Would you like the fedora and related hats to become main stream fashion

[shorel]

nothing personal, but, cigars make me ill. tried to find an emoticon for "gagging" but couldn't.

 

[shorel]

ps re Brooks Brothers: went into their NYC store recently looking for a hat for my dad. Their selection was so limited, and so bad, it was pathetic. Very disappointing. Eventually went up Madison Ave. about a block to Paul Stuart and got a very nice fur felt crushable in their house label, made by Makins. They also stock Borsalinos.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

No.......:cool2:

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I say "yes"...

My answer is one that excludes perifferal concerns. I think that the return of any old fashion will have a life formed by how and when they return to the mainstream. If it happens the right way, with the right timing, it could be a nice thing that helps define early 21st century fashion. On the other end... total disaster! So, what I mean is, I would like it if fedoras and the like became mainstream, just so. Besides, even during the fedora's glory days, there were plenty of fashion eyesores and quality issues. Somehow, we'd survive!

 

[Feraud]

I cast my vote with that small minority..

Indifferent!
I do not care what people choose as their current 'fashion'. Baggy pants, hip hugger pants with a thong sticking out, etc. The worse they dress the better I look!

 

[Bebop]

Indifferent!
I do not care what people choose as their current 'fashion'. Baggy pants, hip hugger pants with a thong sticking out, etc. The worse they dress the better I look!

That is very funny. That is the same reason I like to hang out with ugly people. The uglier they are, the more handsome I look.

 

[Art Fawcett]

My vote would be yes, but maybe not for the obvious reasons. Agreed, the market would be flooded, the quality would go down, the prices would go up ( just look at the typical ebay hat & compare it to 2 yrs ago) but the one thing that will emerge and shine even more than at present. Quality. When more people wear the fedora the easier it will be to educate Joe non hat wearer of today in what constitutes real quality and value. Yes, there will be KMart & WalMart hats for $12 but they will LOOK like $12 hats when compared to quality and I believe education will make a difference. Once again the artists that can't make a real living in the field can rejoin the arena and enrich ALL of our lives with their ideas and style. I'm not talking about the current big "Name" designers ...no thank you Mr. Lauren..but the small time artisan who had to close down for lack on interest or customers. The obvious reason for this post would be to boost my own business but then, I don't want that much work. What I would want more would be to bring out the younger talent and let them loose knowing there was a market out there even when the fad dies down. If a 20 million more men started wearing hats I don't believe all would stop just because the fad was over. The residual would be enough to sustain many a new talent. Just my humble opinion.

 

[fedoralover]

Last spring I was in Portland at a men's store that sells new fedora's (John Helmers). I asked the salesman if they were selling many of them and he said "you'd think there would be a hat on every head as many as we are selling" so apparently whether we like it or not or are indifferent, at least in some area's there is somewhat of a resurgence in wearing fedora's.

fedoralover

 

[Lauren]

My vote would be yes, but maybe not for the obvious reasons. Agreed, the market would be flooded, the quality would go down, the prices would go up ( just look at the typical ebay hat & compare it to 2 yrs ago) but the one thing that will emerge and shine even more than at present. Quality. When more people wear the fedora the easier it will be to educate Joe non hat wearer of today in what constitutes real quality and value. Yes, there will be KMart & WalMart hats for $12 but they will LOOK like $12 hats when compared to quality and I believe education will make a difference. Once again the artists that can't make a real living in the field can rejoin the arena and enrich ALL of our lives with their ideas and style. I'm not talking about the current big "Name" designers ...no thank you Mr. Lauren..but the small time artisan who had to close down for lack on interest or customers. The obvious reason for this post would be to boost my own business but then, I don't want that much work. What I would want more would be to bring out the younger talent and let them loose knowing there was a market out there even when the fad dies down. If a 20 million more men started wearing hats I don't believe all would stop just because the fad was over. The residual would be enough to sustain many a new talent. Just my humble opinion.

Very well said. I definately see your points.

 

[Twitch]

Fedoras would certainly make the street gang look improve!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Yes, and I would like to see women wearing them, too -- real fedoras, not those twinky looking stingy brims in pink and lime green.

