Hat comeback

[Widebrim]

You mean "The Whale"? (As the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner used to call their competitor.)

I used to prefer the Herald as you didn't have to do so much digging to actually find news among the advertisements. Of course, I suppose that those advertisements were what kept the Times going long after the Herald died.

Cheers,
Tom

I agree with you, Tom. The Herald-Examiner was easier to read (it had a better lay-out), and it had better comics (Blondie, Scamp, Life With Father, Snuffy Smith, etc.).

 

[Scotus]

People used to dress up for work. I do not live in a city now but I suppose people in the various financial districts still do dress up. That group being so passionately conformist in their dress, whether or not fedoras are presently part of the uniform is, I think, almost arbitrary. If, for whatever strange reason, they all decide at once to do so, it will happen. Either way, there are a vast number of entire industries where the men once wore jackets and ties every day to work and now do not. My point is, I believe people in great numbers do like the looks of fedoras, and admire them when they see them on other people, but do not see themselves wearing them. Perhaps because their self-image is of a very casual person. We are a nation of Jimmie Carters and Archie Bunkers. Though I have never before given fedoras any thought, I have been wearing one (and only one, gulp) for the last fifteen years. I am maybe too sensitive to how people respond to me and I never once in all that time felt that anyone responded anything but positively to my appearance in a fedora. Now that I'm getting into some nice new hats, I feel like I look pretty good as I make my daily rounds. I certainly do not feel like I'm looking fifty years behind the times. As far as I am concerned, mass popularity is the very last thing I want to happen to the very excellent, the noble, the distinguished fedora.

Well said, and welcome to the forum, sir.

 

[hatguy1]

In order to have a fedora comeback on such a grand scale you also must have a comeback of the suit, tie and every piece of clothing that has been dying in the last 30-40 years. So no, I doubt they will ever make a comeback in our lifetime if ever.

I - respectfully - disagree. Indiana Jones was better known for his fashionable sporting of a fedora OUT of a suit and tie than in one. I'm beginning to see a resurgence of fedoras in casual wear in the States for sure and every now and then with a suit.

Other hats are for sure coming back more prevalently in style here too. Of course being a hat fan in general (& of fedoras specifically) I'm hoping for a major league comeback of hats for gentlemen.

 

[Matt Crunk]

I - respectfully - disagree. Indiana Jones was better known for his fashionable sporting of a fedora OUT of a suit and tie than in one. I'm beginning to see a resurgence of fedoras in casual wear in the States for sure and every now and then with a suit.

Other hats are for sure coming back more prevalently in style here too. Of course being a hat fan in general (& of fedoras specifically) I'm hoping for a major league comeback of hats for gentlemen.

I think Hollywood still sets fashion trends and standards more than most people want to admit. With the resurgence of "hat pictures" in recent years (period films and TV shows set in the Golden era), I think the general public are slowly starting to realize how sharp a man in a hat (and suit) can look.

 

[hatguy1]

I think Hollywood still sets fashion trends and standards more than most people want to admit. With the resurgence of "hat pictures" in recent years (period films and TV shows set in the Golden era), I think the general public are slowly starting to realize how sharp a man in a hat (and suit) can look.

Hat pictures? VERY cool! I mean; whatever it takes, right?

 

[tonyb]

I've been skeptical of "the comeback of the fedora" for as long as I've heard such words muttered.

But lately I've become something of a believer.

No, I don't think I'll ever see "proper" hats be as prevalent as they were 60-plus years ago. But I'm seeing more and more of our younger brethren -- guys in their 20s and 30s -- wearing hats. They're generally cheap, stingy-brim style hats, but they ARE hats. And habits made young are habits that tend to stick. (That's what advertisers tend to believe, at any rate, which is why so much advertising is aimed at young people.)

 

[hatguy1]

No, I don't think I'll ever see "proper" hats be as prevalent as they were 60-plus years ago. But I'm seeing more and more of our younger brethren -- guys in their 20s and 30s -- wearing hats.

Of course, if fedoras et al become "the rage" then all our uniquenesses won't be so unique anymore if Everybody's wearing a hat.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Of course, if fedoras et al become "the rage" then all our uniquenesses won't be so unique anymore if Everybody's wearing a hat.

The argument is to be made that vintage hats, much like A&C furniture, much like other American Decorative Art is made by concerns long gone, with materials now largely depleted & with techniques no longer (as) known/used.

the lesson here, is to... leave your hats to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, I guess. Today's trash being tomorrow's treasure and so on. [huh]

 

[scottyrocks]

I - respectfully - disagree. Indiana Jones was better known for his fashionable sporting of a fedora OUT of a suit and tie than in one. I'm beginning to see a resurgence of fedoras in casual wear in the States for sure and every now and then with a suit.

Other hats are for sure coming back more prevalently in style here too. Of course being a hat fan in general (& of fedoras specifically) I'm hoping for a major league comeback of hats for gentlemen.

