HELP I'm writing a paper for school...

[ArrowCollarMan]

Hey, thanks for your help everybody! Much appreciated. I ended up getting an A- on the paper and the teacher liked it so all is well. lol

 

[gtdean48]

Congrats! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[scottyrocks]

Ah, see what happens when you wait too long to post a reply? I missed the deadline. Oh well, I wanted to respond anyway, so here it is:


1. Why do you wear a fedora of all hats, what does it mean to you?

I wear a fedora because I love the lines of them. I am physically affected by objects I see as truly beautiful, to my eye. I can look at them, or pictures of them, several times a day and be taken by their lines and shape. Fedoras that I find attractive are, to me, pure art. And art, like attractiveness, or 'beauty,' is in the eye of the beholder. And just because a hat is referred to as a fedora doesnt mean that its going to affect me the same way as another fedora might.

2. What made you want to wear the hat?

I had watched many golden age movies through my childhood, when TV was 2,4,5,7,9,11 & 13, and my teens. Those movies were always on at 4:30pm, after school. My mom always had them on (after the soaps). Bogart, Stewart, Tracy, Mitchum, Fonda, etc. I loved the hats and the clothes, and the style of acting. But, although I have always been into hats, I have to admit that Raiders made me go out and buy my first wool, then fur felt fedoras back in '82 or so. It had never occured to me prior to that that I could go out and buy and wear a hat like that. Nobody did it, and it hadnt occurred to me.

3. Where do you buy your hats?

Years ago, I bought hats in NYC when I worked there, from places like JJ Hats and Worth & Worth, as well as funky downtown boutique shops (mostly wools). Most of those wools are either long gone or are in a box somehere.

Then, about a dozen or so years ago I discovered ebay and bought a few vintage fedoras there. Although I have gotten some great deals there, ebay has occasionally left a bad taste in my mouth so I dont use it as much anymore. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

My latest acquisition is my Fed IV. Never had a hat sent to me from half way around the world. I think that, in itself, is pretty cool.

4. Do you think the personality behind the fedora creates some kind of affinity with all who wear them?

No, I dont. I see guys in fedoras every once in a while. There's rarely, if ever, been an acknowledgment from any of them.

I suppose when I started wearing them I was kind of in that mindset, like, 'hey, we're both wearing fedoras!' but after a while, when it became just another part of my wardrobe, in other words, part of me, that thought diminished to nothing. Just like the guys who didnt give me a second look because I had one on.

I think thats a part of the concept that many new hat wearers go through - being 'uncomftable' with this very different item on their heads. Comfort comes when its no longer so different to you - the person wearing it. I, personally, dont see affinities with people just because I have some external simliarity with them. If it is something new, then its not really a part of me yet. If it something I have, or have done for a long time, then its a part of me, not anyone else.

 

[John in Covina]

1. Why do you wear a fedora of all hats, what does it mean to you?

A fedora speaks of an earlier age, and a generation of men in the USA that were "can do" people.

2. What made you want to wear the hat?

After a certain amount of films had been released were the protagonists were fedora wearers I thought I'd emulated that ideal.

3. Where do you buy your hats?

The Hats Mart Pasadena CA, / David Morgan website / Direct from Austrailia / EBAY

4. Do you think the personality behind the fedora creates some kind of affinity with all who wear them?

Probabably most but not all.

I work in the automotive replacement parts industry doing parts research and creating cataloging as well as some marketing stuff.

 

[hatflick1]

I wear vintage fedoras. I wear them because they are pieces of living history. The hats connect me variously to the Lost Generation of the 20's, the Depression era of the 30's, the war years of the 40's, the coming Jet Age and optimism of the 50's. Also, consider a sample of fedora style names: Open Road, Stratoliner, Vagabond, the grand daddy of all Stetsons, the Boss of the Plains. Such naming is not casual. It captures the American spirit of movement, wonderlust, starting over, hopping a freight, taming a frontier.
Lastly, consider fedoras and American English. How many hat idioms have drifted through the vernacular over the years...my hat's off to you, he gave me the high hat, I went hat in hand, keep it under your hat, wherever I hang my hat is home. Fedoras inspired the language even more than the icon of spring, the baseball cap.
Good luck with your paper. Loungers have given you a great perspective, as they usually do.

