Why do you wear a fedora or cap?

[dorward]

My reasons are firmly grounded in the practical, when it is cold they keep my head warm, when it is wet they keep it dry, and when it is sunny I avoid being blinded by the glare from the sun without having to deal with having tinted lenses on a second pair of specs (one of the many joys of being a VDU worker).

The whole thing kicked off for me last winter, and the decision to go with a fedora mostly came down to "Beanies, popular though they are with people at the office, look far too much like condoms". It isn't a decision I've regretted

 

[David Bresch]

I am pretty new to hats and the reason I have been wearing fedoras is that they are the most beautiful headware for warmth and make dressing for the chill so much easier. I switched my wardrobe to spring a while ago and the weather has been quite chilly but my hats balance everything out and help with the daytime, evening temperature variation. Except for an ambassador hat in dead of winter, I don't like the look of anything else, for example newsboy caps, which to me look very precious and out of place on anyone older than 18. I am extremely self-critical and I have watched for Philadelphia men's headware and the occasional fedora, by a large margin, looks the sharpest.

 

[anon`]

Hey, with a mug like mine I need all the help I can get!

And what's wrong with wearing a rubber glove on my head, HUH!?!? Great on rainy days.

G

Absolutely nothing! But my head's too big to fit into them, so I have to default to a fedora

 

[funneman]

Why do I wear a fedora?

I started wearing a fedora (a stingy brim BTW) as a way of thumbing my nose at my boss.

But as I began to receive more and more favorable comments a fedora became a part of my daily clothing.

I wear one to keep my head warm at work, cool when I'm outside and to keep the rain out of my face (it is South Florida, after all.) Plus I think it really brings my outfits all together.

I now have a dozen felt and straw hats, some with brims that are 2-3/4 and some with brims that are 1-7/8. I wear whichever strikes my fancy and looks the best with what I'm wearing at the time. Because I'm rather thin and not real tall, I think I look better in a 2" but that doesn't stop me from going bigger or smaller.

As to the snobbish attitude you have alluded to, I think a few of the regulars here may feel the stingy is what ruined hat wearing as a daily accessory, but I could be wrong.

At any rate, welcome to the lounge GWD, if you stay around long enough you'll find plenty of members who share your appreciation for the stingy and I'm sure you'll enjoy you're stay.

Wear your brim with pride, whatever size it is! Bigger is not always better!lol

 

[Tinker]

Why do I wear a fedora?

Why do I wear a fedora? On the surface the answer would be to keep the sun out of my eyes and the rain out of my hair.

A deeper answer to this question might be, I want to be different. That's nothing new for me. In my own way I've dressed, and been, "different" most of my life. For example, I have worn shorts in nearly every job I've ever had. Some here will say (and have said) that wearing shorts is sloppy. Wearing shorts (even in SF Bay Area winters) has been one way I have chosen to express my difference.

Since beginning to wear hats a year ago, my wardrobe has totally transformed. I no longer wear shorts. (Maybe I should start a thread about wearing shorts and a fedora.) In the past year I have acquired sport coats, shoes, long pants, long sleeved shirts, ties(!), not to mention hats. I now have the beginnings of a wardrobe that will allow me to be different, not only from others, but from what I was yesterday if I choose.

It's all great fun, and it's more than just the fedora, though the fedora might be the most visible change. There's an element of self-expression involved with wearing fedoras that is very important to me. When I wear a hat in public I am saying to others that I am a person worthy of note. For me, wearing a hat is an expression of inner confidence. I’m saying, “I can do this.” “I’m important.”

For the introspective person, yours is a question that will have a changing and developing answer over time. Thanks for asking it.

Tinker

"Someone has to think of these things." Little Edie Beale

 

[KObalto]

Practicality is the reason I cover my head, style is the reason I wear a fedora!

AMEN! Can I steal this for a signature?