TBH, I believe that if the IJ movies had never been made, none of the other movies after them featuring hats would not have been made, either, and fedora consciousness would be waaay below what it is today.

True, in the overall scheme of things, not many people wear them, but it would have been significantly less in real life, as well as the entertainment industry.

 

[hatguy1]

TBH, I believe that if the IJ movies had never been made, none of the other movies after them featuring hats would not have been made, either, and fedora consciousness would be waaay below what it is today.

That's probably right.

 

[TheDane]

TBH, I believe that if the IJ movies had never been made, none of the other movies after them featuring hats would not have been made, either, and fedora consciousness would be waaay below what it is today.

May very well be true - and maybe "Raiders of the Lost Ark" never would have been made, if classic hats and caps hadn't been re-introduced in "The Great Gatsby" - only 7 years prior(?)

 

[hatguy1]

May very well be true - and maybe "Raiders of the Lost Ark" never would have been made, if classic hats and caps hadn't been re-introduced in "The Great Gatsby" - only 7 years prior(?)

I'm wondering if the appeal of Indiana Jones to the average man wasn't stronger than the Gatsby characters? By that I mean, all us guys are wannabe adventurers at heart and Indy seemed very "real" - in just a bit over his head, witty, macho, etc.

 

[tonyb]

I'm no big fan of the Indiana Jones movies. Got nothing more against them than most popular entertainments, of which I am no big fan, either. It just ain't my cup o' coffee.

I like the Indiana Jones hats just fine, though. Large, full-crowned, fairly "brimmy" hats. To the extent the movies popularized the look, well, I'm cool with that. I even went so far as to pay admission to see the most recent of the films, seeing how I had an acquaintance of sorts with the guy who made the hats.

But I'm sure I'm not the only one who was amused by all the Minnesota Schmidts of this world who got a bit carried away with the Indiana Jones drag. Full-grown men (some of them, anyway) playing dress-up, is how it came across. I mean, I like leather jackets and large fedoras myself, but when was the last time the average guy had any practical use for a bullwhip?

Unlike some here, I have never once been called Indiana Jones, even when in a well-worn brown leather jacket and a large, full-crowned, fairly brimmy fedora.

But, like some here, it would probably annoy the hell out of me if someone were to call me that.

 

[tuco1963]

lmao tony
i agree 100%
(But, like some here, it would probably annoy the hell out of me if someone were to call me that. )

 

[KingAndrew]

Hats are certainly much more popular than they were a few years ago. And while the most popular (non-baseball) style is the stingy-brim in cloth or wool felt, that's OK. As Tony said, many of these young men will continue wearing hats and a certain percentage will move up to finer styles and materials as time passes (and their income improves/hair thins out). Certainly most men buy nicer clothes and cars as they get older, so hats should follow suit (as it were). Also, the only hats available at most stores are the cloth/wool variety. You can't expect high school kids and college students interested in trying out hats to start by commissioning a custom from Art Fawcett or Optimo or to battle it out on eBay for a vintage Whippet (at about the same price as a custom).

But I get plenty of compliments and questions about my hats every day. I refer folks to our one local hat shop and the Fedora Lounge and gladly explain whatever hat I'm wearing. Appreciation of quality and style develops through education and emulating a role model. Each of us has a chance to be such a model every day

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

... the Indiana Jones drag. ...

Snarky and clever! Worthy of the Algonquin Round Table!

 

[KingAndrew]

Indiana Jones certainly drew a great deal of attention to his hat. And the Gatsby film was widely covered in men's style publications like GQ and Esquire at the time. But another great film from the early 70s that features both fine hats and a tough guy protagonist is "Chinatown" with Jack Nicholson. I don't know if it got many men to dress differently, but it certainly influenced other filmmakers, perhaps inspiring other films set during the Golden Era in the years following its release.

 

[tonyb]

None of which is to dispute hatguy1's observation that the average guy would more strongly identify with the Indiana Jones character than the characters in Gatsby.

I have no way of knowing that to be so, but my intuition says it is.

 

[TheDane]

None of which is to dispute hatguy1's observation that the average guy would more strongly identify with the Indiana Jones character than the characters in Gatsby.

I completely agree, but at least in this part of the World, Gatsby had a much heavier impact on the fashion industry. Until the middle of the 70s I had only seen 8-panel caps in pictures. In the streets I saw a lot of ivy-types, but no newsboys. After the movie, I could take a short walk through town and see several dozen, worn by both men and women.

There were lots of other minor impacts of the movie, but the newsboy cap was extremely "hot" those days. It faded after a few years - and after a few more, IJ hit. Since that happened, I have never seen more than one or two IJ-like hats in a day in Copenhagen ... and a very good day, that is.

The Wild West component of the Jones character makes it fit a lot better in with American history and culture. The movies were very popular here too, but I don't think Danish men identify with IJ to the same degree. I guess, Mark Kitter can be seen as the exception that proves the rule

 

[alanfgag]

Everyone loves a comeback story.