Do you see your Indy hats as "formal" or "casual" hats?

[Edward]

I have two Fed IIIs; they have seen regular wear with lounge suits and less. Homburg or top hat for more formal dress. Short of black tie or semi-formal daywear, the Jones style fedora is absolutely grand. I do agree with the post somewhere above that suggested the notion that it is mere a casual (by contemporary standards) hat is borne largely from having mostly seen it paired with the Indiana Jones adventure costume.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

I find the first part of that statement to be false. A good number of people really are stupid, as well as uninformed, uncultured, and out of touch with facts. They require other people to tell them what to think, wear, drive, vote, where to live... I could go on.

Note to all you Mobile Vulgus haters... HE said that, not me!!

 

[danofarlington]

A good number of people really are stupid, as well as uninformed, uncultured, and out of touch with facts. They require other people to tell them what to think, wear, drive, vote, where to live.

That's my mission in life!

 

[AntonAAK]

I think that all brown Indiana Jones style hats are casual, but the other colors can be suit formal, as opposed to Tux formal.

This is a good point. To a certain extent all brown hats are more casual than greys or blues, being more country than city wear. The same is also true of brown suits.

 

[Sam Craig]

I ALWAYS wear a fedora ... unless I'm wearing some other hat

And when I'm wearing a fedora, I wear what else is appropriate ... suit, jeans, slacks .... and I like to mix styles

If I was lucky enough to own a Penman or AB Indy, I guarantee ... I'd be wearing it with everything except my PJs ... the wife would probably not allow that

Although if she found out I spent THAT kind of money on a hat, I could probably wear it to bed, since she wouldn't be there.

SAM

 

[Edward]

This is a good point. To a certain extent all brown hats are more casual than greys or blues, being more country than city wear. The same is also true of brown suits.

It's interesting how fashion mores have changed on that front. I would tend to be minded the same way as yourself on this score, though it seems that the contemporary mindset is different. Maybe a post-70s-fashion thing? Interestingly, though, I have found that how one actually carries the clothing can make a difference too. A well-fitting, brown suit worn and accessorised well can actually create the illusion of being considerably more formal than a boxy, non-descript navy pinstripe, ill-pressed and thrown on. We wouldn't consider it less formal as such, but I get the impression a lot of folks do.

I quite enjoy wearing brown in the City, actually.... I suppose, in part, because it does stick out. I recently attended a meeting at Gray's Inn where I was the only person out of maybe three hundred in brown tones.

 

[1961MJS]

...If I was lucky enough to own a Penman or AB Indy, I guarantee ... I'd be wearing it with everything except my PJs ... the wife would probably not allow that

Although if she found out I spent THAT kind of money on a hat, I could probably wear it to bed, since she wouldn't be there.

SAM

Hi Sam

I don't think it's appropriate to wear PJ's with any form of Indy hat. I don't think Indy wore Jammies in those movies, so you gotta just sleep in the hat and boxers.

later

 

[JimWagner]

I do agree with the post somewhere above that suggested the notion that it is mere a casual (by contemporary standards) hat is borne largely from having mostly seen it paired with the Indiana Jones adventure costume.

Agreed, even though there are at least some scenes in the IJ movies where he is wearing that (cleaned up) brown hat with suits.

 

[Edward]

Agreed, even though there are at least some scenes in the IJ movies where he is wearing that (cleaned up) brown hat with suits.

If memory serves, in Raiders, it's the brown hat (which may or may not have been lost in the Nazi submarine base... open to interpretation on screen, though I'm sure the novelisation I had once indicated that hat was lost) he wears adventuring, and the grey one in more respectable clothes. By Temple that seems to have fallen by the wayside, and I think Crusade also it's brown - of course, by this point, the brown hat had become an icon, not merely 'costume' as it was when they made the first film. I thought it was interesting that the fourth film switch him into the grey hat when he is leaving Marshall to go to Europe, when it seems almost as if his adventuring days are behind him, but it's back to brown when Mutt arrives and things take a different turn... (I also thought the business with the wind and him taking it out of Mutt's hands at the end was a cute touch). Of course, it's been a while so I could be horribly wrong.....

 

[Sam Craig]

Hi Sam

I don't think it's appropriate to wear PJ's with any form of Indy hat. I don't think Indy wore Jammies in those movies, so you gotta just sleep in the hat and boxers.

later

Mike,

In a rare deleted scene, Indy slips into Dr. Dentons on board the ship ... he got them from Katanga ... "from HIM" ... He put them on after Marion tossed his hat in the corner.

You gotta be a REAL fan to know about that, though

Sam

 

[Torpedo]

Nice thread refloat!

Edward, you are essentially right. This is the sequence if I am not wrong (speaking from memory)...

Raiders: 1936. The brown hat is indeed described as lost in the novelization. The grey hat is seen in the two scenes Indy wears a DB suit - the Clipper scene and the Washington scene. It is the same style and dimensions than the brown one, but without the "turn" characteristic.

Doom: 1935. Indy spends most of the movie in adventure gear, with brown hat. In the opening scene he is in a tux. No hat is shown.

Crusade: 1938. Brown hat throughout, even when in travel outfit (Venice episode). In the opening scenes, with the young Indy, in 1912, you see how he gets the hat (a rival gives him it, as a parting gift). Many Indyfans insist Indy is supposed to wears always that same and only hat (in fact, hard Indy fans have produced all sort of theories and racionalizations regarding the hat, in order to somehow keep an illusion of consistence, although hat details vary from movie to movie, and even from scene to scene).

