PET PEEVE HAT

[Ecuador Jim]

Fez or pith helmets, more please.
Gimme caps, never want to see again.
Newsboy caps on females, dorky. Try another fad, ladies.

Ditto...a little too Britney for my taste.

 

[BellyTank]

Just the idea of anyone wearing a fez or pith helmet in public if they aren't a Shriner or mailman is laughablelol

Is this just a Country/context thing?... or should we just never wear these types of head-wear when other humans can see..?


B
T

 

[HamletJSD]

Mine has always been ballcaps worn slightly (to completely) sideways ... Oh man, I just want to knock those off ...

 

[Fatdutchman]

The beret.

On a woman in stylish attire, I suppose it's fine, but never, never, never on a man in any capacity. [bad]

I don't despise ball caps (the official headgear in my area), but I sure am sick of seeing them. I haven't worn one in years, though I still have several.

 

[duggap]

has no use what-so-ever.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/821/hatxj2.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/></a>

RBH, you mean you never learned how to get off the ground with those hats.

 

[hatflick1]

Some very funny responses. And with everything going on in the world, it's great to come into the Lounge for a laugh or two.
Now...the fez. Anybody get this hat? Originally from the North African/Middle East region where the sun is relentless, but the fez design has no brim and offers no shading for the eyes. Was it first ceremonial? Zouave units in the Civil War wore the fez as part of their ornate uniform. Not a lot of bullet stopping potential built in either. At least the pith helmet has function if lacks form.

 

[flylot74]

I used to wear a beret in the military back in early 1970. It looked OK with a military uniform and identified our unit from others, in fact there was pride in its use. However, I've never worn one after leaving the service or for that matter while in the service wearing "civies". You're right though, they look nice on some women, but as far as a guy wearing them....nah, I'll pass....

It's not that I despise the ball cap, I despise how its worn. It's a sporting hat, worn on a golf course, baseball diamond, softball field, no problem, but on the street, in a restaurant, to church? No! But then, I have a problem with some 400 lb. guy(or gal) wearing a track suit and running shoes and a runner's watch when it's painfully obvious his idea of exercise is lifting a desert spoon. C'mon, who you tryin' to kid....

I guess I'm just a curmudgeon......

The beret.

On a woman in stylish attire, I suppose it's fine, but never, never, never on a man in any capacity. [bad]

I don't despise ball caps (the official headgear in my area), but I sure am sick of seeing them. I haven't worn one in years, though I still have several.

 

[Twitch]

Re: the fez and pith helmet- all of you imagine your shared disgust for ball caps and picturing seeing fezs and pith helmets instead- Dorkarama!! And I don't mean India and Moracco where you can pass with them. I mean in any European country or the US.

As noted on Shriners and mailmen in the summer wear them To imagine regular people donning them for any normal occassion I can think of would be hilarious.

 

[panamag8or]

I will be going to the Disney parks in January and I will make sure to wear a fedora!

Watch out, if you go to MGM. People might think you work there.lol

I almost wore my stingy-brim to Disney, but I didn't want to worry about it on the coaster-type rides. It's much easier to stash a ballcap on space mountain and such.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I am most repulsed by the plaid or woven wool stingy brim fedoras of the End-Of-Hats era (1960s). One example is the houndstooth hat worn by Paul 'Bear' Bryant. As an Alabama alum, I can say that is a butt-ugly hat, and it not be taken as just a negative comment from a fan of a different college football program. It, and all of its cousins, are ugly.

I have one irish wool hat that has a short brim but it was not intended as a fedora, it is just a crushable wool hat, and its haphazard look is ok, not talking about such less-structured hats.

According to Loungers very knowledgeable in such matters the short brimmed hounds-tooth hats can be traced back to the 20's and 30's.
But I don't like them either.

I guess my pet peeve would be how most people think brims started wide and slowly shrank into the stingy brims popular in the 60's. Not true. All different sizes were available throughout the Fedora's history. It's just that some sizes were more popular at different times. Hollywood liked to dress the stars in mostly wide brims so I think that has skewed everyone's perception.

 

[panamag8or]

I am most repulsed by the plaid or woven wool stingy brim fedoras of the End-Of-Hats era (1960s). One example is the houndstooth hat worn by Paul 'Bear' Bryant. As an Alabama alum, I can say that is a butt-ugly hat, and it not be taken as just a negative comment from a fan of a different college football program. It, and all of its cousins, are ugly.

I have one of those that I inherited, but as a Florida fan, I can't bring myself to wear it.lol

 

[airforceindy]

Mine has always been ballcaps worn slightly (to completely) sideways ... Oh man, I just want to knock those off ...

DITTO! Even worse when it's the ever-present crazy-patterned Yankees hat that is perched delicately over a doo-rag! Some fashion statement...

Regards, Andy

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

The tweed fedoras aren't my cup o' tea either, but some people, like Rex Harrison and Terry-Thomas can carry them off.

Other than trucker caps, I really can't think of a style that I truly dislike. I really wish those folks who put a lot of money, time and sweat into restoring a classic car wouldn't then spoil the effect by driving it around while wearing a T-shirt and trucker cap.

At least, if it's a '50s car, wear a bowling shirt and a porkpie. lol

 

[tandmark]

Hi,

Guess I'm just not with the program of hating various hat styles. There are some I don't wear, like trucker caps or fabric stingy-brims. But I don't hate 'em (except perhaps for the trucker caps that feature disagreeable slogans).