 

[GreyHat]

They look good
They feel right
And if those aren't enough, they make you feel good about yourself, which can change your entire outlook on life

 

[animator]

I started wearing a fedora so my young son would have a tangible link to memories with his old man. I've always liked the way fedoras looked, I don't know that I look better in them, but I feel like my kid's dad.

I like wide brim fedoras ...but that is just my preference. People should wear what they like and feel comfortable in. I think most everyone here would just appreciate that you enjoy hats. One of my favorite parts of looking through the lounge everyday is seeing and learning about all the different hat options.

Recently I've learned about top hats and boaters, here. I love those hats! I couldn't pull off wearing them, but I sure am glad some people can!

My father saw pictures of me wearing my new hat and when I saw him this weekend said he was thinking about getting a fedora ... so next time we get together I'm buying my dad a hat! And if he wants a "stingy" it's okay by me!

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Why?

Because I can.

 

[Topper]

I don't wear fedoras

Though do wear a Trilby ( panama) in Summertime, and also a tweed "flat cap" as live in the country

Caps very useful when driving my old series IIA landrover, there are no windscreen sunvisors in old Landies so good to be able to see the road without being blinded by the sun!

 

[mfgann]

Well, I'm very new to it (only had the fedora for a couple of days now) so I hesitated replying, but I also have a lot of my own reasoning fresh on my mind.

I started with a Tilley, in much the same fashion.. My wife and I were at a shop near the beach, and while she shopped I took an interest in getting a hat for the sun. I have a big head, so most of the cheaper stuff wouldn't fit (7 3/4.. the XLs would sometimes _squeeze_ on). I noticed a Tilley and tried it.. it was sized, so I found one that fit nicely, and enjoyed it as a casual hat since.

My father's been wearing hats more and more, and I finally decided that I wanted something a bit nicer so I could wear it to work. I got a tilley TH5 (mocha) but still wasn't very dressy.. this led to the search for a fedora and my finding this lounge. I started with a pretty standard fedora, figuring I would figure out my style later. Also I think with a head my size a 2 1/2 inch brim seems to look good.

One other reason for my wearing hats is that, ever since my teenage years, hats (ballcaps) never fit me right. It always made me a bit envious. I finally have my revenge.. I get to wear _stylish_ hats.

 

[flylot74]

Oh yes, please do! I would be flattered if you did!

AMEN! Can I steal this for a signature?

 

[KObalto]

Thanks!

Oh yes, please do! I would be flattered if you did!

 

[Stan]

Hi,

Add me to the list of those who wear hats as a practical matter. If one wears a hat in the cooler weather, one has far fewers bouts with colds and flu. In the warmer weather, there's the sun issue that's covered, so to speak.

As to a fedora, well dad gave me an old one of his when I was a kid that watched reruns of 'The Untouchables' every day. Of course, it didn't fit. It wound up on a shelf in my closet.

However, in later years (starting at 16 to be exact) I was heavily into wearing helmets. I rode a motorcycle as the only way I could afford the costs of transportation, and I became a volunteer firefighter. I cut my hair in a crew cut since helmets are pretty danged hot things to wear (esp those file helmets inside burning buildings). My head would get cold when not wearing a helmet, so I thought about that old fedora dad had given me. I started wearing that when I wasn't wearing a helmet.

I wore it for almost 30 years, when it was damaged beyond repair. So, I bought a couple new hats locally, but didn't like the way they were made or fit vs. the old hat. I then bought a few vintage ones off eBay, with mixed results. So, now I'm having a couple custom made. It's the only way to get something new that is equivalent to something old.

I'm sticking with the fedora styling as it goes well with casual wear as with fancier duds. I like the wider brims (2 1/2" or wider) as they provide greater sun protection. This is also the point where I think about how I look wearing a hat, as the wider brims look better on me than the narrower ones. Oh, and I'm still into wearing helmets - for the obvious reasons - and I still sport a crew cut as well.

Later!

