In Praise of Narrow Brims

[mjbrekke]

Now, I've gathered that there is a bias for wide brims here in the Lounge, and I agree that there is nothing classier than a wide brim, but I've gravitated toward a somewhat narrower brim (generally about 1 3/4" to 2") for several reasons:

1. I think, and others have told me, I look better in a narrower brim. I've got a relatively slight build and narrow face, and a wide brim somewhat overpowers me.
2. They're usually still cheap on eBay.
3. It's easier to find them.
4. It's easier to find them in good condition.
5. I can wear one while driving and not bash the brim against the headrest.
6. They don't take up quite as much room. (OK, I store all my hats in hat boxes, so that one doesn't really count.)
7. It's what I remember my Dad wearing.
8. I can kiss my wife without poking out her eye with the brim.
9. I occasionally see someone in a cowboy hat, or an Indy style, or similar, but I never see anyone else around here with a narrow brim fedora--makes me feel unique.
10. It's still a fedora, and that beats a baseball cap any day.

 

[Senator Jack]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, slight/short/slim guys should stick to stingy brims.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[tonyb]

Good reasons all, mj. Stock up on 'em now, before the prices rise, as they're bound to.
Oh, and welcome. Gotten any ice fishing in this year?

 

[photobyalan]

If you can wear a short brim and look good in it, then more power to you! You are right in that it opens up a whole new world of vintage hats that many of us "full-figured" guys just take a pass on.

How 'bout some pics?

 

[Sefton]

I only have two fedoras which are fairly wide in the brim although I've nothing against the narrow variety and I'm thinking of getting a narrow one for many of the reasons that you mentioned. I'm rather thin and with a large head that doesn't need any extra emphasis. Welcome to the Lounge mjbrekke!

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I too prefer a narrower brim. Not really a stingy brim, although I don't have any problem with those, but just a narrower brim than most of the 40s guys on the forum like. I like something along the lines of Cagney's fedoras.

The stingy-brim fedora, by the way is the only really "cool" fedora in popular culture right now I think. I see people wearing them here on campus much more than I see any other style of fedora, excluding the one guy I saw wearing an Indy-style hat.

It also works better with the modern cut of suit, which is vut very slim and close with short, narrow pants and sleeves. Very similar to a 60s Italian cut in many ways.

 

[tonyb]

OK, Adam, I can take a hint. Just how badly do you want that 2-inch Cavanagh? I just happen to know where you can find one. Any vintage shops in Portland that may have a "new" hat with my name written all over it?

 

[WEEGEE]

STINGY OR MORE

Yes...the reactions vary so...the younger ones say cool to the stingy and

the older comment on the larger...either way...i wear and like both...

once prefered only stingy...but that was all i had once wore...looking in

the mirror...what the hell...a larger brim looked unfamiliar at first...then...

it was just another day and how i felt my presentation of me to the world

would be.

bless the fedora what ever the brim...:cheers1:

and the bowler and homburg as well.

 

[mjbrekke]

Wow, I didn't expect all the support. Thanks, guys!

tonyb: Icefishing--you mean sitting in a refigerator drinking beer? No, not my idea of fun. Actually, there's been very little icefishing around here this year. It's been way too warm. Somehow, it doesn't keep some people from driving their trucks on the ice, though. For many of them, it's the last time they ever drive that truck.

Alan: I'll try to get some pics pulled together soon.

Adam: You raise some interesting questions about youth and stingy brims. Some hypotheses come to mind: 1) Many young people are still thin, so the stingy brim works for them. 2) The 60's were the era of the narrow brim, and the 60's represent rebellion, anti-everything-ism, and, of course, drugs, sex, and rock-and-roll. 3) Their parents never wore them, so they're OK.

 

[adamgottschalk]

OK, Adam, I can take a hint. Just how badly do you want that 2-inch Cavanagh? I just happen to know where you can find one. Any vintage shops in Portland that may have a "new" hat with my name written all over it?

tonyb, to be honest, I'm waiting right now on a gray Cavanagh on eBay in exactly my size (23"; that 7 3/8 one you've got is probably a tad tight, unless you tell me otherwise). This gray Cavanagh is $4 right now, $4 shipping, no moth nibbles, no discoloration (checked with the seller several times), just needs to be cleaned and blocked. I think I'll wait and see if that one goes out of control.

I'd really like a taupe fedora. I bought a vintage Dobbs one, perfect color, thick fur felt, but it had moth nibbles in obvious places, and discoloration under the grosgrain (which I, of course, wanted to change for a narrower one). That one ended up at Goodwill; even my hat super-hero said it was no use.

I don't really know of any good places for vintage hats in town. The haberdasher is John Helmer, and a quick phone call to him would probably bring some suggestions. My hat guy, Paul Kaufman, mentioned a few consignment-type shops to me one time, but I forgot the names. I could easily call him tomorrow. For that matter, a look in the yellow pages for consignment shops would turn something up. I just never have looked; seems a pain to travel, hope there's a style you like and it's in your size and it's a good price...when online you've got your sizes and your styles to choose from. These days, anyway.

Like I said, I'd consider trading you for one of my three, but they're really all pretty dear to me. If you came over and I totally loved that Cavanagh and it fit like a charm, well, then who knows?

 

[Senator Jack]

Wondered by adamgottschalk:

How did the association with Ska come about?