There are even some styles roundly hated by various folks in this thread that I *do* wear.

Berets I wear constantly, because they're extremely utilitarian headgear, especially when it's windy. I probably own 15 of them. Wore an unlined grey one (made in Canada) for part of the work day today, in fact, when I had to work around a sort of wind tunnel.

Sometimes Greek fishermen's hats just feel right. As a major fan of Nikos Kazantzakis anyway, I reserve the right to express my inner Zorba.

Spinnerbeanies and fezzes are great for parties as long as the other party-goers have a sense of humor. So are pirate hats, chapeus dos cangaceiros, mariachi sombreros, Korean horsehair gats, jester caps, Glengarry caps, wizard's hats, et a whole lotta cetera, most of which I've owned and worn from time to time. They're fun; I sometimes go to fun parties; QED sometimes I wear one of them to a party.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[cowboy76]

...has changed radically in its journey from utilitarian headgear to emblematic "cover."

THEN: Soft. Worn level. A symbol of stalwart youth and noble ideals.

NOW: Stiff. Worn down. A badge of absolute authority and menacing role-play.

Has any other hat seen its meaning so totally changed?

No,....not at all. In fact during WWI these were used by the armed forces and, yes, by drill instructors. If you think modern day drill instructors look menacing, you should read about the old days,...they literally kicked your ass!!!
Please see some history of the 1911 Campeign hat here:
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/camph.htm

troop ship,....WWI

The Campeign hat has been used by a wide variety of persons,...its use has not been changed,....it was not only a symbol of stalwart youth,....it was a cap worn during WWI,...an amazingly horrible war!!!

I used to do a lot of WWI living history, and was involved with doing documentary work with the History Channel,Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Here are our guys during the some filming for a National Geographic special...(i'm the guy to the far right in both photos by the Lewis gun and holding a replacement magazine for it.)

Fact it, it has been a different symbol to different people in different situations,...not times.
Its use has only dropped off, by fashion, that it all.

PS,....I was an Eagle Scout by the way. My father was into old scouting stuff and I always wore a vintage scouting uniform!!

 

[deanglen]

Did someone mention Campaign Hats, again? I'd pay dearly for one of these looking exactly like they do in this photograph. I'd take either of the caps on the two guys on the right mid way up, too! Every hat has the potential of irking some and delighting others.

dean

 

[flylot74]

I think I've been mistakenly calling a truckers cap a baseball cap. To me they seem the same, I otherwise called both a ball cap. When I mentioned my objection to the wearing of ball caps outside the sports venue, I meant to include truckers caps. I didn't realize that others differentiated between the two.

In fact, it's not the ball cap I find offensive, it's often the behavior of those who wear them. A real baseball cap is actually seems like a well made hat and quite acceptable as a part of sports attire, though it should only be worn backwards by the catcher while wearing his mask.

I find the truckers caps with the little plastic size adjusters when worn backwards absolutely hideous. It makes the wearer look like an absolute moron to me.

 

[Havana]

I hate nasty baseball caps. To me these just represent a huge decline in standards of dress and even personal cleanliness. I don't have a problem with caps in general. I actually admire the effort some young people in urban culture put into selecting the right cap to match an outfit. I don't like their caps or their outfits but I can't help but think they'll move on to better things someday. They seem to take some pride in their appearance which I see as better than not caring at all. I do hate cheap wool cowboy hats. Being a seasoned African traveller, I can say that the fez and pith helmet
are both alive and well. The fez is the equivilent of a top hat in northwest Africa. You're not formally dressed without one. Fezes are brimless so you can pray with it on. It's not popular at all in northeastern Africa or the Middle East where it's a reminder of the hated Turks. Proper Victorian gentlemen in the UK used to wear them as smoking caps. The pith helmet survives in the regions it was made for. You'll see them all over southern Africa. It's just about the coolest hat available because it's suspended by a harness up off your head.

 

[cowboy76]

I hate nasty baseball caps. To me these just represent a huge decline in standards of dress and even personal cleanliness.

WOW!,...and baseball caps have been around since the 1800s.

In fact, I had read not long ago when reading up on vintage baseball teams something about them,...yes, here it is,..

"There have been many styles of baseball caps throughout the years, ten different styles were advertised in 1888 in Spaulding’s Base Ball Guide. You could buy a baseball cap for 12 cents to $2."

I'm not much of a baseball cap wearer, but they have their place and a lot of history follows. I much more prefer the newsboy cap, but I did oick up a great 1940s Ball cap a few days ago that actually FIT!

You can get some really cool reproduction ballcaps from the 30s, 40s and 50s here also:
http://www.ebbets.com/ballcaps.aspx

Very interesting about the Fez's life overseas,...thank you for sharing that!

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I know people have been ragging on the lowly "Trucker Hat" here, but it is also just a baseball cap with a mesh back. When I played little league baseball in the early 70's those were the exact type of caps we all had, I guess because they were cheap, but they sure were a lot cooler than an all felt cap. The next time I remember seeing them worn was by my farmer relatives. They would either have a John Deere logo or the name of a feed store on them. This must be where the advertising started. So I think that even this hat had an honorable history, until Hollywood Hipsters started wearing them.