How popular is the fedora in 2011? Are hats seeing a resurgance finally?

[AtomicEraTom]

If you want to see a hat around here, you gotta go out on Sunday mornings, before or after church. They're usually atop the head of the driver of a Mercury Grand Marquis, or a Buick Lesabre, or a Park Avenue. You see where I'm going with this. There is practically Zilch for a hipster community around here (thank God) but the local Wal-Mart does have all sorts of varieties of those stingy brimmed atrocities you can buy. Ironically the other day when I was going to the post office, there was two other older fellas in trilbies (from the 60's or 70's) heading in as well.

You see quite a few of these hats around here, too. It's the closest to a fedora I've ever seen my dad wear. We were looking at hats at the Antique Mall today and he was talking about how he'd like to wear hats but sees it as necessary, and more important, to go with the flow and not wear a hat. Pa hates ball caps and seldom wears one, but very much likes derbies. However, as was said here, the type of dress would also need to change. I know a lot of people, like my pa, who like Fedoras, Trilbies, Derbies, Homburgs, etc but they just wouldn't go with their clothes. My dad usually wears a t-shirt or wife beater and jeans. Not really a put together look with a quality lid.

Hat's like this are common here, especially around hunting season. I'm guessing the cost is somewhere between $30-$60 bucks in most places.

 

[MJH]

I'm in the UK and I do think there is a very slow pick up with the wearing of Fedoras. Celebrities such as Johnny Depp & Jude Law always help the cause! It is more obvious in the cities where people tend to be more confident with their fashion statements!

 

[fenris]

The last time hats (and stupidly hot overcoats) were fashionable in the Philippines has to date back to the colonial era, when the mestizos who went to Spain for Universidad brought back the top hats with them. Then the revolution happened. You can see some of the national heroes, like Rizal, holding a top hat, but they seem to vanish off the face of the islands relatively quickly.

The ONLY "dressy" hats I can see being practical in the Philippines would be the Panama or Milan. Or some other variation of a thin, breathable, woven straw. And only during summer, or during sparse sunny days during the rainy season. The problem is that that currency in the archipelago is relatively weak, and a nice Panama would either cost a small fortune or your firstborn sold into slavery.

You forgot about the bowler hats during the colonial era. I saw a lot of pictures of bowlers when I was taking a tour of Intramuros, the old walled city of Manila. Also, the tour guide hat a wool top hat which he uses as a costume.

Yes, people here won't even spend that much on a hat. I've seen a few nice Panamas being sold here, but for the average Filipino, that would be like spending half (or more) of their monthly salary. The only time I see Panama hats are when they're worn by foreigners. I did once see a foreigner over here wearing what looks to be an Akubra Cattleman... it was too far to make sure, though.

 

[Sam Craig]

Same here, scotty. Old men wearing cheap wool fedoras is all I see in my town, if any.

Hey, We're not all wearing wool fedoras.
Sometimes us old men wear fur felt fedoras, too.
They're about the only thing we have on that's not wrinkled ... head to toe!

Sam

 

[JohnnyLoco]

I have definitely seen an increase in the short-brimmed "straw" fedora style from San Antonio to Austin and from Philly to Central PA, especially in amusement parks and malls. I noticed the cheap polyester "straw" fedoras being sold in places like Walmart and Target for years, but now I have noticed that department stores and designer stores are selling these really flimsy and cheap fedoras being labeled as being made of "natural fibers" or "paper." These seem to be the types that most teens and adults (under 50) are wearing. If you look at these hats closely, it looks as if the manufacturers are trying to duplicate the look of Mexican or Guatemalan palm hats. I have noticed the higher quality straw and panama hats/fedoras being worn in places with more style-conscious adults (25-35), such as Austin, which also happens to be the hipster capital of the world. I would also imagine this is the same in other big college towns.

 

[Slim Tim]

I go to The University of Mississippi and I think I'm the only guy crazy enough to wear a fedora there. I know a couple guys that wear the cheap stingy brim trilbies (and I literally mean only two, and they're twins for Christ's sake :eusa_doh, but to their credit they wear the more conservative ones and not the ridiculous neon plaid kind.

Also, responding to Alex's comment, you got a problem with cheap wool fedoras?
My first fedora was a 36$ wool-felt Jaxon crushable c-crown, which I realize is probably not "the ritz" but I still adore it and wear it at every opportunity. I'd love to get a nice fur felt fedora but it's a little hard to justify a two hundred dollar hat when I have to pay for things like tuition/books/room&board/etc.

 

[Oldsarge]

I think this is the story generally everywhere. Is the fedora seeing a resurgence? Undoubtedly if by fedora you mean the cheap style that are found in Wal-Marts, Target, and other such stores then the answer is yes. It's no big insult really to the people who wear them, since such places are where most people are going to buy said hats.

As far as what many here would consider a "proper" fedora, the market it smaller. Half the reason it's smaller is simply a matter of cost. Besides people who are set financially, or who are single with no dependents, who is going to spend well over $100 dollars, (any many of us are spending $300, $400, and $500 and up on a custom hats) on something that is essentially a clothing accessory? I have a friend who enjoys hats, but who doesn't have anything above a nice wool hat that he bought at an outdoor supply shop. Why? He is 28 years old and has a wife and four kids to feed.

A ball cap cost what? Somewhere between $10- $40 bucks on average depending where you buy it, and what emblem is on the front. Is it really surprising that more people buy them? Is it surprising that the fedora hats that are king right now tend to be made of polyester, or paper straw?

