Brim up or brim down

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Brim up … for Bob

I miss that other Bob, Bob!
Give the grandbaby a hug for me!
B

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Depends on the hat,

Ditto. And the flange in it.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I just starting to build my collection and have one legitimate Stetson fedora and some triby's. Some people have made fun of me for wearing the hat and the current style, custom hats, are straight brim or up.

I am wearing my brim up and people think it is fashionable.

As soon as I snap it down people think 'old school'.

I don't really care what people think but I am just curious how you guys wear your hats. I think flipping it up is more of a rebellious look while more formal when down.

How do you guys wear your hats?

Welcome the the lounge. @harrytemp.

Brim up, down, flat, flipped, furled, swept, swooped on and on totally depends on the hat and what you think you look like under it.
Some hats demand up but might not look right to you but on others do.
Some refuse your intentions and return to original form.
There are no rules thankfully.
That’s what makes the hat your’s and not our’s.
I don’t know about formal, informal or rebellious but i do know all hat’s are an extension of the person, how they feel, what the think they look like, true or not.
And that’s what matters.
Safest bet is go with what the hat tells you, or…..manhandle it to your will.
Experience says some looks grow on you and migrate from one to another.
That’s why we wear em.
If in question, post a pic and ask. There will be no shortage of personal opinions.
Again, welcome and wear the hats, don’t let them wear you.
B

 

[BobHufford]

Give the grandbaby a hug for me!
B

Will do Great Uncle Bowen!

 

[Bill Hughes]

I just starting to build my collection and have one legitimate Stetson fedora and some triby's. Some people have made fun of me for wearing the hat and the current style, custom hats, are straight brim or up.

I am wearing my brim up and people think it is fashionable.

As soon as I snap it down people think 'old school'.

I don't really care what people think but I am just curious how you guys wear your hats. I think flipping it up is more of a rebellious look while more formal when down.

How do you guys wear your hats?

Down

 

[Frunobulax]

Down covers more of my ugliness, so...yeah.

 

[belfastboy]

I just starting to build my collection and have one legitimate Stetson fedora and some triby's. Some people have made fun of me for wearing the hat and the current style, custom hats, are straight brim or up.

I am wearing my brim up and people think it is fashionable.

As soon as I snap it down people think 'old school'.

I don't really care what people think but I am just curious how you guys wear your hats. I think flipping it up is more of a rebellious look while more formal when down.

How do you guys wear your hats?

The correct answer to the 'brim up or down" question: It is always Yes!

 

[belfastboy]

Down covers more of my ugliness, so...yeah.

Kinda a Hennie Youngman joke......get a 7" wide brim and snap it all the way down if you want to really hide it ....or be anonymous but not inconspicuous.

 

[dkstott]

Brim up when around your male friends

Brim down around your wife or girlfriend.

 

[harrytemp]

Brim up when around your male friends

Brim down around your wife or girlfriend.

Thanks I like that. Haha.

 

[Rmccamey]

I just starting to build my collection and have one legitimate Stetson fedora and some triby's. Some people have made fun of me for wearing the hat and the current style, custom hats, are straight brim or up.

I am wearing my brim up and people think it is fashionable.

As soon as I snap it down people think 'old school'.

I don't really care what people think but I am just curious how you guys wear your hats. I think flipping it up is more of a rebellious look while more formal when down.

How do you guys wear your hats?

Welcome the the lounge. @harrytemp.

Brim up, down, flat, flipped, furled, swept, swooped on and on totally depends on the hat and what you think you look like under it.
Some hats demand up but might not look right to you but on others do.
Some refuse your intentions and return to original form.
There are no rules thankfully.
That’s what makes the hat your’s and not our’s.
I don’t know about formal, informal or rebellious but i do know all hat’s are an extension of the person, how they feel, what the think they look like, true or not.
And that’s what matters.
Safest bet is go with what the hat tells you, or…..manhandle it to your will.
Experience says some looks grow on you and migrate from one to another.
That’s why we wear em.
If in question, post a pic and ask. There will be no shortage of personal opinions.
Again, welcome and wear the hats, don’t let them wear you.
B

This is the best answer; what you want and what you like (knowing that will probably change over time). A very unscientific survey of the What Hats are You Wearing Today thread suggets that, for fedora's, around 75% wear brim down and about 25% wear brim up.




Then, of course, there is the right way to wear a hat.


Welcome to the Lounge

 

[blewnote]

I just starting to build my collection and have one legitimate Stetson fedora and some triby's. Some people have made fun of me for wearing the hat and the current style, custom hats, are straight brim or up.

I am wearing my brim up and people think it is fashionable.

As soon as I snap it down people think 'old school'.

I don't really care what people think but I am just curious how you guys wear your hats. I think flipping it up is more of a rebellious look while more formal when down.

How do you guys wear your hats?

I generally wear all my hats brim up because I like the way it looks.

Oddly enough, you've got the formality backwards. Back when people wore hats regularly, a snap brim snapped down was a more casual look, whereas the brim snapped up was a more formal look (although both were "correct" with town clothes, so I don't know that it was that big a difference... if you wanted to be more formal you put on a homburg). If I can find the old Esquire copy from the 30s/40s that states this I will post it.