This is the image that forever linked the stingy to ska. Certainly they were merely emulating the rude boys of Kingston, Jamaica who wore the stingy and narrow ties in the early 60s but of course as a 15 year old in '79 I didn't know that. The Specials, indeed, were the band that introduced the ska sound to our whole generation. The only ska song we probably knew of till then was 'My Boy Lollipop" as no radio stations were playing Prince Buster or Roland Alphonso. If I had already been leaning toward the rat pack look as a 15 year old, seeing The Specials on this album cover pushed me over.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Siirous]

I'm an avid wearer of the 2" brim short crown fedora but without the feather. I also really like the Whippet that I have, which if I recall correctly measured to a 2 3/8" brim.

Really it all depends on the mood you are in when you walk out the door, but I do not think that i would go lower than a 2" or bigger than a 2 1/2" brim for my face style.

I also have my first homburg in the mail, I have no idea what that will look like, with a curled brim or the length.

Sincerely,
Rob

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Almost all the women I see wearing fedoras are wearing stingy brims. But, they are also young and slim-faced.

We who have wider faces look better in a longer brim and less tapered hat. I have a couple of newer hats with 2-inch brims, the stingiest I dare wear, and they look OK on me, but only OK.

I think folks who have slim faces look great in stingy brims (Sinatra was the ideal person to wear those fedoras, at least in the 50's and 60's). But slim-faced folks don't look as good as we rounder-faced folks do in wide brims. (However, the widest brimmed fedoras I also stay away from as I don't like looking like the Phantom or Van Helsing)

Wish I could wear stingier brims, I see a lot of neat hats with less than 2-inch brims and I could even wear some of those women's fedoras.

karol

 

[PeeWee]

A couple things I've learned already...I like the narrow brims and lower crowns. That makes buying easier in the future. My avatar hat is a Miller Baldwin with a cut down brim (2") I just cut a Squatter down to 2 3/8". Another thing I have discovered is that I like a moderately priced hat. It just fits me better. There's a grey Stetson Temple in the mail for me right now. I hope I like it.

 

[Mr. Rover]

Well, I like a tall crown and a smaller brim. By smaller, I mean in the 2 1/2" range. Anything too much larger than that is Indy-ish on me.My favorite hat right now is a Stetson Whippet and it has a nice straight crown, but still has the 2 1/2" narrower brim. Anything smaller than that doesn't work for me, because I have wide/pointing sideways ears and I have to compensate slightly for that.

 

[Naphtali]

Am I alone, or does form no longer follow function?

I wear hats to keep rain and snow off my spectacles. This requires -- by testing -- a 2.5-inch side brim or larger for fedoras.

Once minimum parameter was established, I found -- again, by testing (test owning) -- that 2.75-inch side brim is an aesthetic maximum for me for fedoras.

Having established brim parameters, I go for what I think looks good on me. But when in doubt, I revert to what serves the hat's function.

For me, a hat, as fashion statement, is like a mustache or chest hair -- a secondary characteristic.

A narrow-brimmed hat, again, for me, is analogous to a necktie -- worse than useless. . . . Well, maybe I don't believe it either, but I sound sincere.

 

[adamgottschalk]

The Baldwin Hat

My avatar hat is a Miller Baldwin with a cut down brim (2").

I was going to buy one of those Miller Baldwins--and I still might--with the 2 1/8" raw-edge brim option. Nice looking hat. I love the flatness of the brim--makes so much sense to me--and the narrow grosgrain. I was torn over a color, then I found my Thomas Begg (in my avatar), which I paid too much for (the cosmos meant for me to have it though). I really like the shape of Miller's teardrops, and that they tell you the front is higher, and by how much, than the back. There's also the Ontario--not really my style, but if I ever got a fancy hat, I'd be torn between the Ontario and one of Miller's homburgs--what a selection. The Ontario has a 4 5/8" crown, 2 3/4" bound brim (a big leap for me). I don't like the leather strap, especially the buckle, but that could easily be changed.

Did you buy your Baldwin new? If I bought one, I would go under the assumption that it's got to be a damn fine hat for that price.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Nat King Cole was well known for his collection of narrow-brimmed hats.

 

[PeeWee]

Yes, I bought the Baldwin brand new. My understanding is that Biltmore make s the Miller hats, and I think it's a very nice hat. I like the firm feel to the hat, yet the felt is soft and smooth..and thin. I'll buy more Millers

 

[adamgottschalk]

They still function fine

A narrow-brimmed hat, again, for me, is analogous to a necktie -- worse than useless. . . . Well, maybe I don't believe it either, but I sound sincere.

The notion of form following function is an artistic aesthetic, an intellectual construction of an intellectural. Certainly not a law of the universe; even in the natural world there are plenty of examples of obsolete forms with no function at all any longer.

Now, as to the function of stingies: 1) they keep the hat off your head every bit as well as a wide-brim of course. I most certainly do not wear a hat to keep the rain of my face, but then, even with my 1" brim, I've never gotten home with a wet face...even here in what is practically a rain forest. Keeping rain off eyeglasses is just something I don't have to worry about, and, judging from my parents' eyesight, probably won't have to (knock on wood). If you say they work at keeping the rain off your glasses, I believe you; being a skeptic, I wouldn't take the idea to the bank until I tried it myself, 2) they keep my head (and ears, oddly enough), and me, toasty warm, 3) they look cool , and 4) they're just fun to wear, more of a "let's play" feel than a "time for a meeting with the ambassadors" feel or a "let's trek across Africa a find the treasure" feel (not that trekking across Africa couldn't be playtime).

Really, to me, and other stingy-brim lovers, stingies embody, as well as any other hats, the design "rules" of the great Ray and Charles Eames, greatest designers of the 20th century: a design should be aesthetically pleasing, functional, and fun. Of course, the "aesthetically pleasing" part is always in the eyes of the beholder.