Hat comeback

[Godfrey]

Agree on the Australia front. Lots more in Melbourne - especially in summer. Fedora's are about more this year as we move into winter. Its interesting - I started wearing mine into work more often and after a few months 2 guys in my area have followed suit. I agree that the more people who wear them the more it snowballs.

I've noticed a bowler in town as well so you never know.

 

[elvisroe]

I've certainly seen a stack of cheap trilbies around Sydney over the last year or so. Most are pretty fugly "fashion hats" or rough straw but you do see the occasional quality felt number and it does stand out.

We've got a lot of old Italian guys around my part of town and those guys really wear their Fedoras well!

Interestingly the trench coat is back this season in a big way along with 3-piece suits and thin ties so you never know "real" hats may follow!

 

[Doublegun]

Interestingly the trench coat is back this season in a big way along with 3-piece suits and thin ties so you never know "real" hats may follow!

I would like to own one REALLY nice 3-piece suit, made of heavy flannel or tweed, just because they are timeless. Now, wearing it to work would be another thing - people would look at me like it was dress-up day at school. Too bad, my Blackberry would tuck nicely into a vest pocket, much like pocket watches 75-years ago.

Here is hoping suits, ties and even hats become popular again. (Although I kind of like being the only guy on the street wearing a nice fedora, and I'll never give up my Burberry trench coat).

 

[Charlie Noodles]

They are just too unnecessary and awkward to make any real kind of a comeback. Though I'm sure isolated pockets of dandies will continue to pick them up for a time for many years to come.

 

[Neil]

Reason for comeback

In my case, the comeback was doctor-ordered.
"Keep the sun off your head at all times, period," was the instruction.
So, after 25 years of not wearing a hat, I returned to the habit. And am finding it expensive.

 

[scottyrocks]

I think you'd also need a major reason for wearing them: protection from the elements. Now SUVs serve that purpose.

I have found that people in general rarely do whats good for them. So I dont expect the majority to don full coverage hats such as fedoras for UV protection. I am still amazed to see the sheer numbers of people out in the sun with no facial or head protection.

 

[awest84532]

Saving my good ear!

In my case, the comeback was doctor-ordered.
"Keep the sun off your head at all times, period," was the instruction.
So, after 25 years of not wearing a hat, I returned to the habit. And am finding it expensive.

I'm with Neil on this one. It started out for medical reasons. Ball-caps don't cover your ears! I'm trying to hang on to the one ear I have left, as well as extend my lifespan. However, one cheap hat lead to another, and after a few of those I got my first good one. Now it has become an addiction/hobby/love and is about more than just an ear. In spite of my history, nobody where I work has much interest.

 

[scottyrocks]

There's just no way.

The only hat out there that has even the slightest chance of that sort of mass-fashion is the baseball cap.

I agree, but if you take a look in most locations, the vast majority of men are lidless in general, even compared to baseball hatted guys. So, yes, fedoras, and, by extension, other full-brimmed hats, are even less likely to be 'popular.'

 

[scottyrocks]

While variations of the fedora have crept back into style, I don't think they will ever be as popular as the once were. I will say that with the rise of some icons like Justin Timberlake wearing hats, one does not "stick out" much anymore.

I say that despite the Justin T's and Johnny D's of the world, we fedora wearers still stick out a whole bunch. I receive double takes galore, especially when I wear my Fed IV; slightly but significantly less so in my other fedoras.

I personally like being an individual with my hats. It's my "thing", and my friends know me by them... some say they wouldn't recognize me without one. I don't want to blend in like everyone else.. which is one reason among MANY why I do not like wearing baseball caps.. they are so common.

"Any idiot can blend in. It's being different that takes courage."

I agree with all of that, indeed. When I am hatless, some people I know ask me where my hat is, or they say, jokingly, that they didnt recognise me. I dont want to blend in, but the main reason I wear what I wear is simply because I like it. Not blending in is secondary.

 

[Cigarband]

In my case, the comeback was doctor-ordered.
"Keep the sun off your head at all times, period," was the instruction.
So, after 25 years of not wearing a hat, I returned to the habit. And am finding it expensive.

My Dermatologist also ordered me to wear a hat after removing five tiny lesions from my face. She told me she tells
ALL her patients to wear hats with large brims, and to tell everyone they know. Perhaps Cancer will drive the Fashion.

