Question about Trilbies and Fedoras

[Edward]

Before coming here, I never even considered a trilby to BE a fedora! I always associated the word trilby with those goofy hats with the upturned brims that were only about an inch wide....

Those would be considered trilbys here too, but only insofar as they are blocked felt hats.... trilbies like all other blocked felt hats.

Also, a "slouch hat" is a military soft felt hat. I have never seen it associated with a regular fedora before... then again, I don't read mystery books.

I have a notion that the very Tom Baker esque felt hat the Oscar Wilde wore way back when was referred to as a slouch hat at the time, the fedora/trilby moniker coming later on. Similar to (but to a much greater extreme than) the way that the Homberg came to be called the "Anthony Eden" by many English people of a certain generation.

First of all, hasn't anyone noticed the obvious typo inthe first post, that refers to the "states" vs. the "US". A bit confusing. I assume that they meant the UK when they said states.
Anyhow, I've been seeing LOTS of trilbies lately, and I had come to the conclusion that a trilby was a brimmed hat created out of three sections, sewn together. There is a seam around the top of the crown, and another down the back of the crown. And the brim is a third section. Most, if not all, of the trilbies I've seen are made of some woven fabric, as well.
The first notable trilby that I became aware of was the one worn by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. Clearly some kind of heavy tweedy material, sewn into a hat.
Am I missing something here???

A country trilby hat of that sort of construction, typically in tweed, is commonly referred to as a trilby over here, but not exclusively so. C/f wool felt fedoras and fur felt fedoras are both, well, fedoras.

 

[jhe888]

When I first heard the word trilby I thought it referred to narrower brimmed fedoras. But I came to the conclusion that was just because those narrower brimmed hats were more fashionable and they were more common. I agree with the OP that it seems to be more a difference between Britain and the U.S. - although my belief is more just observational in that I rarely see them called trilbies in the U.S., and do see that term more in British materials.

As to slouch hats, I always though a slouch hat was a soft hat with a broadish and flatish brim as opposed to a hard, rigid hat like a shako or an officer's cocked hat from the 18th century or earlier 19th century. I assumed it was because the brim was allowed to "slouch" down, although I have done no research to that effect.

 

[Chascomm]

Anyhow, I've been seeing LOTS of trilbies lately, and I had come to the conclusion that a trilby was a brimmed hat created out of three sections, sewn together. There is a seam around the top of the crown, and another down the back of the crown. And the brim is a third section. Most, if not all, of the trilbies I've seen are made of some woven fabric, as well.
The first notable trilby that I became aware of was the one worn by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. Clearly some kind of heavy tweedy material, sewn into a hat.
Am I missing something here???

That seems like a fair description of what passes for a trilby in the 21st century, but even within my lifetime I can recall the word being used to describe what we would now commonly call a fedora. In other words, the meanings of the words trilby and fedora have changed over time throughout the English speaking world.

(BTW, it's interesting to see that slouch hat has the same meaning in the USA as in Australia. The other use of the term must be distinct to the UK)

 

[Edward]

The slouch hat term was in use in Ireland in the early 20th century, referring to brimmed felt (usually wool) hats worn as part of uniform by some Irish Volunteers, and all members of the Irish Citizen Army.

 

[Hal]

The first notable trilby that I became aware of was the one worn by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. Clearly some kind of heavy tweedy material, sewn into a hat.

Those would be considered trilbys here too, but only insofar as they are blocked felt hats.... trilbies like all other blocked felt hats...A country trilby hat of that sort of construction, typically in tweed, is commonly referred to as a trilby over here, but not exclusively so.

Is the sort of hat referred to in these two quotations the same as what Americans call an "Irish walking hat"? And is this hat the same as Inspector Clouseau's?

I agree with the OP that it seems to be more a difference between Britain and the U.S.

...other words, the meanings of the words trilby and fedora have changed over time throughout the English speaking world.

The word fedora was hardly known in the UK before 1980 - perhaps even up to 1990 - except as an Americanism which meant the same as "trilby" in UK English; now one hears both over here but not with clear distinctions of meaning. So the writers of these two quotations are both correct.

 

[Latoso]

I find this discussion interesting since my introduction to hats and hat wearing came through Optimo. So my frame of reference is that Fedora is the general hat type and Trilby is a sub-category of Fedora, just as their Rush Street, Chicago, 47th Street, International, Mitchum, the Club Fedora and others are just specific types of Fedora depending on things such as brim width and crown height/style.

 

[KingAndrew]

Here's another bit of support for Brad (and Robert's) point that the play, but not necessarily the heroine, inspired the name of the hat. This is a gallery of photos of Virginia Harned, who played Trilby in the original production of the play. She wears plenty of nice hats in these photos, but they are all of the large brimmed, low crowned style one associates with women's wear around 1900. There aren't any hats we would describe as trilbies or fedoras in the pictures.
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=524369&word=
I haven't searched for Sevngali's hat. I wonder what it was like.