young people & hats

[panamaJess]

I work with teenagers and was shocked to hear them talking about the fedoras they were going to wear to their school dance (since when do they wear anything other than baseball caps or beanies?!)

But I love to see teens embracing hats. Even if they don't know (or choose to abide by) hat wearing etiquette.

Do you like to see young people contributing to the fedora revitalization happening worldwide? Even if they don't know a thing about hats or hat manners? How important / possible is it to educate them on hat etiquette?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

As much as I would love to see some hat etiquette, I am just thankful that young folks are wearing hats. It's a popular thing in the big cities around here, but not so much the small towns. I don't think that kids will ever understand manners involved with wearing hats because of the fact that there hasn't been any about ball caps or beanies or anything of the like.

 

[Neophyte]

Hell, I AM one of those young people lol!

I'll admit I don't know all that much about hat etiquette, but I tend to use my hats in a utilitarian way with a utilitarian perspective. As such I have predominately worn Akubra fedoras since I began wearing hats this past summer. I can't justify a nicer dress hat because I can't guarantee it's safety while I'm in this college environment.

That said, the one hard and fast rule I do follow is to take off my hat when meeting somebody new, or when entering a building (unless I'm carrying something in or out of that building). Oh yeah, and when in a restaurant, if I can't find someplace to put the hat, I put it in my car and hope the heat doesn't shrink it !

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

My 14-year-old is getting his first fedora for Christmas and he wore one of mine to school last week.

 

[Alan-Eby]

I, like neophyte, am one of those young people. I follow the basics of hat etiquette, but it bugs me when I see young people who refuse to remove their hats for the National Anthem, or in a Church. I think most of my generation has lost a sense of respect, and its more obvious when they are wearing a hat.

 

[Neophyte]

I, like neophyte, am one of those young people. I follow the basics of hat etiquette, but it bugs me when I see young people who refuse to remove their hats for the National Anthem, or in a Church. I think most of my generation has lost a sense of respect, and its more obvious when they are wearing a hat.

I think it's sort of a 50-50 between a lost sense of respect and a general ignorance of customs of a bygone era.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

I agree with Neo. It isn't that they necessarily have no respect but that they've never been told that wearing a hat during the anthem or indoors is gauche. They just don't know for the most part.

 

[CharlieB]

Oh yeah, and when in a restaurant

Good for you, Neo. I can't tell you how many men who are old enough to know better who do not remove their hat (or in most cases ball-cap) in a restaraunt. Do they think the fire sprinklers are going to suddenly turn on and get their heads wet?

Unless you are eating outdoors, take that hat off!

 

[fmw]

I think the loss of hat etiquette happened with start of the popularity of ball caps. I don't see hats being worn in restaurants unless they are ball caps and I see those all the time. It is even worse manners to ask someone to remove their hat while eating but it's tempting sometimes.

 

[CharlieB]

I think the loss of hat etiquette happened with start of the popularity of ball caps. I don't see hats being worn in restaurants unless they are ball caps and I see those all the time. It is even worse manners to ask someone to remove their hat while eating but it's tempting sometimes.

Agreed. Bad manners, potentially dangerous, and they probably wouldn't get what you were trying to communicate anyway!

 

[Pompidou]

The Fedora Lounge is a centralized hub of knowledge of all things hat, amongst other things, yet look at the amount of debate about which rules of hat still apply. If we have no consensus on a rule, there is no rule. I tend to think of TFL members as archaeologists of a bygone age. There are many threads trying to piece together how to bring back and successfully integrate rules no longer in effect. I don't hold a changed hat etiquette against people that follow it. People haven't gotten ruder - everyone is just as well intentioned as ever. The very definition of rude isn't what it used to be. It's fair to bemoan that - what is civilization but a never ending war between change and trying to stay the same? Me? I figured I had the liberty to pick and choose which rules from the day I wanted to follow. That's what I did.

 

[danofarlington]

I work with teenagers and was shocked to hear them talking about the fedoras they were going to wear to their school dance (since when do they wear anything other than baseball caps or beanies?!)

