Kevin Costner's hat in the Untouchables

[1911 Man]

I haven't watched that movie for years. I had loved hats for years, and it's a good hat movie, but my favorite wardrobe item was always Costners belted leather coat he wears in the Canada scenes. I thought it looked so good coupled with a fedora. It took me years to find a suitable 3/4 length belted leather coat, but it was worth the wait.

I always felt the wardrobe in that movie was much better than the plot or acting, but it was still pretty cool.

I'm very exited about the new "Public Enemies" movie!

 

[avedwards]

There are two unrealistic things I noticed costume-wise (other than that they are a bit too fancy).

1. All the fedoras have perfect machine made bashes. Didn't most hats come open crowned in those days to be hand creased or was that only in the '40s and not the '30s?

2. So many of the fedoras have safari brims. Weren't snap brims more popular in those days? I know safari brims were around probably, but other than Costnar (except for the Canada scene) and Garcia almost all fedora wearing character seem to have safari brims.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

2. So many of the fedoras have safari brims. Weren't snap brims more popular in those days?

You are correct. Safari brims (snapped down all around) had been popular in the 1920s, but were rapidly disappearing from the big cities by the 1930s.

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[avedwards]

So why did the film makers do that? Lack of research from the costume department or are safari fedoras easier to get hold of these days? I did notice that when I went into a proper hat shop last summer and asked for a water resistant brown hat I was shown almost entirely safari brim fedoras.

But if they were disappearing by the 1930s, does that mean that they would still have been very popular at the beginning of that decade when the film was set?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Well, they hired Georgio Armani to do the lead actors' duds. Perhaps Armani commented that fedora brims look better (more Milanese?) when flipped down all around ... and that was that.


The costumes in The Untouchables had real style, but they weren't especially authentic.

For authentic, see Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984).


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[avedwards]

I agree, they had a lot of style even if they had little authenticity. I liked them so much that Costner's hat was one of the reasons I decided on getting a Stetson Chatham seen in my avatar, as well as the fact that it's vaguely reminiscent of Bogart.

 

[Pduck]

Well, this film would have taken place in the late 20s-early 30s. Capone was convicted in 1931. For what it's worth, I've seen depression soup lines with men wearing hats with the brim turned down all around.

 

[avedwards]

The film says 1930 at the beginning so it's not late '20s. But it makes sense that they still had hats without snap brims, as they wouldn't have been able to afford new ones due to the depression. I just assumed that snap brims were more common due to that being the case in the '40s in all the films I've seen. My mistake that I mixed up sub-eras I think.

 

[Pduck]

OK, I knew that Ness joined the Treasury Department in 1927 and that Capone was convicted in 1931. We tend to forget that the Chicago gangland mobsters came before Dillinger and those guys (and gals).

I kind of like fedoras with the brim snapped down all the way.

 

[scottyrocks]

Yes, me too. Somtimes I'll snap the back down, leaving the sides up. Looks rakish to me. I dont do it too often, though, because sometimes I dont like the way it looks from the back. Sometimes it doesnt always flow, and looks forced, depending on the hat. Its usually my snap brims that have this 'problem.'

 

[CRH]

Lay offs

Style has no sense - only actors.

 

[ScottF]

OK, I knew that Ness joined the Treasury Department in 1927 and that Capone was convicted in 1931. We tend to forget that the Chicago gangland mobsters came before Dillinger and those guys (and gals).

I kind of like fedoras with the brim snapped down all the way.

Interesting you bring up Capone's 1931 conviction. I was re-watching "Road to Perdition" the other day, and somehow the dates didn't quite work - Frank Nitti should have been in prison when that movie was taking place. Then Nitti got out and took over when Capone was put away. Or maybe I'm wrong . It was also interesting to me that Mike wore so many different fedoras during that movie - at least three I can think of...but they all fit the period.

 

[ScottF]

Yes, me too. Somtimes I'll snap the back down, leaving the sides up. Looks rakish to me. I dont do it too often, though, because sometimes I dont like the way it looks from the back. Sometimes it doesnt always flow, and looks forced, depending on the hat. Its usually my snap brims that have this 'problem.'

I have the same thoughts regarding the back. One of my favorite movie hats is Robert Redford's in "The Natural", where he wore it snapped down in the back. When I try that, it just doesn't work. Remove Redford's face and insert mine, and you have a bum.

 

[avedwards]

Yes, me too. Somtimes I'll snap the back down, leaving the sides up. Looks rakish to me. I dont do it too often, though, because sometimes I dont like the way it looks from the back. Sometimes it doesnt always flow, and looks forced, depending on the hat. Its usually my snap brims that have this 'problem.'

I would do it the way Costnar does it in the Canada scene in The Untouchables. He has the back snapped down much less then the front, so it looks alright from the back. The sides on his hat are also down. I find I can copy this with the Stetson Chatham, though I don't as it makes the hat more prone to being stolen by the wind. I'm guessing the costume department had the brim like that in that scene to look more outdoorslike.

 

[suitedcboy]

I agree ScottF, snapped down all around always looks like I got soaking wet and the brim drooped. I envision Cagney, Stewart, Granger, Scott, etc. when I think of a fedora worn, not Red Skelton.

 

[dkstott]

The movie has been running on various channels lately.
I've discovered that Kevin wears his hat fedora style up until he arranges to put his wife in seclusion. He gives his hat to the police officer doing the driving. Supposedly to help him avoid being recognized.

From that point on in the movie, he wears his hat Safari style.