Different Fedora styles?

[Petey21]

I found this picture of various hats all allegedly marketed on various web sites as Fedora hats. But they look so different to me, would you guys who happen to know more about this subject than me agree that they are all Fedora hats? If they indeed are, how come they can look so different and yet be called the same? If they aren't all Fedoras, which ones aren't, and which ones mostly resemble a "true" Fedora? I'm pretty new to hats (although I've liked hats all my life) but I'm curious to learn more.

 

[Thunderbolt]

Hi

Good Morning

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fedora as "a low soft felt hat with the crown creased lengthwise."
I don't think it's realistic to say that one specific shape or incarnation is the true original epitome of the fedora. My definition would be a soft felt with a pinched (like in Indiana Jones) or gaped (#1) front with either a center dent (#1), a center crease, or a C-crown also known as the teardrop (#5). The brim (in my oppinion) should be under 3" long. The most common fedora type i've seen in old photos is the pinched front with a c-crown. Since the fedora hat calls for felt, #4 in the pictures is out! However, fedora shapes are often used in straw hats like the Panama. I am not sure if these are classified as fedoras because they are made from straw. Typically, these are classified as straw hats rather than fedoras. I have three hats, two felt and one Panama straw. They all have the fedora shape. My felts I call fedoras and my straw I call Panama.

 

[Torpedo]

I would say all of those are fedoras except #4. This said, #1 could be labelled a trilby or stingy, because of the narrower brim. The typical stingy is usually considered to have a brim narrower than 2''; often, these have also a lower and more tapered crown.
I think a fedora should, tipically, have a grosgrain, silk, or similar material ribbon to qualify, either fat or thin.

 

[Stan]

Hi,

As was already said, all but number 4 are Fedoras.Number 4 is a Trilby, and looks like a cloth one, too.

All you're seeing in the other photos are differences in crown height, crown creasing (styling), brim width, brim styling, brim edge treatment and hatband ribbon styling.

Actually, these items make up for much of the discussion on this site!

You're in the correct place to find out all about these things. Welcome!

Later!

Stan

 

[Dewhurst]

You would not be wrong to call any or all of those fedoras.

The name "Trilby" is most commonly used regionally interchangeably with fedora. Just depends on where you grew up, most of the time.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I have to agree with Torpedo and Stan. #4 is a bucket hat, I think. The others all pass the minimum stats for a Fedora. Like a "tuxedo" a Fedora can be made in many styles.

"Trilby" is a British term, I believe, which originally referred to a stingy brim hat with fedora crown, as opposed to a Pork Pie/Telescope. But for quite some time, Fedora and Trilby have been used to mean the same thing. I would consider a Trilby to be a sub-category of Fedora (i.e. the Stingy), or a "style of" Fedora.

 

[Petey21]

Thanks guys, I didn't know there are so many different variations and styles, to me #1 doesn't look very much like the others either, especially the brim, but then I'm just a clueless beginner on this subject.

Can any one explain the feather on #6 by the way? I've seen some hats with feathers, does it have any particular meaning? Or is it some regional thing for hats from certain regions?

But I guess it's safe to call my own Stetson Elkader a fedora too then? I got it a couple days ago, my first hat but hopefully not the last one.

 

[Rick Blaine]

A feather in one's cap

Can any one explain the feather on #6 by the way? I've seen some hats with feathers, does it have any particular meaning? Or is it some regional thing for hats from certain regions?

Cutting & pasting here, so for what it is worth----> Meaning:

A symbol of honour and achievement.

Origin

The placing of a feather in a hat has been a symbol of achievement, the origins on this expression hail from the days when, in fact, a feather for one's cap would be awarded for an accomplishment much like a medal is awarded today and pinned to one's uniform. A feather, or a pin, add a certain prestige or luster to one's apparel that has arisen in several cultures, apparently independently. The English writer and traveller Richard Hansard recorded it in his Description of Hungary, 1599:

"It hath been an antient custom among them [Hungarians] that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe."

The Native American tradition of adding a feather to the head-dress of any warrior who performed a brave act is well-known.

The figurative use of the phrase 'a feather in his hat', was in use in the UK by the 18th century. This is referred to in a letter from the Duchess of Portland to a Miss Collingwood, in 1734:

"My Lord ... esteems it a feather in his hat, that ..."

The children's rhyme Yankee Doodle is the best-known use of the phrase.

Yankee Doodle went to town,
Riding on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his cap,
And called it macaroni.

There are many version of the lyric. It has been suggested that this version originated with the British forces in the American War of Independence, in an attempt to mock the revolutionary militia. A doodle was 18th century British slang for simpleton (a.k.a. noodle). Macaroni was slang for a dandy or fop. This originated with the Macaroni Club, which was a group of London aesthetes who were anxious to establish their sophistication by demonstrating a preference for foreign cuisine. The thinking behind the theory is that the Yankees were so stupid as to believe that putting a feather in one's cap would make them appear fashionable.