Is the "Perfect" bash important?

[Jeephoto]

Watching old movies from the 40's & 50's, I pay attention to the fedoras. It seems that fedoras were just "put on & worn" without too much regard to the bash being exactly right every time you put on the hat.

Does the bash have to be "perfect" each time you put on your fedora?

As an Indiana Jones gear fan, I've read more posts than I can count on the details and nuances of the "perfect bash" on other sites. Each time I put on my Akubra Fed, I smooth and shape the brim and finger-press the best shape in the bash I can. But, the hat has been beat around to the point that it just doesn't hold the "perfect" bash.

So, I just wear it and enjoy it.

 

[fedoralover]

It's all personal preference. Back when hats were worn by everyone everyday they probably didn't fuss as much about it as we do. But lets be honest, the reason the majority of us collect is because we all have to a greater or lesser degree a certain amount of OCD, Obessive Compulsive Disorder. So that usually carries over to obsessing about the bash as well.

fedoralover

 

[Delthayre]

The inner, lower corner of the left dent isn't identical to that of the right dent!

I am rather fussy about the creases of my hats, but I imagine that I would have been in any era. I have certain compulsions about symmetry and patterns that, though not anywhere near being a real disorder, do significantly instruct my behavior.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

No way! It's a hat - and it's your hat, wear it the way you like on any given day.
The bash, or crease, is strictly a matter of personal taste. You can keep it, change
it or ignore it - those are the joys of fedoras!

-dixon cannon

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

One of the things I learned here at the Lounge is that "bash" is some modern term probably originating with the Indiana Jones Hat crowd. "Crease" is the term hatters use so I try to do the same now.

While I admire the hats I see that have 'perfect' crease jobs, it's not really the thing that I go for with my own hats. I prefer a crinkly, puckered, dry hand creased look. But I do admit that once I get one to kink just right in one of my dressier hats, I try my best to set it with water or steam and not to change it after that. My work hats are another matter entirely and I have several that I really put through paces when I'm working on projects around the house. With those, I'm just happy when I can keep them from shrinking up after repeated sweatathons.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

When it comes to Indy Gear guys, I understand the obsession for getting it right. They (and I, but with much less obsession) are trying to replicate a specific bash. So, the whole process requires a bit of nit-picking so you don't just end up with A Brown Hat. That said, I'm more of from the "spirit of Indy" faction. It also merits pointing out that if one wanted to replicate the bash of any other hat, besides Indy's, the issues remain the same.

That, to me, is the only "perfect bash" that can even be aimed for. That replicating thing. Otherwise, it's your hat, bashed your way or in whatever shape it came it. You're now firmly in the territory of personal taste. Do you like it the way it is or not? That's what I ask myself every time look at my hats.

When I get a hat the way I like it, I usually try to keep it that way, even if it looks "imperfect." But I go into each new day accepting that I might pull out a hat and suddenly feel like it needs a tweak. If it was perfect before, it will be perfect again.

 

[duggap]

My two cents. If you are Jimmy the Lid, who does about a perfect crease in a hat, then you would only like the best of creases. But if you are like me, who does not know how to do a perfect crease, then I am not so picky. Now if Jimmy would just get rid of that dog.........

 

[Dreispitz]

Are bashes important?

Here is another opinion:

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Obviously no hats around in 1967!

 

[jimmy the lid]

My two cents. If you are Jimmy the Lid, who does about a perfect crease in a hat, then you would only like the best of creases. But if you are like me, who does not know how to do a perfect crease, then I am not so picky. Now if Jimmy would just get rid of that dog.........

lol lol lol

 

[gtdean48]

I have a couple of hats that are of such a soft & thin felt that I crease them each time I put them on. My VS Custom ArtLite is stored open crown & I put it on that way, reach up & form the crease & off I go. No way it is perfect but looks dang good. Creasing is about as personal as ribbon width. Some guys will steam & crease to get a balanced crease while others dry crease & wear it. Even when steaming, a hat will tend to tell you how it wants to be creased. If you don't listen, then you could be in for a battle. So "hear what the hat is saying...."

 

[Torpedo]

Not for me. I have not a few vintage hats, and I almost always keep the crease they come with, which is often imperfect. If I crease them, I do it dry if the felt allows, and do not try to achieve perfection, neither. I do have some with more defined and sharp creases, usually because I needed water or steam to re-shape. I do not like factory-moulded creases, I tend to, at least, massage it a little to shake that too sharp look.

I think part of the charm is, precisely, the imperfect look. This is the same, for instance, with self-tied bowties, or self-folded pocket squares, where some degree of imperfection is desirable, not least because then they are obviously not factory tied or folded.

 

[Feraud]

Is the "Perfect" bash important?

Nope. I have hats of different styles and shapes. I rarely fool with the hat unless it is in terrible shape.
I wear 'em as is.

 

[Lefty]

Is this where the hats forum begins its discussion of sprezzatura?

 

[Feraud]

I would say anyone who is purchasing "blocked in non-chalance" doesn't have it.
Cool ad!

 

[Lefty]

I'd agree, but I haven't carefully studied it.

 

[Feraud]

..oh and neither have I!
lol

 

[kaosharper1]

Back when I had to wear a suit and tie every day, it seemed that there were those who liked their ties with a perfect knot and those who didn't. It's probably the same with hats.

 

[avedwards]

I like my suits perfect, my ties perfect, my hair as perfect as not quite straight hair can get with the use of a comb, my shoes perfect, my briefcase perfect, my pocket square close to but not quite perfect. However I do not make my trench coat perfect as I just knot the belt.

With my hat, I keep it if it has a factory crease I like (my Stetson Chatham's C-crown was fine with me) however I change it if I don't like it. On my newest hat I didn't like the centre dent and loose pinches so I tightened the pinches with steam and converted the centre dent to a teardrop-diamond when it got rained on. To me a diamond crease is perfect, providing the pinch is correct and the brim is not wavy.

 

[Chuck Bobuck]

My two cents. If you are Jimmy the Lid, who does about a perfect crease in a hat, then you would only like the best of creases. But if you are like me, who does not know how to do a perfect crease, then I am not so picky. Now if Jimmy would just get rid of that dog.........

Phhffft! Jimmy can only do a double tear drop! Just kidding Jimmy! You tha man!

My creases have become less perfect with every attempt, but more to my liking.

 

[Geronimo]

The "blocked nonchalance" hat looks too off-kilter to me. Like someone sat on it. The brown would could work - I think brown's a more casual color anyway - but the gray one looks abused.