Then, maybe my mother wouldn't be so nervous when I wear my fedoras. She has accepted my caps, and has commandeered two of them away from me, but is still concerned about the fedoras. Too bad, she actually looks good in a fedora.

karol

 

[JimD]

Hats on Dancing with the Stars

Last night watched Dancing with the Stars and George Hamilton had a nice Fedora on during his routine. One of the guys had a cloth hat like B!Wear. Unfortunately Master P had a baseball cap on backwards.:kick: So mainstream America got to see a wide variety of hats, luckily George Hamilton looked styling in the Fedora!:drum:

 

[jkath]

For no less than 20 years, I've said that I wished that men would start donning hats and women would wear dresses. As a child I used to watch the reruns of the 50's shows and even then, realized that people acted in such a proper manner when wearing appropriate clothing. It is a sign of true class, imo. Think about when you put a small boy into his best clothing. He will act better, but when he's in his t-shirt and shorts, he runs about like a banshee.
About 15 yrs ago, I visited a cousin in Chicago and was unbelievably impressed with the clothing I saw. This was in the main hub of the working community, but I saw men with hats and beautiful wool coats, and women wore matching leather gloves with their beautifully tailored coats. Sadly, I thought of the casual attitude toward fashion in So Cal. Because of that little epiphany, I tend to dress better, and with more thought.

maintcoder, I applaud you.

 

[varga49]

I voted no!

If I wanted to mainstream I'd be wearing a ball cap! I prefer the exclusivity of vintage and/or custom hats/caps! Every now and then I'll see someone who's sporting a fedora and even a derby! I like that. Is It a love of self expression that fosters wearing atypical headwear, even more so, vintage attire? I think so. I absolutely love it that there are those knowledgable young guys like Wildroot and Matt Deckard out there who are making those bold statements of individuality. Additionally, there have always been a few, (around here) that wear old weathered open roads in the style of the late Hondo Crouch. I like that too!

 

[adamgottschalk]

Hats add color to daily life

I'd like to see hats in general come back. I literally look out at the world as I step into it and think it looks barren compared to the old days--a bunch of naked heads! There's a huge array of styles of hats, and not just fedoras of course (but even within that one group). If people got to the point again where they didn't really feel dressed for the day (at least in winter) without a hat on, there would be so much more vitality to our everyday interactions. Every personality gravitates toward a particular style of hat; certain styles are perfect for certain people/faces, others just plain wrong. Fashion is about understanding, appreciating, valuing ideas like that. Sure, if lids really did hit big again, there would be a "dumbing down" as compared to vintage hats. But it's still perfectly possible (if not more so than ever) to make high quality hats. There are in fact discerning and sophisticated people in the world (look at us and I trust we would take the best of a new hat world and run with it. The effect on the market in general of a resurgence in hat buying is relatively hard to predict; being that nice hats are a considered a "luxury" item, the cost/demand curves are much different for them than they are for most things traded.

 

[Flitcraft]

Enthusiastic "Yes!"

Would love to see the pendulum of fashion swing back to good looking hats! I'm so sick of the backwards ball cap look, I'd settle for most guys wearing newsboy and ivy caps a la "Cinderella Man".
What really looks stupid is the cheap ball cap with the expensive suit combination- unfortunately still a common (pun intended) combination in this locale.

 

[Clint_Southwood]

No!

I voted no, because I don't want a bunch of posers giving the fedora a bad name. When mainstream catches on it creates followers that would only where the hats because they are "cool" and safe since everyone is wearing them. Right now it takes people who really like the hats and have the Balls to sport one because they are not afraid to be different. I like to see people being unique.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

And the price will go up because of demand...

 

[silverHalo]

Seriously folks...

It seems that all those who wear fedoras now because it is so called "counter-culture" or just to be different, would be doing the exact same thing as someone wearing a baseball cap 60 years ago would do to "stand out" and be different in the sea of fedoras... remember that it wasn't too long ago that nearly everyone wore hats (some form or another). It seems to me that these fellows have more of an identity crisis than a love of just fine hats.

 

[Lion]

I voted yes. I think it would be nice to see more decent hats out there. To me, the look is much more pleasing to the eye than what passes for fashion today. Really couldn't care less about being diferent. Or fitting in. I am me. I'm not trying to be anybody and god help anyone who wants to be me. Their life must be real bad. Admitedly, I normaly don't quite fit in, but that's not my fault or intention. Its everyone else who's a bit off. Me? I'm the normal one.

Leo