Skull: 1957. Brown hat for adventure, grey hat in Stateside scenes (except the Area 51 scene; that is Stateside, but Indy is supposed to have been brought there, prisoner, snatched from some excavation somewhere; and except the last scene, because for that one hey needed the hat to be the iconic brown fedora). These are actually differently styled hats, the grey one being taller and differently proportioned/creased.

 

[Sam Craig]

They were in Mexico ... diggin' in the dirt for this stuff ... is the line

It is interesting that the Grey is used in the way it is ... though the one in Skull is significantly a different hat than the one that is shown twice in Raiders

Sam

 

[Torpedo]

About the original question... I was the OP, and it could be adequate I share my present view on the matter.

I agree with Edward that brown fedoras are surely seen as less dressy because brown suits are so regarded, too. Probably the Indy adventurer association plays a part also, the Indy fedora being such a powerful icon.

Other than that, Indy hat's dimensional cut is what makes it to stand apart from a regular fedora; possibly, more than the cut, the lack of snap that comes with it. The longer sides are also over the average brim width, but, at 2 3/4'', not too outrageously. The raw brim edge makes it less dressy, definitely. The "turn" does something too, but it is not that different of just putting your hat a little off-center, and this does happen.

So, on the balance, I feel like the Indy hat tends to the casual, but in about the same measure that a thin ribbon fedora does. Would I wear it with a suit? Yes, as I would wear a Stetson Open Road or Strat. I do wear all of these types with suits, sometimes, but they are not the dressiest lids, nor do they go equally well with every suit-based outfit. I choose other fedoras when I believe I need something more in that sense.

 

[scottyrocks]

:arated:

My current 'Indy' incarnation is a Tawny Fed 4. I actually think it's too formal for lack of a better word to wear without a collared shirt, even if just a polo. I also wear it with a suit or sportcoat. I did, however wear my dark brown Indy with a black t-shirt and khaki shorts in the late spring and felt it looked fine. So, I guess the color has a lot to do with it.

Yes, my tawny fawn Fed IV is definitely more 'formal' looking than my brown one. Although I wear my brown with suits, jackets and ties, I dont wear the fawn with more 'casual' clothes than that. Just doesnt look right to me.

 

[scottyrocks]

If memory serves, in Raiders, it's the brown hat (which may or may not have been lost in the Nazi submarine base... open to interpretation on screen, though I'm sure the novelisation I had once indicated that hat was lost) . . . Of course, it's been a while so I could be horribly wrong.....

Forgetting the novelization, Indy leaves the Bantu Wind for the Nazi sub sans hat. He leaves the cabin in the morning without it when the boat has stopped because the Nazi sub has tracked them down. The hat is presumably still in the room he shared with Marion the night before when she threw it across the cabin.

 

[Diamondback1]

Mike,

In a rare deleted scene, Indy slips into Dr. Dentons on board the ship ... he got them from Katanga ... "from HIM" ... He put them on after Marion tossed his hat in the corner.

You gotta be a REAL fan to know about that, though

Sam

...well there's also the oft overlooked scene in which Indy trades his iconic fedora for a skunk fur hat and matching muff. I know some are hounding Adventurebuilt for a repo....not all will be pleased if it isn't offered in both formal and informal color tones.

 

[The Good]

What a great topic. Here's what I think; in theory, a brown hat is absolutely fine with a suit, period, especially if it goes well with it. You don't want to end up looking mismatched. The Indiana Jones fedora though, unlike conventional brown fedoras (particularly ones sold today by say, Stetson, Borsalino, etc), is a bit more period looking to the 1930s, and maybe the '40s to a point.

I see it as a casual hat, and my own Federation IV has effectively become my "beater," or "mess-around hat." I'm happy to wear my Fed IV with my brown corduroy sport coat, or my khaki/tan chore coat-esque jacket, but I don't often wear it with my leather jacket (G-1), due to the obvious Indiana Jones association. I wear it to Disneyland, and on occasion to my campus like that though.

I think brown hats lend themselves to a more casual appearance, ultimately. In my opinion this can even go for tan or other earth-tone colored fedoras. I think various shades of grey, blue, and black are all the more "formal" colors. I'm not sure if I'd wear my Fed IV, now somewhat rumpled and worn-looking, with an actual suit though, unless it was brown. For now, it's worn with the jackets mentioned above, or with a dress shirt, sometimes short-sleeved and polos as well. On the other hand, I don't think I'd wear my grey homburg (supposed to be a formal hat) very casually unless I were trying to project a modern, trendy, hip hop sort of image. Probably even cocked at a slight angle and with sunglasses, I've done that before.

 

[John in Covina]

I associate formal with tuxedos so it doesn't hit that level. The thing is that even with suits there is levels of semi-formal, business, and entertaining / party level. An Indy hat can work well with a variety of suits and sports jackets ensembales. In the end it is best associated with a level of outdoors type wear. I would equate it with an Open / Campdraft type of hat that can do double duty when needed.

 

[Wolfwood]

My current 'Indy' incarnation is a Tawny Fed 4. I actually think it's too formal for lack of a better word to wear without a collared shirt, even if just a polo. I also wear it with a suit or sportcoat. I did, however wear my dark brown Indy with a black t-shirt and khaki shorts in the late spring and felt it looked fine. So, I guess the color has a lot to do with it.

I find myself viewing my heritage fawn and brown deluxes in much the same way. Although I think the brown one goes well with my dark blue suit and overcoat as well - so I guess it is pretty versatile.

 

[Torpedo]

I went for the dressy incarnation today... I think it works.