 

[bakers44]

Possibly

Well, while I can't say there coming back, they're definitely more common here than they were a year ago. I started wearing hats last july and there wasn't a fedora in sight; I don't know if I started a local trend or what, but now you definitely see them alot more than you used to. I'm usually wearing a 3-piece pinstripe number and my hat, and I've seen a number of younger gentlemen my age wearing a similar outfit. My friends have told me about events they've gone to where there were one or more guys dressed like that as well. All in the last year; and it's becoming more common.
Heh, the guy at the gas station calls me "Mr. Smooth". I'll take what I can get; he likes hats as well and has a couple himself.

I really think if you just do it on a regular basis, people see you and maybe just pluck up the courage to do it themselves.

 

[TopGumby]

I see more hats in my area, a bit North of Seattle.

I'm no longer surprised if there is another hat at the grocery store if I stop on my way home, and it's often a fedora, but I still see more outback and safari style lids. Lots of newsboy caps.

I think the warm weather will mean a pretty sharp decline in hats around here. It's hard to find a decent straw, short of making a trip to Bernie Utz.

 

[ortega76]

My Dermatologist also ordered me to wear a hat after removing five tiny lesions from my face. She told me she tells
ALL her patients to wear hats with large brims, and to tell everyone they know. Perhaps Cancer will drive the Fashion.

My father's new hat appreciation was fueled by exposure to my collection and trying to look after his health. His doctor suggested a military-style boonie hat but he started with a panama hat last year. I think the concerns about the sun are valid, but it seems more folks are going to REI and the like instead of a classic fedora. I think it's people fooling themselves. They may not realize the utility of a fedora and they may be seeking something they identify with a lifestyle of adventure.

 

[Erik]

"While we've seen a limited hat comeback this year, do you we'll ever see hats come to the fore front of fashion the way they were once?"

No, though I'm pleased for the limited comeback. I'd like to see the comeback take hold to effect that hat wearers represent between 10-15% of the adult population.

 

[Nick D]

In its heydays, a fedora was more than just a piece of fashion. Hat-wearing was a part of social culture. Although hats may return to fashion, every now and then, that culture cannot return ...because the times have changed.

Agreed. There's a difference between a fad and a societal norm. If hats come back to stay, and not just as a fad that lasts a season or a couple years at most, we won't know for some time yet. Though, I won't rule out hats becoming the norm eventually someday.

 

[m000m000]

While finnish people really aren't the type that would commentate on strangers' outwear (unless drunk), and while I've only been wearing hats for less than a year, I've taken a notice of a severe drop in "gazing looks" or curious smiles this spring while walking in a fedora around town, which I've attibuted to the stingy brim trilby fashion phenomena of this year. Will be interesting to see if that lasts once the trends take a turn in another direction again.

If I were to discount all the stingy-brim wearers, I've seen maybe a total of 3 'real' Fedoras out town in the past two months, and they were all on people in suits/tenchcoats, and while that's more than usual, it might just as well be a statistical fallacy .

 

[Mid-fogey]

I'm not...

...holding my breath for a return of dress hats. Men gave them up as they spent less and less time out in the weather. Prior to WWII, it was common for even professional men to ride streetcars, trolleys, etc, or even walk to work. Hats had a practical aspect for men that were outside often.

After the war, the rise of automobile travel made hats unnecessary or even annoying.

 

[elvisroe]

bad hair day

I think we're generally way too into our hair these days to see a real return to serious hatwear.

The modern 'carefully disheveled' look takes a lot of time and product to produce and I think the last thing your metro lad is going to do is flatten his 'do with a lid!

I've got a great book of police mugshots from Sydney between 1912-1948 that provides an awesome slice of life and styles from the period. (my avatar is one of these) Beautiful photos, loads of great hats and inspiration for a really authentic bash!

Each thug is photographed hat on and hat off and the resulting hat-hair on many is quite amusing! I think we're generally too vain these days to sit around the office with hair that resembles a parrot.

 

[scottyrocks]

After the war, the rise of automobile travel made hats unnecessary or even annoying.

Oh, you are NOT kidding! I recently removed the headrest on my driver's seat so the back of my brim wouldnt get squished.

 

[CRH]

...holding my breath for a return of dress hats. Men gave them up as they spent less and less time out in the weather. Prior to WWII, it was common for even professional men to ride streetcars, trolleys, etc, or even walk to work. Hats had a practical aspect for men that were outside often.

After the war, the rise of automobile travel made hats unnecessary or even annoying.

:arated:

Couldn't have said it better myself, MF. And in times further back than you illustrate hats were even more common among both sexes and all ages.