just might be open for anything and that is provocative to a man (maybe the woman wouldn't imagine she is sending that message, but it is to the man). On the other hand if that same woman was wearing a woman's hat, it might rather say she's just interested in fashion and little else to a man.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

I'm impressed she manages to function at all if her head is truly wedged as far up her own rectum as this suggests. lol Wish I'd read her biog first - "recovering feminist" indeed.... any woman who considers being a feminist as something undesirable is unlikely to be someone who produces an opinion worth the reading, IMFNSHO.

Love it! I guess for me (who used to traipse 'round the playground wearing a "Give us this day our ERA" button) the feminist thing is more a question of equality and empowerment than the Andrea Dworkin-type extreme where if a fella points a cotton bud in a gal's direction it's indicative of some desire to rape her. Now the latter I could understand disowning lickity-split.

I think the article is a useful read. After all, we have regular stories about our myriad of hecklers from day to day. Very few of them feature an antagonist who fully articulates his/her rationale. If a person doesn't like what I wear, I want to know why. Usually I go on doing what I do, but every once in a while, even a heckler has a core of truth. In this article, she really drives home the idea of head shapes and angles and whatnot. While I do think the core of the argument is BS - that hats almost never look good, I think if a person is going to wear a hat, keeping in mind some of the pitfalls that hat haters notice most would be useful - a nice heads up.

EDIT: RE: Recovering feminist - My conclusion is that the author took the worst of feminism as the core of feminism and saw it as something to run away from. There's productive feminism and there's man hating. I suspect she's recovered from the latter. It's a shame the latter shares the same label as the set of ideals that achieved the great strides in equality. She does similar disservice to hat wearers in the article itself, in my opinion. There are a lot of people who wear hats in a way the majority might not find flattering. I wonder if there's more unflattering hat use than flattering - an argument could be made. Nonetheless, it's not an issue of men in hats. That's too simple, and nothing's ever simple. Anyone can look good in a hat. The key is finding the right one. While she does acknowledge that briefly, it's largely overshadowed by the bigger "Fedoras pretty much never look good, ever" argument she works so hard to drive home.

I don't know about hats being "sexy". In fact, I don't quite get why a hat would have any reason to have that quality. What is this modern obsession with oozing pheromones? How about being warm, or being stylish, for example, which is probably the reason any man in a well-fitting hat or nice cap (not baseball, unless they are currently playing that game) usually gets my head turning or a very appreciative glance at the least...

 

[HoundstoothLuke]

What a vacuous waste of internet space. Reading the comments underneath is no better- I now feel as if I would rather fire a nailgun into my eyes then read any more of that drivel.

 

[MarkD]

I think sexy is subjective. I think classy is sexy. Any bubblehead can take off clothes and be "sexy". It takes thought to be classy and I for one am attracted to a lady who has a brain and uses it.

 

[hatophile]

Well said, Mark!

 

[Fletch]

That's going too far - I can agree that some of the more radical strains of it are just as bad as the misogynists they fight, but I see nothing wrong with the notion that women should be given legal and social rights equal to men. -M

I quite agree, and fwiw, I find the essentialists almost as pernicious as the misogynists/misandrists. So please forgive my sardonicism. You too, Mob.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I agree with her, I don't find fedoras on men to be sexy. Fedoras on women, however, are incredibly sexy...

But we already have a thread on that.

Brad

 

[Widebrim]

When you're bald on top like me, there is that ever-present hope that with a fedora on you will look sexy in the eyes of the opposite sex.:eusa_doh: Seriously, while wearing a hat I have had women look at me in a way that they often don't without one on (and I mean in a positive way...). Oh, and thanks to the author of the article for making an incredibly broad statement about white men not looking good in fedoras (and then lumping Cuban men, who are not of one race, but range from light white to deep bronze, all into one group)...As Dr. Strange wrote, nonsense.

 

[Widebrim]

It is interesting, I was just looking out of curiosity at the difference of opinions between askmen and esquire on hats, and esquire is much more favorable. Generally, it promotes much better dressing than askmen. I assume it is for a different audience.