But I love to see teens embracing hats. Even if they don't know (or choose to abide by) hat wearing etiquette.

Do you like to see young people contributing to the fedora revitalization happening worldwide? Even if they don't know a thing about hats or hat manners? How important / possible is it to educate them on hat etiquette?

I like to see young people wearing hats, because it increases the fun of doing it. More people, more hats equals more style niches available for each individual, rather than the homogenization we've had for thirty years with ballcaps. Young people will drive any hat reviivication that may happen. As to rules, let them discover them for themselves, just like we're doing. I refuse to be the Hat Police.

 

[johnnycanuck]

I think it’s a good thing youth are wearing proper hats. Fedoras provide a lot better protection from the sun then ball caps. Maybe if this becomes a lifelong trend the skin cancer statistics may go down.
Johnny

 

[scottyrocks]

I think the loss of hat etiquette happened with start of the popularity of ball caps. I don't see hats being worn in restaurants unless they are ball caps and I see those all the time. It is even worse manners to ask someone to remove their hat while eating but it's tempting sometimes.

I think it occurred considerably before that. There was a whole generation or more of men who didnt wear any hats before ball caps became the so-widely-available items they are, with pretty much anything written on them that you can think of.

The mesh 'trucker' caps of the 1970s began this cap craze, imho, but there were the 60s and most of the 70s where the norm for men was hatless. A lot of once-common habits can get lost in that amount of time.

 

[Jim2903]

I think the loss of hat etiquette happened with start of the popularity of ball caps. I don't see hats being worn in restaurants unless they are ball caps and I see those all the time. It is even worse manners to ask someone to remove their hat while eating but it's tempting sometimes.

I love the scene from "The Sopranos" referenced here: http://weblog.delacour.net/archives/000710.html

 

[Jim2903]

All we have to do now is start moving more youngsters from those training hats they sell at Target to "real" fedoras ...

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I like to see the young wearing fedoras. That's where a trend takes hold, not with the old fuddy-duds like me. Sure, they know nothing about hat etiquette (or hat quality), but neither did my father when he was teenager. They have time to learn, and most probably will if they wear fedoras long-term.

I've overheard at one fedora-wearing teen around here tell his pals to pick a larger table in a restaurant so he wouldn't have to leave his hat on while eating. His ball-capped buddies replied that they always ate with hats on, but the kid with the fedora schooled them right then and there. Within five minutes, they all had their hats off.

 

[Neophyte]

The Fedora Lounge is a centralized hub of knowledge of all things hat, amongst other things, yet look at the amount of debate about which rules of hat still apply. If we have no consensus on a rule, there is no rule. I tend to think of TFL members as archaeologists of a bygone age. There are many threads trying to piece together how to bring back and successfully integrate rules no longer in effect. I don't hold a changed hat etiquette against people that follow it. People haven't gotten ruder - everyone is just as well intentioned as ever. The very definition of rude isn't what it used to be. It's fair to bemoan that - what is civilization but a never ending war between change and trying to stay the same? Me? I figured I had the liberty to pick and choose which rules from the day I wanted to follow. That's what I did.

Now that I think about it, I'm inclined to agree with Pompidou on this one .

 

[danofarlington]

Now that I think about it, I'm inclined to agree with Pompidou on this one .

" - what is civilization but a never ending war between change and trying to stay the same? "

Actually that is a very deep thought of Pompidou. I've read some cultural history, and this might be an academic thesis, seriously. I think that's a valid way to look at any culture.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Me? I figured I had the liberty to pick and choose which rules from the day I wanted to follow. That's what I did.

It most certainly is a very American struggle. What ideas are open for the next generation to remake, and what is worth keeping? How do we tread that fine line? However, those that think they should be able to start totally over are the most short sighted of all, and I'd contend slightly arrogant. Do people really think they are so much smarter than anyone that has ever come before them that they are smart enough to wholly remake their world without any traditions and social customs observed or held over from those dreaded "old days"? That, I'd contend, is the road to anarchy. Not only that but it cuts off new generations from the good things of the past as well as the bad.