Hat comeback

[tonyb]

Part of the "problem" with the IJ hats is their size. In a largely hatless world, the attention they draw puts them outside the average person's comfort zone.

These days, enough people are wearing those cheap stingies that they don't seem so, well, odd. (I was at Target yesterday and saw those hats in two departments there -- in the men's department and in what we used to call "juniors.")

It's the old maxim: Wear your clothes, don't let your clothes wear you. Even here, where folks dig deeply into the minutiae of this or that "classic" style, we can think of folks who have all the details about as right as they can be, but for all their efforts, the effect they project is of a person trying just too darned hard. "Look at me," is what it says. And that's generally off-putting.

That's the trick, ain't it? Knowing the difference between a distinctive personal look and what comes across as affectation?

 

[TheDane]

That's the trick, ain't it? Knowing the difference between a distinctive personal look and what comes across as affectation?

So spot on! :eusa_clap

 

[alanfgag]

So spot on! :eusa_clap

Agreed. That said, it is perfectly fine in my book for boys to play dress up too.

 

[tonyb]

And, perhaps the dandier among us are the trendsetters. Somebody has to be on the vanguard.

And maybe people who step out into the world knowing that they will be regarded as perhaps a bit clownish by some, and who don't care, are to be given a nod.

Still, it is late in the year 2013, and I live near the western shores of the North American continent, and, even setting aside any consideration of that fine set of legs with which I have been blessed, I wouldn't wear a kilt to anything other than a gathering of the clans. And I have absolutely no expectation of ever attending a gathering of the clans.

 

[TheDane]

Come on, Tony! A great pair of bottle-brushes of undyed silverbelly fur. I'm sure they would attract attention lol

 

[TheDane]

Agreed. That said, it is perfectly fine in my book for boys to play dress up too.

I don't mind the least that men dress up, either. But a 60 year old hiphop'er (who never touched a skateboard) with baggy pants, hoodie and a reversed ball-cap - or a guy who can't pick up a sixpack without wearing his full Gearloose, Spiderman or IJ costume - seems a bit troubled to me.

 

[John Galt]

If you are 60, it's a Sinatra hat ;-)


"Faint hat never won fair lady."

 

[John Galt]

So spot on! :eusa_clap

+1. Personally, I draw the line at the feather. I have a collection if anyone wants them...


"Faint hat never won fair lady."

 

[Zombie_61]

I don't recall Raiders of the Lost Ark (or any of the Indiana Jones movies, for that matter) having any sort of widespread impact on fashion in general; certainly not in the same way that Saturday Night Fever suddenly made club-hopping men want to wear polyester disco suits, or in the way Urban Cowboy gave men a desire to wear Western hats and ride mechanical bulls. Yes, I did see one or two men wearing fedoras and brown leather jackets in the early 80s, but these were the types of guys who changed to Gargoyles sunglasses and black leather biker jackets after The Terminator became a hit (i.e., movie fans who were eager to follow the latest trend).

If anything, I think Mad Men has had more of an impact in recent years than Raiders ever did. The show's popularity, combined with the popularity of stingy brimmed fedoras among sport and music "celebrities", seems to have convinced a lot of "average" guys that it's now "okay" or "acceptable" for them to wear fedoras without drawing too much attention to themselves (though there must surely be a percentage of them who wear a fedora just to "fit in" with their friends).

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^^^^

As you noted, Al, Mad Men has both advanced and benefited from the renewed popularity of midcentury styles in general.

Attribute that renaissance to any number of factors, not the least of which is a large baby-boom generation looking to recapture something of its now distant youth.

At the time of their release, Saturday Night Fever, and, to a lesser extent, Urban Cowboy, reflected fashions and lifestyles then extant. The films may have pushed all of that along, but people were going to discos and donning those clothing styles well before and well after the movie came out.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, on the other hand, was a period piece when it was made. It came out in 1981, I believe, and told a story set during WWII. Those relatively few Indiana Jones nuts aside, the film didn't spur an increased popularity in early 1940s fashion any more than Boardwalk Empire has people scrambling for spats and straw boaters.

 

[smokepiper]

Just ordered my second set of spats and another boater. Wait. What?

 

[hatguy1]

I don't mind the least that men dress up, either. But a 60 year old hiphop'er (who never touched a skateboard) with baggy pants, hoodie and a reversed ball-cap - or a guy who can't pick up a sixpack without wearing his full Gearloose, Spiderman or IJ costume - seems a bit troubled to me.

If you don't mind me saying, there's quite the difference between the "leather jacket and fedora look" and the other extremes you mentioned....

 

[1961MJS]

If you don't mind me saying, there's quite the difference between the "leather jacket and fedora look" and the other extremes you mentioned....[/QUOTE

Just don't show up with the bullwhip, that was always an odd one to me. I had one when I was 8, and they're a fun toy, but a grown man, with no mules...

It just don't seem right somehow. [huh]

Later

 

[EliasRDA]

Figured this would be a good spot, & since I didnt necro the thread (someone else did, heh), but correct me if I shpuld have done a new thread.

Was watching halfheartedly USA Channel today & saw where Cat Greenleaf was talking to some rapper(?) named Nas, who was wearing an okay grey fedora. Heres a clip link.. http://www.usanetwork.com/videos/usa-daytime-nas-part-4

More exposure to our passion of wearing fedoras.? [huh]

 

[alanfgag]

I was talking to a hat the other day...

me: "What do you think about a corduroy sweatband?"
hat: "I bet it would make headlines."

 

[hatsRme]

OMG. :eusa_clap

Is that what they mean by a "line up?"

 

[jhe888]

I don't see "proper" hats coming back in a big way any time soon.

But who knows - in the long run, fashion is hard to predict. We may all end up in hats (hoods?) when we are all wearing the silvery unitards of tomorrow!

 

[Zombie_61]

Hmmm...

Nope, there's just no way to make that outfit cool.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Very disturbing ........:eeek:

 

[TheDane]

Hmmm...