Stingy brims???

[31 Model A]

I've been researching fedoras for a few days now and even purchased one, a Stetson.

I've read many articles and even some threads here pertaining to "stingy" brims. I looked up the word "stingy":

stingy
(ˈstɪndʒɪ)
adj, -gier or -giest
1. unwilling to spend or give
2. insufficient or scanty

When you apply some of the fedoras offered and the prices they cost, such as Borsalino and Stetson, to name two, with the above info, the word "stingy is poorly used, IMO. Just because a fedora with less that 2.5 brim is called a 'stingy' brim, IMO, does the hat an injustice. Why are not the fedoras with 2.5-3.00 plus brims called, "excess" brims?

From the research I've read, the majority of the fedoras in the 20/30s were less than 2.5 inches. Since when did the 'normal' size brim get shoved back on fedoras?

Just my take on "stingy" brims!!!!! Your thoughts may differ.

 

[Frunobulax]

Where did you get the idea 2.5" is stingy?


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[31 Model A]

Here's one thread I read.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/fedora-brim-size-in-1920s.48267/

2.5 was the limit but from my reading most were below that.

 

[31 Model A]

Where did you get the idea 2.5" is stingy?


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I don't see where I said 2.5 was considered a stingy brim. I did say "below 2.5".

 

[Winston Carter]

2.5 is my limit on fedora's. It looks really wide to me anymore.

 

[Winston Carter]

I've been researching fedoras for a few days now and even purchased one, a Stetson.

I've read many articles and even some threads here pertaining to "stingy" brims. I looked up the word "stingy":

stingy
(ˈstɪndʒɪ)
adj, -gier or -giest
1. unwilling to spend or give
2. insufficient or scanty

When you apply some of the fedoras offered and the prices they cost, such as Borsalino and Stetson, to name two, with the above info, the word "stingy is poorly used, IMO. Just because a fedora with less that 2.5 brim is called a 'stingy' brim, IMO, does the hat an injustice. Why are not the fedoras with 2.5-3.00 plus brims called, "excess" brims?

From the research I've read, the majority of the fedoras in the 20/30s were less than 2.5 inches. Since when did the 'normal' size brim get shoved back on fedoras?

Just my take on "stingy" brims!!!!! Your thoughts may differ.

A stingy brim to me is 1.75 and below. I do like them.

 

[jlee562]

I tend to think our modern perceptions of popular hat styles through the decades is something of a caricature. Brim sizes varied through all decades.

As far as "stingy" vs "excess," in terms of sun protection , there is nothing "excess" about a 3" brim.

 

[31 Model A]

I tend to think our modern perceptions of popular hat styles through the decades is something of a caricature. Brim sizes varied through all decades.

As far as "stingy" vs "excess," in terms of sun protection , there is nothing "excess" about a 3" brim.

A wide brim had to help against sun exposure is a whole different animal. I've used many a wide brim hat during my lifetime for sun protection and they came in handy also for rain too.

Through time there has always been a norm and an exception. Why today are hat brims of the 20s/30s considered a "stingy" brim when it was the norm? Is it because hats today with a 2.5 in brim and above considered the "norm"?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

A wide brim had to help against sun exposure is a whole different animal. I've used many a wide brim hat during my lifetime for sun protection and they came in handy also for rain too.

Through time there has always been a norm and an exception. Why today are hat brims of the 20s/30s considered a "stingy" brim when it was the norm? Is it because hats today with a 2.5 in brim and above considered the "norm"?

I think you are putting way too much thought into this. Your dictionary definition has little to do with how we use the term. We need a way to differentiate types and sub-types of hats and somewhere along the line “stingy” was used. Some here alternatively refer to them as “slim brims” if that is easier on your ear...but then are 2 3/4” brims “portly?” If you’re interested in an academic examination of its etymology that’s fine, but it’s just a word we use to describe a certain style of hat. Admittedly it’s arbitrary, but I consider stingy brims to be two inches or less.


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[jlee562]

Again though, define "the norm."

Because this is also 1925:

And no, not just Tom Mix. Look at the hats behind him. Nary a stingy brim to be seen.

 

[31 Model A]

Again though, define "the norm."

Because this is also 1925:

And no, not just Tom Mix. Look at the hats behind him. Nary a stingy brim to be seen.

They were not called back then, Stingy brims because a fedora was a fedora in different size brims. I consider the term "stingy' being a modern day term and applying the term "stingy" means, it's lacking, lacking what?

As for as Tom Mix, his hat was norm among that group that wore every day garb. Put that style up against what others wore then you don't have the norm but the exception. I believe there were more fedoras worn in NYC during 1925 than all the cowboys in 1925.

 

[jlee562]

They were not called back then, Stingy brims because a fedora was a fedora in different size brims. I consider the term "stingy' being a modern day term and applying the term "stingy" means, it's lacking, lacking what?

As for as Tom Mix, his hat was norm among that group that wore every day garb. Put that style up against what others wore then you don't have the norm but the exception. I believe there were more fedoras worn in NYC during 1925 than all the cowboys in 1925.