That said, I agree with you for whatever reason... I also feel like the brim down feels more "formal" and when I have the brim up and the hat at a rakish angle on my head it feels more "casual". Perhaps its because the brim snapped down isn't seen as much lately and thus feels old fashioned (and sticks out more), but honestly if I'm wearing a suit and a hat I'm already doing something different than most people and I doubt very much they're thinking much about the minor detail of whether my hat brim is up or down.

 

[Zombie_61]

I just starting to build my collection and have one legitimate Stetson fedora and some triby's. Some people have made fun of me for wearing the hat and the current style, custom hats, are straight brim or up.

I am wearing my brim up and people think it is fashionable.

As soon as I snap it down people think 'old school'.

I don't really care what people think but I am just curious how you guys wear your hats. I think flipping it up is more of a rebellious look while more formal when down.

How do you guys wear your hats?

For me it's usually "brim up" for my hats with the narrower brims (i.e., 2" and narrower) and brim down for those with brims wider than 2". No set rules, really, that's just how I think they look better on my head.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I generally wear all my hats brim up because I like the way it looks.

Oddly enough, you've got the formality backwards. Back when people wore hats regularly, a snap brim snapped down was a more casual look, whereas the brim snapped up was a more formal look (although both were "correct" with town clothes, so I don't know that it was that big a difference... if you wanted to be more formal you put on a homburg). If I can find the old Esquire copy from the 30s/40s that states this I will post it.

That said, I agree with you for whatever reason... I also feel like the brim down feels more "formal" and when I have the brim up and the hat at a rakish angle on my head it feels more "casual". Perhaps its because the brim snapped down isn't seen as much lately and thus feels old fashioned (and sticks out more), but honestly if I'm wearing a suit and a hat I'm already doing something different than most people and I doubt very much they're thinking much about the minor detail of whether my hat brim is up or down.

I don’t think it has any impact on formality regardless of what someone may have written 80 years ago. It’s also not a dichotomy: up or down. There are many ways to shape the brim and it’s not a spectrum but a web with all sorts of divergent styles.

I’ve grown to like the brim up style more over time, but it’s a very different brim up look than most modern wearers use. It also requires the right dimensions and the right flange.

On a related subject: I recently received a wonderful custom western hat. I wasn’t sure how I was going to shape the generous open crown, but I knew it wouldn’t be a cattleman’s crease as I don’t like that over-used style. Once I had the hat in my hands it just wanted a cattleman’s crease so I went with it and it really works well with the hat. Often you need to just go with it and not fight the hat trying to achieve some preconceived style or shaping.

 

[shopkin]

Wearing brim up is sort of like tilting the hat back on your head a bit. It is the polite thing to do when, for example, ordering lunch from the waitress at the diner. It opens up your face and makes you seem more welcoming and approachable. Brim or tilt down hides your face and makes you seem more standoffish and less approachable.

 

[milandro]

this seems a thread which has to do with the matter that I brought up regarding my wearing my Akubra cattleman with the brim up.

I think, in general, that many, especially in the last few years, took to wear their hats with the brim up ...

In my view this is a more contemporary look.

I have a combination of them all and for example I wear the Akubra with the brim up, while I wear the Stetson Dune Gun Club (in many ways a similar hat) with the front brim down and the back up ( I am sure some folks would object to that too!)

Similarly I have a number of panamas but one I wear with the front brim down and one with both up (and I am very happy with its looks).

The thing is a choice, a personal one.

I also agree that the hat will talk to you and sometimes you go with the way it came to you and some other times one reshapes the hat completely or parts of it.

I found some examples on line displaying the difference

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Wearing brim up is sort of like tilting the hat back on your head a bit. It is the polite thing to do when, for example, ordering lunch from the waitress at the diner. It opens up your face and makes you seem more welcoming and approachable. Brim or tilt down hides your face and makes you seem more standoffish and less approachable.

This does not seem right to me. I don’t change the way I wear my hat depending on who comes by or who I’m talking to. It’s certainly not a replacement for tipping your hat if you adhere to the old etiquette. Often actors etc. wore their hats pushed back to expose more of their faces to the camera, but it didn’t have anything to do with etiquette as far as I’m aware.

 

[belfastboy]

I don’t think it has any impact on formality regardless of what someone may have written 80 years ago. It’s also not a dichotomy: up or down. There are many ways to shape the brim and it’s not a spectrum but a web with all sorts of divergent styles.

I’ve grown to like the brim up style more over time, but it’s a very different brim up look than most modern wearers use. It also requires the right dimensions and the right flange.

On a related subject: I recently received a wonderful custom western hat. I wasn’t sure how I was going to shape the generous open crown, but I knew it wouldn’t be a cattleman’s crease as I don’t like that over-used style. Once I had the hat in my hands it just wanted a cattleman’s crease so I went with it and it really works well with the hat. Often you need to just go with it and not fight the hat trying to achieve some preconceived style or shaping.

I think most often I let the hat decide. I do have a few that work both ways (up or down) but many of my hats make the decision for me.

 

[milandro]

I think the answer MAY be this ad....

and they elaborate on style and practice here

 

[hatsRme]

A lady once asked Duke Ellington “what is jazz?” He answered, “If you gotta ask, don’t mess with it.”
I feel the same way about forming your hat.