Alternatives to a fedora

[Tony in Tarzana]

[QUOTE="Doc" Devereux]If you want to wear a hat, just do it. You might just find it good for your confidence.[/QUOTE]

AMEN! :eusa_clap

 

[johnnycanuck]

Oh good heavens the man is taking about women. Such strange and confusing creatures. The only thing I can say on the matter is this. Be yourself. If being yourself is wearing a hat. Then wear a hat. You do not want to attract a woman trying to be something you are not. Trust me. Like the song said "Some girls don't like boys like me, Ya but some girls do" It is worth waiting for the girls that do.
Johnny

 

[WildCelt]

I know! I know!

What clothes and accessories today are distinctly masculine? Jeans? Women wear them all the time. Baseball caps? Same thing. Work boots? Ditto.

So, I'm new here and, though I wear my fedoras, trilby, and scally caps almost every day, I don't have the depth of knowledge other members here have. This question, though, I have the answer to.

Kilts.

Chicks dig a man in a kilt and men & women alike admire the courage it takes to wear it. I always get compliments when I wear mine around (although I garner some laughter as well).

 

[Radioflyer]

Hangin' around the corn here in Central Indiana, Fedoras are more catagorized as 'costume' than accessory though they are become more common to see (hurray!). I believe it all has to do with the wearer however. I'm a consistant wearer of 'aussie' style hats that have a wider brim and lower crown...they've become my trademark. If you find a style that compliments your build, and this takes some honest help from a great friend who'll tell you the truth, and wear that Fedora with confidence instead of 'attitude', you'll look just dandy! I say that as I've tried on hats that definitely did NOT compliment me in any way. Just my 2 cents...

rf

 

[RBH]

Welcome to the Lounge WildCelt..

what hat is that in your avatar?

 

[Cruiser]

Do not misunderstand me. I love fedoras. I have one. And I wear it from time to time. But very often I just want a hat wich does not atract so much attention when I am walking down the street. So that's why I asked the question I asked.
One more thing. I did not buy the story that all of you wear your fedoras on regular basis. It seems to me that your fedoras spend more time inside of the house then out. And that when you wear it on the street same things happen to you as they happen to me. (do not tell me that you were never followed by the pollice just becouse you wore a fedora)

Whoa! I definitely have not ever been followed by the police when I wore a fedora, and I don't expect I ever will be. I wear at least one of my hats (most often it is a light gray Open Road, goes with jeans or anything less dressy than a suit) each day, and walking around, not riding in a car. In the summer, I switch to a panama. The hat seldom draws any comments, and when it does, they have always been positive. I would wear the fedora-bashed Open Road to any event, like a rodeo, that I would wear a cowboy hat to, with no concern about any negative consequences. I have cowboy hats as well, but I really prefer the Open Road by far. Maybe your neighborhood or town is a lot different from mine.

 

[Dinerman]

I wear a fedora (or some variant) every single day. Never had problems with wearing it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

What clothes and accessories today are distinctly masculine? Jeans? Women wear them all the time. Baseball caps? Same thing. Work boots? Ditto.

This question ... I have the answer to. Kilts.

Strictly speaking, you're right. However, plenty of females wear "Catholic schoolgirl" skirts that look quite a bit like kilts.


.

 

[WildCelt]

RBH, it's a Pendleton Wool fedora I found in an airport for $20. It was my all-around beater hat for backpacking, hiking, and everything else until it got soaked and became a skullcap with a brim. I'd like to stretch it out, but I don't know how I'd go about it. It's probably cost-prohibitive, too.

. . . and Marc, mine swishes much better than theirs do.

 

[PeeWee]

I have a LL Bean "bucket hat" I take out and look at every now and then. I just never got the nerve to wear it I wear a fedora everyday now and don't bat an eye anywhere I go with one on. I especially like to pull the brim down over the bridge of my nose when taking my after lunch snoozer. Y'all should try it.

 

[Viola]

I like newsboy caps and some of the other soft caps of that type.

I also really like Panamas, for a different time of year, (or right now in, say, Australia) but I doubt they're much more subtle than fedoras.

And I really like fedoras, too, of course, or I never would have found this board.

Outback and cowboy hats can be very nice on the right man but around here they're just as outlandish as fedoras. (more so, actually) Its also nice if they're on a guy who its believable he works outside in some fashion.

Viola

 

[thetankw/ahat]

if you REALLY want something else...

go for a newsboy cap. they are still considered classic by most people i know and before i had my own money to buy hats (my first quality hat was a bowler) i used to wear newsboy caps all the time everyday and a baseball cap rarely touched my head. and so it is now with my fedoras (and other variants of the type.) if i'm not wearing one of my fedoras i am hatless. i must admit i do wear a baseball cap on a regular basis but its part of my work uniform. and i look horrible in it.

 

[Matthew Dalton]

I think a Newsboy or Flat Cap would be the best choice of hat for everyday wear.

I will admit to not wearing a fedora each day. But this owes more to a limited wardrobe, I don't think they fit with most of what I own now. I wouldn't wear them around the house either.

It's funny, I tend not to feel self-conscious in my hats and love wearing them. But as a rule I'm usually very self-conscious and do my best not to draw attention to myself.

I wear a mustache and goatee and totally agree with the fedora going better with them today. I'm not sure I could pull the look off half as well clean-shaven.

As for masculinity today, I think that would make a great topic in itself, has anyone started one? I'll have to look.

 

[Dinerman]

I feel naked without a hat with a brim.

 

[jkingrph]

Let's face it, in today's world there is not much place for fedoras. Hats are mostly forgoten and only several kinds of hats are widely acceptable. Let's change it.
What is a good hat that kinda looks like a fedora but that can be used today as everyday hat. That hat needs to be practical as well as beautyfull, rugged as well as sophisticated and it needs to be just right for today.
What is that hat?

Don't know answers. Just got my first fedora last spring, a ventilated mesh Tilley and really liked it, even started wearing a hat every day for the first time in my 61 year old life. I can remember day wearing fedora's when I was young but as avaibility declined he went to western styles in NE Louisiana, with suits and sportscoats, as did almosteveryone who wore hats.

Liked the Tilleys so well I just purchased a couple of Akubra Banjo Pattersons, for a more casual look, but have now decided on a HJ Poet style ie the Indy Jones. Will have to decide on color as I like to wear browns as well as blue and gray. Will also get a Panama for next summer to be a bit dressier than the Tilley.

 

[Pembo]

The pork pie hat is making a comeback in Oz. I went to a Car and bike show recently debating if I should wear a panama of the trusty Akubra but I finally stettled on wearing my porkpie hat thinking that it would be unique and a tad retro. I got there and I was spewing chip when I saw a couple of other pork pie hats. Imagine my embarassment, being totally cool is such hard work.

Being only a newcomer to the whole vintage thing, the only hat I own is an Akubra porkpie - the "Jazz".

I wear it pretty much everywhere - I've got the the point that I feel naked without it, but that's fine. I think it suits me well.

The first proper hat I ever wore was some cheap plastic 'straw' number in a fedora style, and at first, yes, wearing a hat that was out of the ordinary took a little bit of courage, but I find that if you wear it around friends or a small peer group until you're much more comfortable with it, the whole ordeal is much less trying, so it were.

Cheers,
Pembo.

 

[John in Covina]

I thought for sure the whole BERET thread was going to be revived with this thread. Anybody got reccomendations for Newsboy caps? How is B-wear for them?