Yes, you can see what others wore behind Tom and they are not stingy brim hats.

As to what they were called, "fedora" isn't really it either. What we are discussing, are soft felt hats. And those came in a variety of widths. See, for example,this turn of the century Stetson catalog: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/1900s-stetson-catalog-reprint.94429/

 

[31 Model A]

I think you are putting way too much thought into this. Your dictionary definition has little to do with how we use the term. We need a way to differentiate types and sub-types of hats and somewhere along the line “stingy” was used. Some here alternatively refer to them as “slim brims” if that is easier on your ear...but then are 2 3/4” brims “portly?” If you’re interested in an academic examination of its etymology that’s fine, but it’s just a word we use to describe a certain style of hat. Admittedly it’s arbitrary, but I consider stingy brims to be two inches or less.


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Why was the term "stingy brims" applied in the first place? There had to have been a beginning someplace and why and by whom. Since there is a "wide" brim, why not just a "short" brim.
The scots have always had the stigma "stingy" applied to them. Having spent years in Scotland, the scots are for from being "stingy" but they are "thrifty"

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Why was the term "stingy brims" applied in the first place? There had to have been a beginning someplace and why and by whom. Since there is a "wide" brim, why not just a "short" brim.
The scots have always had the stigma "stingy" applied to them. Having spent years in Scotland, the scots are for from being "stingy" but they are "thrifty"

Most beginnings of word usage have been lost to history. It obviously had a beginning, but since its definition is agreed on (more or less but without exact parameters) I don’t know that many will care what it’s origins are. We don’t even know/agree where the word “fedora” came from but we happily use it to describe a style of hat.

 

[31 Model A]

Again though, define "the norm."

Because this is also 1925:

And no, not just Tom Mix. Look at the hats behind him. Nary a stingy brim to be seen.

Yes, you can see what others wore behind Tom and they are not stingy brim hats.

As to what they were called, "fedora" isn't really it either. What we are discussing, are soft felt hats. And those came in a variety of widths. See, for example,this turn of the century Stetson catalog: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/1900s-stetson-catalog-reprint.94429/

Whether stiff or soft depended upon the material used. The name fedora did not originate in the US nor by an American, something that was adopted. Your catalog above is dated when?

 

[31 Model A]

Most beginnings of word usage have been lost to history. It obviously had a beginning, but since its definition is agreed on (more or less but without exact parameters) I don’t know that many will care what it’s origins are. We don’t even know/agree where the word “fedora” came from but we happily use it to describe a style of hat.

I'm just trying to "edgamakate" myself with the help of others which I know, know far more than me, then again, I might just be passing time during a very boring day!!!!

 

[jlee562]

Whether stiff or soft depended upon the material used. The name fedora did not originate in the US nor by an American, something that was adopted. Your catalog above is dated when?

Umm, what? Stiff and soft felts are two delineations of hats (this is clearly illustrated by said catalogue and other sources such as Scientific Hat Finishing). The stiffness being determined by the amount of shellac applied, not the composition of the fur felt itself.

1924 catalogue listing (according to OP)

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I'm just trying to "edgamakate" myself with the help of others which I know, know far more than me, then again, I might just be passing time during a very boring day!!!!

I do the same. Two year-old magazines in the dentist office become boring very quickly.

Lots of rabbit holes to go down but rarely a definite or satisfying answer at the end. Don’t even start down the US vs the UK definition of “trilby.”

 

[31 Model A]

I do the same. Two year-old magazines in the dentist office become boring very quickly.

Lots of rabbit holes to go down but rarely a definite or satisfying answer at the end. Don’t even start down the US vs the UK definition of “trilby.”

Fashion/Trend setters...…….Considering the era, lets say, mid-1920s. Just like Marlene Dietrich I believe was the trend setter for women in trousers and what an uproar!!! But, it only took one. (I'm talking trousers, not Levi's) I believe what I read about King Edward VII being the first to wear a "Fedora" because at that time, royalty were trend setters!!! This was supposedly around 1925. Movie stars, and is that still not so today?
Celebrities are the most inexpensive way to sell a product, back then, not today. Today it's $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Fedora has French beginnings. What do you think Tom Mix would have said or done if some yankee eastern greenhorn said, Hey Tom, I like your Fedora!!!!

 

[Frunobulax]

Personally, anything 2" and below is stingy. I don't know where the word originated; however, my sieve-like memory seems to think we've seen ads from the 50s use that term.

The term "Fedora" predates 1925 by several decades. Even if you buy the discredited notion it was named after the character in the play, that was the late 1800s. Mr. Bowers put paid to that myth some time back on the lounge and now we know the term predates the play.

I'm bemused at getting so wrapped around the axle about some of this stuff. Most of it is a reflection of the marketing and fashion trends of the times. Perhaps stingy brim was used in a fashion article at some point and caught on, perhaps it was two guys and a bottle of vodka that gave rise to the term, and it made it's way into everyday use.

Wear what you like. I personally don't think low, tapered crowns and short brims are desirable or attractive, but then my tastes are just that, my tastes.


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