 

[Goose.]

Just posting "good job and congratulations" for the paper you did

 

[Martinis at 8]

1. Why do you wear a fedora of all hats, what does it mean to you?

It's not the only hat I wear. I wear several different types. A lot of my work is done outdoors, and a lot of it is done in Africa, so I favor the wider brims. Certain environments I have to wear a hard hat (oilfields).

2. What made you want to wear the hat?

Like reported by others, I was in the military for quite a while. I came back to the habit of wearing hats as a function of my work. Both of my grandfathers also habitually wore hats, and one of them was a tailor.

3. Where do you buy your hats?

Just about anywhere I see a hat that I like.

4. Do you think the personality behind the fedora creates some kind of affinity with all who wear them?

Not for me. I'm not a vintage aficionado like most of the folks here, so I am not really a member of the club, though I think a lot of the vintage stuff is neat.

 

[Wil Tam]

I had to choose something from "material culture" for a paper and I decided to choose fedoras since I wear them all the time...I have to have an interview since its a "fieldwork" paper. Asking on the fedora lounge made sense to me. So, here are my questions:

1. Why do you wear a fedora of all hats, what does it mean to you?
2. What made you want to wear the hat?
3. Where do you buy your hats?
4. Do you think the personality behind the fedora creates some kind of affinity with all who wear them?

General but hopefully good questions, feel free to expand on them...I thought it'd be interesting to hear what other people think about the hat they wear. It is very iconic of the 20th century.

Also, if its not too much to ask, who are you and where are you from? what do you do for a living? I'd have to site you as a source for the paper and figured some of that information would help.

Thanks

• 1) When I was in my youth I had long straight hair that I wore in a ponytail, in HS during a production of "Guys & Dolls" it was discovered that I looked pretty good in a decent lid, but I didn't start wearing them at that time because of self consciousness & fear of ridicule from my peers.........[huh]
  
  
• 2) I didn't really start with my hat obsession until 3 years ago when I found my grandfathers Bond Executive during my on going renovation project of the family home. I also shed the long hair and just looked better in a hat or so I thought .... I can pull off a stingy brim but found out from the guidance of the gurus on this forum that a stovepipe wide brim suited me better... so I wear those now.
  
  
• 3) I obtained most of my vintage lids from eBay and hat bin diving at a few of my local vintage garb joints ... just recently got my very first NIB Akubra FedIV D from HatsDirect.
  
  
• 4) Not sure but I do know that I notice fedora wearers more often than not before I started donning them myself & started frequenting FL ... I do get more attention & smiles from the fairer sex now that I do wear fedoras regularly, plus it gives them a reason to say something to break the ice if they want to talk to me
  
  

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Now playing: Cardigans, the - Communication
via FoxyTunes
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[KeyGrip]

1. Why do you wear a fedora of all hats, what does it mean to you?
I wear hats for the function and protection, and fedoras in particular because I like that style more than others. I don't ascribe too deep a meaning to the hat, but it does reflect my personality and connect me to a time period with which I identify more than this one.
2. What made you want to wear the hat?
My first fedora was given to me as a birthday present by a friend because I apparently looked like one of the Blues Brothers. I wore that hat for three years before loosing it to a costume department.
3. Where do you buy your hats?
Of my three hats, two were purchased new online and one was purchased used at a store here in Santa Cruz.
4. Do you think the personality behind the fedora creates some kind of affinity with all who wear them?
Not really. Besides the occasional "nice hat" comment from another hat-wearer, most of the other people I see wearing hats are doing so as a fashion statement and are not interested in more classic styles.

 

[UWS Cowboy]

Although you are done, I figured I would still share because this is a good thread.
1. I wear a fur felt fedora on rainy days when my newsboy won't provide much protection. I also wear a fedora on various other occasions because I simply like a tall crowned hat looks "cool" and provides protection from all of the elements.
2. I have always worn hats since I was a very young child. It started with deerstalker hat, moved to caps, berets, and about a year ago I started wearing fedoras.
3. I buy my hats from a vintage clothing store, hatsdirect, and non fedoras from B!wear.
4. It is all perception. To me, hats do not give off some image. It is the person who gives off the image.

I have lived in Manhattan for a year. I am a concierge and an aspiring actor.