Your First Fedora

[Undertow]

Undertow, with your propensity to put stores under--please stay away. We have Precious few old establishments left around here.
My first hat was my grandfathers open road that I inherited from my Grandfather in 1971.

lol Haha, too late! I'm in a car right now on my way to your state...and I'm searching for beautiful old stores!

Muwahahaha!

 

[dhermann1]

Around 2005 or 2006 I picked up a Stetson Chatham at a store in lower Manhattan, which I believe is still there (against all odds.) It's at Nassau Street and Ann, if anyone is ever down by New York's City Hall.
I was looking at it and asked the guy about the little moths nips around the bottom of the brim. He got immediatly exasperated and offered it to me for a mere $20 (it was a $70 hat). I couldn't refuse.
After wearing it proudly for a couple of years I left it in the back of a cab in Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure (but NOT 100%) that it was researching a place to buy a replacement that lead me to this joint, which has been my cyber home away from home for going on 6 years now.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

OG, that photo belongs in the Non-Shorpy Allstars thread. Spectacular in every way. :eusa_clap

Thank You sir...

 

[Justin B]

Prior to coming here I can't say I owned a proper fedora. Not to say I hadn't worn a man's hat before, just mine were of the western variety. I bought my first fedora from the classifieds here, a Borsalino that still gets in the weekly rotation (of about 30+ hats now).

 

[aught12]

my father and grandfather wore hats, and I was always fascinated by them. In the 60's, my Dad wore a short-brimmed fedora to work, and a Strat-like beater on the weekends. Ten years ago, I decided I needed a real hat, even though nobody I knew wore one -- and I bought a Stetson Saxon. I'd take it out about once a year and wore it around the house, but it didn't feel right. Then, a couple years ago, during my annual "hat wearing," I realized it felt good -- I was finally old enough to wear a hat ! Now I have too many.

 

[danofarlington]

I was finally old enough to wear a hat ! Now I have too many.

That observation describes me also. I wouldn't buy any fedoras for years, even though I thought they looked cool in movies. Then I got a nice Panama in Ecuador, but wore it seldom. I was afraid of what peers may say. But as I got older, I said to myself, the heck with that, I'm just going to wear it. Now I have a lot of hats and wear them a lot, no matter what people think. But there was definitely a watershed between the days when I would be cowed by perceived peer pressure, and now, when I think I've grown into my own style.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Wow....first fedora was a wooly made by Bailey, model they no longer make the same now, "executive" brown with dark brown hatband/ribbon. I still have the hat will keep it for remembering where it all began. BUT my first GOOD hat came from a trip to New York, storage warehouse for Broadway gave me a vintage Dunlap, nice silk finish black hat, I had that fedora until last year, sent to a fellow lounger. My first Fedora, the wool Bailey was purchase in 1997. The Dunlap was purchased in 1998. My Father all his life had very nice Fedora hats, I wish I had them now.

 

[BJC88]

My first Fedora was an Indy IV Dorfman Pacific that I got back in 2008, cost was $40.00... spent $39.00 more than I should've XD

Than it was a Todd's Downtowner, not bad, but more costume piece than hat, imo.

My first Good hat is a Penman Raiders, but I gave it a Crystal Skull Bash, looks and feels very nice.

 

[DJH]

OG - love the old family photo!

My first Fedora was an Akubra Campdraft in Bluegrass Green.

I stumbled upon this site while looking for info on US Navy peacoats, liked the community and started to read some of the threads. I'd always liked the look of Fedoras but had never owned one.

I was impressed with the enthusiasm here for the Akubra hats and decided to invest in one of my own. Over the last year and a half or so, it has been joined by several other hats, either vintage or custom. I've bought and sold (and bought more) quite a few hats now, but I still have the Campdraft and still enjoy wearing it.

If I were ever to get another Akubra, it would be a Fed IV.

 

[overlord4215]

My first one is from Brooks Brothers i think from 50's or early 60's that i picked up at a ww2 reenactment i have gotten a few more since then .....Now if i can muster up the courage to wear it in public .

 

[Wolfwood]

My first was also Dorfman Pacific Indy hat - wool. Thankfully, it got ruined quickly and I had read enough to begin understanding quality. Still, I stayed away from Akubra (for fear of having to shape the crown myself) and bought another D&F (fur felt, but hard as cardboard) before I finally saw the light and went for Akubra.

 

[Rabbit]

I bought some modern stingies from Mr.Green hats (an offshoot of the Louise Green millinery) in 2008, just a couple of years before other folks started wearing stingies around these parts. I came across the Fedora Lounge in 2010 and started reading all the main threads without having a login for nearly a year, using only external search functions to find more information hidden in the smaller threads. I just felt I didn't have anything to say yet on the forum.

I actually found the Fedora Lounge after finding the VS website (looking for hatmakers), which in turn I found through Will Boehlke's blog A Suitable Wardrobe. From what I've heard, more often than not it's the other way around - folks stumble upon the Lounge somehow, then find the custom hatters through the Lounge.

Having done my homework, I opened my FL account, and in February 2011 I ordered my first real hat. It was a VS Blue Smoke 5.5" x 2 3/8" w/ 17 L black ribbon and narrow underwelt.

 

[Blackthorn]

My first true fedora (as in fur felt) was 3 years ago, a gray Stetson Chatham. I didn't know my right size, and thought I was a 7 1/4, so the hat never did fit right. I sold it to a friend and began my quest for the perfect hat. I finally caught on to getting only custom made fedoras.

 

[Doomstein]

Mine was a mink Stetson Colony I picked up at the local men's store in town back in 1998. It's pretty much the same as the Temple of Doom Indy hat (shorter crown, moderate taper) but with a slightly smaller ribbon.

My noggin grew since then, so I'm re-blocking it soon.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

My Dad's 1950's Penny's 'Marathon' which I inherited in 1966. When I was a kid it came down over my ears, now it would just sit on the top of my head. I find it inconceivable that my head is so much larger than my Dad's' now, as an adult!

-dixon cannon

 

[DNO]

My first fedora was a '40's vintage Stetson Whippet obtained at an auction of surplus stock from a costume house that primarily served the Stratford Festival. That was about 10 years ago. (I also picked up a lovely Scott's late '30's homburg, a straw sailor's hat from a production of HMS Pinnafore and a turban from Othello)

 

[Dan Allen]

Not withstanding the youngsters that do wear hats, (the real future for fedoras)-- do I detect a trend that many of us (myself included) had hats long before "we" felt vintage enough ourselves to actually wear them? Why do we feel that a certain age is required?

 

[Aviator1]

First Real Fedora was a Stetson Chatham about 10 years ago. I've had a lot of cheap Knock-Offs for years but that was my first quality hat. Since then, I've become something of a collector but I still have that Chatham. Pretty beat up now but that just makes it comfortable. I'd send a pic but the image upload doesn't seem to work.

 

[tomb1013]

A modern Stetson Whippet

 

[Wolfwood]

Not withstanding the youngsters that do wear hats, (the real future for fedoras)-- do I detect a trend that many of us (myself included) had hats long before "we" felt vintage enough ourselves to actually wear them? Why do we feel that a certain age is required?

I agree - that's an interesting question. I also wonder if the "certain age" is about the same for all those who feel that way, or if it varies with person.

I cannot see any reason for younger people not to wear hats - they did it in the 30's, so why cannot they do so now?