Is the fedora hat coming back? Yes! Is the higher end coming back? Yes it is. But as long as the cultural tendency is to buy cheaper inferior products the can easily be replaced, the polyester "punk" fedora will be king, and the fur felt fedora will be the dominion of the collector, and enthusiast.

With all that said though I will say that I know quit a few people my age who are interested in hats in general. Of these I'd say maybe 25% have a proper fur felt hat, but they wear it sparingly for a simple reason. It's their good hat.

Around here the wool felt hunting hat is the dominate hat outside the ball cap. In fact my father and I where members of a hunting club known as "the Felt Hat Club", which was founded by my Grandfather and a few of his friends (sadly it ended simply because most of the members got long in years).

Hat's like this are common here, especially around hunting season. I'm guessing the cost is somewhere between $30-$60 bucks in most places.

ROFL! My first fedora came from Cabela's and I bought it to go hunting in. My second one was a Disney wool sheriff's hat one of my students gave me that I reshaped to take on safari. I have yet (I think!) to buy a fur felt fedora (though I do have a beaver Western in Montana Peak for fly fishing) but I'm working on it . . .

And I don't expect to take it hunting.

 

[150719541]

Yes, I think so, here in México, the hats begin using again, although, warm days and nights make the straw prefer ¡¡¡

 

[MikeBravo]

Hi Brothers ¡¡¡¡¡ Here in San Luis Potosi, México, much people are using western hats, the fedora style is being used mostly for old people, altough we are a few wearing fedoras every day, (I think what I will die using a stetson, a panama or mexican straw or a fur felt borsalino)

May you be wearing hats for many more years

 

[mercuryfelt76]

There are definately more hats in London than there used to be. It seems there's a lot of girls wearing straw fedoras or trilbys. Mostly the people who seem to wear fur felt hats are over 50 and the impression they give is that these men remember the days when everyone wore a hat. But the funny thing is the fedora/trilby hasn't really been fashionable since before WWII, and most of these men weren't born yet. It seems Brits waiting until they look old enough before wearing a hat in public.

There are a few music stars who wear a felt fedora/trilby with modern clothes and this helps the popularity of the hat. I do see other younger hat wearers like myself but you can guarantee we all have to run the gauntlet of silly questions and nasty comments. However I do often get told how nice my hat looks and this makes me feel that a lot of people silently like the look and would wear it if everyone else was.

I hope the classic look makes a comeback here in the UK - we've been through so many years of a sort of 1960s rebellion against the old ways that it's time for a change.

Hat wearers in London unite! The rest will follow if persuaded...

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/246268/nbc-today-show-hot-hats-make-matt-al-dapper-dons-in-italy
Hats on the NBC's Today show.

 

[GamaH]

I think there is a very slight increase in interest in felt hats in general. Very slight. The baseball cap still reigns supreme for some inexplicable reason.

Easily obtained, cheap to manufacture, and available in a wide variety of colors.

We can find more people using hats than 10 years ago - everyday I see 2 or 3 guys with fedoras. But is impossible to say this is a "resurgence" of hats. Here, at least, hats are strongely associated with old men.

Same here. Everyone seems to associate hats with gangsters, or if you're under 30, hipsters (my god, WHY?!). Everything Hipsters touch seem to wither and die. Scarves, jeans, V necks, Jackets, and now hats.

 

[djd]

Sadly fedora type hats are still the province of old men in the UK for the most part. The way people work here, it will need a real upsurge in celebrity fedora wear to make the public join in....

 

[scottyrocks]

Not popular enough that wherever I go, people know its me.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Not popular enough that wherever I go, people know its me.

That's one thing I'll miss if hats do make a comeback, I'll no longer be "the guy with the hat".

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

How to get the fedora to make a comeback,....

[/IMG]
I think this is the only way.

 

[GamaH]

However I do often get told how nice my hat looks and this makes me feel that a lot of people silently like the look and would wear it if everyone else was.

I think this too.

 

[Oldsarge]

In the bass section of my church choir, two of us regularly wear hats and a third when it's cold and wet. We're still working on the pastor . . .

 

[Terry "The Hat"]

I'm a retired law enforcement officer now working full time at Home Depot. I wear a hat at work (on the sales floor) everyday and am known as "Terry The Hat" (kinda mafia-LOL). I see lots of people wearing hats everyday and I've swayed several to purchase hats after talking to them on the sales floor. I've done lots of reading on the rise and fall of hats and I see an upturn in my area. Several stores are starting to stock them again and the local suit shop has a nice selection. I also always stop in and see "Gus" at Batsakes whenever I go home to Cincinnati. Batsakes is a great old (over 100 yrs) Hattery that is a real "trip." I've purchased an Akubra Silver Belly Campdraft and a beautiful Penney's Marathon Fedora since joining this great forum. There is a real upturn in Hat Purchases at my house much to my wife's dismay . I blame you guys!

I am also a "Master Mason" and if anyone knows anything about Masons (except the crap on the History Channel) you will know that we really like our hats!

 

[GamaH]

two of us regularly wear hats and a third when it's cold and wet.

I still don't understand how a hat ever gets wet though.

So when it rains, you guys wear felt hats, but don't your clothes and shoes get wet too? Even if the hat can resist rain, the rest of the outfit isn't exactly water-resistant.