This is a quote from an article:

Right, but Esquire also insists that a hat always be removed while entering an elevator.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Looks like we are all pretty close to the same page on "sexy" hats.

 

[Mulceber]

I don't know about hats being "sexy". In fact, I don't quite get why a hat would have any reason to have that quality. What is this modern obsession with oozing pheromones? How about being warm, or being stylish, for example, which is probably the reason any man in a well-fitting hat or nice cap (not baseball, unless they are currently playing that game) usually gets my head turning or a very appreciative glance at the least...

It's hardly modern. It's basically been that way to one extent or another for as long as mankind has existed. The Victorian era of sexual repression and reserve (of which fashion styles in the early 20th century were in many ways a holdover) was a hiccup in human history. Don't get me wrong, I love the clothing of that era, but the modern obsession with sexuality is far more representative of human attitudes throughout history than the 19th and early-20th centuries. -M

 

[scottyrocks]

Hmm. This woman is about as deep as a children's kiddie pool. Sexy? Who is she looking at? Some Hollywood guys that maybe dont even know how what a real fedora is an/or how wear one, except for Farrell. I think he looks pretty durn good in that fedora.

Regardless, she writes what so many bored (especially) women crave these days - something to drink in and go <tee hee> over.

And she, deep down, is evidently ashamed of what she writes - she cant even put down her last name! j/k on that, but its all so silly really. Who really cares what 'Isabella' thinks?

 

[Jabos]

She probably has strong opinions about mens beards, their clothes, hair, cars, eyeglasses. You name it. She will complain about it and tell you what she doesn't like. I think I was married to her back in the 70's. :eusa_doh:

lollol

 

[MikeBravo]

My only comment. "Sexy" is subjective.

For me sexiness comes from within. It's about confidence, being comfortable in one's own skin. If a fedora makes you feel that way, you just might be "sexy"

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

Oh, and thanks to the author of the article for making an incredibly broad statement about white men not looking good in fedoras (and then lumping Cuban men, who are not of one race, but range from light white to deep bronze, all into one group)...As Dr. Strange wrote, nonsense.

That thing puzzled me too, as well as her stating about how she couldn't tell if some model is "latino" or "caucasian"...
I mean

1- who cares? wasn't the argument "does he look sexy in a hat"? But obviously she has made her rater simplistic and stupid statement about white men not looking sexy in fedoras and she has to defend it. Nonsense.

2-"latino" and "caucasian" are different terms, one relating to culture the other to physical traits. Mixing them together shows a certain degree of ignorance.

3-the hat the model is wearing, that she finds to be soooo hot and finely conceived, is some kind of cheapo you can buy for 10 euros in local markets here. I can get her a ton of those

Ciao!

 

[Packin' Heat]

She's right, she just doesn't understand what she's saying until toward the end when she brings up the Blues Brothers in suits. Unless you're Indiana Jones, fedoras do look ridiculous--except with a suit or clothing pertaining to one. I would never go out on the town wearing casual clothing with a fedora. So anyway, I agree with her partially, though from how she writes (black men can pull of the fedora look easier than white men, ect.), I estimate her intelligence to be lacking.

Edit: And I know this sounds a little hypocritical with my avatar being a picture of me wearing an undershirt with a fedora, but then again, that I'm not doing that on the town.

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

I mean, if we are talking about looking "sexy" (or "dressy", "mature", "smart", "young"... whatever you like)

it's not really what you wear, but HOW you wear it. Simple as that.
She quite approaches the point when she describes how some guy wearing his hat at an angle looks better than other guy having his hat to much "straight" or too much back on his head and stuff like that;
well, I mean, all you need is a mirror, then is all a matter of subjective taste.

But then again she ruins the whole thing with ramblings about "whiteys" and latinos pulling off the "well dressed gangster"...

PS
It would be easier to answer her with an article like:
"Real men should not use SHOES!"

you just need to post some photos of actors wearing horrible, old or dirty shoes, compare with photos of barefeet models taking sunbaths near a swimming pool, et voila, you win your argument