Return of the Broad Brimmed Hat

[kaosharper1]

In another sign that hat interest is picking up the LA Times ran this article today. It's interesting because it discusses brim size:

http://www.latimes.com/features/image/la-ig-hats-20110313,0,6801782.story

 

[Tiller]

"When the more fashion-forward people — the hipsters or whatever you want to call them — started realizing that everyone was starting to wear them, they realized it was time to move on to something else. So now they're going back to the classics from the 1930s and '40s, when fedoras first came out."

Damn hipsters getting all the credit again. No one notices the vintage/neotrad/retro extremist/ leave me alone I don't like labels but I do love hats/ vintage inspired subculture, oh no it's always the hipsters!

With that said isn't it funny that in New York hats are being called into question, well in LA they are all the rage. In one world they are on the rise, in the other they get no respect. This is getting very confusing.

 

[Gene]

I like the last quote, "The wider the brim the more confidence the individual has."

 

[kaosharper1]

Damn hipsters getting all the credit again. No one notices the vintage/neotrad/retro extremist/ leave me alone I don't like labels but I do love hats/ vintage inspired subculture, oh no it's always the hipsters!

With that said isn't it funny that in New York hats are being called into question, well in LA they are all the rage. In one world they are on the rise, in the other they get no respect. This is getting very confusing.

True, but if hats are going to become "normal" to wear then it will be the twenty-somethings who make it happen. I'm 58 and back when I was growing up as a teen in the 60s and a twenty-something in the 70s only workman and teens wore jeans. Then as we grew older they became a normal part of style until now almost everyone wears some type of denim. We started with Levis and Lees because they were cheap, and now look at what a pair of jeans cost. Maybe it'll work like that. Who knows?

 

[T Rick]

True, but if hats are going to become "normal" to wear then it will be the twenty-somethings who make it happen. I'm 58 and back when I was growing up as a teen in the 60s and a twenty-something in the 70s only workman and teens wore jeans. Then as we grew older they became a normal part of style until now almost everyone wears some type of denim. We started with Levis and Lees because they were cheap, and now look at what a pair of jeans cost. Maybe it'll work like that. Who knows?

FWW, I still buy Levi's (less often since they moved production out of the US) and now Wrangler because they're cheap. I do know what you mean about some designer denims though.

Back on topic, love that quote about the wider the brim, the more confident the individual. While not nec. true, nice to think some may be fooled into thinking that .

 

[T Rick]

Interesting also to note, I believe it was HATCO who recently posted here that they feel they need more stingy brims in Stetson's lineup, as those that are 2 1/2 inch outnumber the stingies by quite a bit. Maybe the thought was premature, and perhaps the discontinuation of the Nostalgia was as well (could it be that the retro hat was simply a few years ahead of it's time?).

 

[Engrishman]

Back on topic, love that quote about the wider the brim, the more confident the individual. While not nec. true, nicwe to think some may be fooled into thinking that .

Just look at him. He reeks confidence. Bring out the soft pillows!

 

[suitedcboy]

I find it odd they mention Adjustment Bureau in reference to wide brimmed hats. It looked to me like they were all stingies or borderline stingies.

 

[Yeps]

I find it odd they mention Adjustment Bureau in reference to wide brimmed hats. It looked to me like they were all stingies or borderline stingies.

I noticed that too. Bit odd.

 

[Fedora Jay]

I too was a bit disheartened by the shortness of the brims in The Adjustment Bureau. Nice hats, but too short for my tastes =)

 

[kaosharper1]

The article calls 2" "normal" and 2 1/4" as wide if I remember right.

 

[John in Covina]

Their concept of broad brim is not even close to what many would call broad or wide. Makes me think of a line from a beer writer many years ago when Lite / Light beers was taking off:

Coors coming out with their Light beer was like VW saying they were coming out with a small car. (Meaning many consider Coors to be light to begin with and at the time VW only made small cars.)

 

[fmw]

Well there are stingy brims and then not-so-stingy ones.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I like how they make it a royal pain to leave a comment

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Wide brim the adjustment bureau had nothing but stingy brims. I wear everything so it is funny these articles. It really just takes confidence to wear a Fedora and not a ball cap but the rewards happen everyday getting love your hat while walking out of church last night made it worth while to me.

 

[azhiker]

I'm guesssing a Tilley?

 

[fmw]

Good guess. A Tilley sun hat.

 

[W4ASZ]

I like the last quote, "The wider the brim the more confidence the individual has."

I thought that my choice of the Squatter on rainy days was due to its functionality as an umbrella substitute.

I'm not sure that it doesn't take more confidence to wander out in a stingy.

The article was OK.

*** Upon further reflection, I never have thought that the expression, "Brimming with Confidence", had anything to do with hats.

 

[monbla256]

I didn't know they ever went away Been wearing a 3 1/4" Bushman for over 30 years now. I'd call it the smaller of a broad brimmed hat at that !

 

[Chascomm]

I too was a bit disheartened by the shortness of the brims in The Adjustment Bureau. Nice hats, but too short for my tastes =)

You've just got too much confidence.

I don't know what it says about me when I've been looking about for a smaller-brimmed hat for the first time in my life.

Personally, I'm disappointed by the shortness of the crowns of that lot in the photo. The civilized world needs taller hats.