Stan

 

[Orvil Newton]

Practicality

I got used to having my head covered when out of doors during my fifteen year stint in the Army but dropped the habit for a few years after I got out. My Dad was bald at thirty and I figured I would soon lose my hair and decided to start wearing hats again just so it wouldn't look to be a response to losing my hair. I am now nearly sixty with no signs of going bald but I always wear a cap or hat when going outside.

I got skin cancer when I lived in Hawaii and got serious about hats then. Prior to that I had worn baseball caps but when I got the news from the doctor I went out and bought a cheap panama. After a couple of years I found a shop in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, "Newt's" that had Montechristis and I bought a Fino Fino Optimo. When I retired last year we sailed our boat to the Pacific Northwest. The optimo succumbed to adverse conditions during the voyage (Got soaked and moldy) so I gave it a decent burial at sea. When we arrived in Washington I started shopping for a fedora and now I have a Pendleton wool felt fedora that I rather like. Its warm and keeps the rain (Snow, hail and sleet ) off my head. Its not as fragile as the Montechristi and certainly not as expensive and I think that it will make a good year-round hat as long as we are in this part of the world. Still, i am keeping my eye out for the perfect hat:fedora:

 

[HatFan]

Odd man out

I have always loved hats and I was always wearing some type of baseball cap. A few years ago when my wife and I were in Washington state in the rain forest, I got a cheap wool fedora in a store there to keep the rain off my head. I quickly grew to love that hat. I also took a couple of trips to Europe and saw many men in the streets with hats on and I liked the way they looked. My last trip to Vienna, I got a wool Stetson with a 2 inch brim and wore it every minute I was over there...it also helped with the cold weather. After my return, I started getting more interested in quality and ended up with a Stetson Pinnacle, which I love also. While poking around the Internet, I also ran into Hanna Hats and the patchwork cap....it will be in UPS tomorrow The interest in hats also lead me back to sport coats, which I have not worn in years. I am still a jeans guy and probably always will be, but at least a nice sports coat and topped with a stylish hat improves the total look (I least I believe it does).

Here is my problem. I usually don't have an issue wearing hats out in public, but I still feel very self conscious wearing them to work. I have seen a couple of guys wearing flat caps, but by far it is the exception. I see more and more men wearing flat caps and fedoras here in Southern California, but we are still the minority. It is really amazing how things change...I got a vintage fishing calendar a few weeks ago and everybody in every picture had a flat cap or some other kind of Fedora-type type.

I guess at my age, I am getting less and less concerned about what other people think and more concerned about what I like. I will continue to work at ignoring my feelings of self consciousness and do what I want.

This may seem odd, but I can't believe I am in the minority.

 

[Mystic]

This guy is unavailable at the moment so I thought I would post a comment for him.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/256432/483/Dapper-Robber-Steals-From-Bank

He wears a fedora.....to.....ummmm.......rob a BANK! [huh] hwell:

 

[Bird Lives]

This guy is unavailable at the moment so I thought I would post a comment for him.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/256432/483/Dapper-Robber-Steals-From-Bank

He wears a fedora.....to.....ummmm.......rob a BANK! [huh] hwell:

Cats got style...I'll give him that...

 

[Detective_Noir]

i got mine after my great grandfather. he wore it all the time and i liked the style of it. after seeing movies with clark gable and humphrey bogart made me want the fedora even more so i bought my first fedora. the color was black and has a black head band. the second one i got was when my great grandfather had passed away and left the hat to me in the end. today i wear it still, it is a dobbs fifth avenue with an open crown, i dont know what the name of the hat would be but its great fur felt with a roan leather band and silk lining. beautiful hat thats nearly 80 years old.

 

[randooch]

This guy is unavailable at the moment so I thought I would post a comment for him.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/256432/483/Dapper-Robber-Steals-From-Bank

He wears a fedora.....to.....ummmm.......rob a BANK! [huh] hwell:

I can see why he ditched that hat.

And from the sounds of it, he'd better have plans to launder the money.