feather heyday?

[panamaJess]

hey everyone, I'm trying to write a short blurb about a hat with a feather, but I can't determine in what era / segment of society men's hats with feathers were most popular...maybe in gangsters' fedoras or fedoras worn with zoot suits?

Please help! In what time period and on whom do you associate men's fedoras with feathers?

THANKS in advance!!

 

[Aureliano]

NYC Hipsters, definitely!

 

[hatophile]

My guess would be the Zoot suit, they wore tremendously large feathers to go with the big hats. You find them on more modern hats, but most of us hat enthusiasts don't care for them much.

 

[rlk]

It seems to be more a cultural preference than period specific. Historically feathers are as associated with headwear as any particular hat style(or even make up the hat itself). Many hats came with them(and still do) and some hat cleaning services used to supply a fresh feather as well. In a broad generalization, they are far more prevalent in Urban settings with those for whom looking conspicuously well-dressed is a priority. I can't think of any period where they were entirely absent or unusual.

 

[johnnycanuck]

The origins for men’s hats and feathers, it goes back to military hats and the Plumes or hackles worn in them. So if you are talking about the most worn era, then you are looking at around 1900. It was the innovation that allowed pictures to be printed in newspapers that allowed the world to see what was happening half way around the world. The first international conflict the average citizen was able to see was the second Boer war. In the UK Canada and Australia it turned soldiers into superstars and military fashions popular. So more feather in hats. Just look up any picture of Lord Baden-Powell.
My two cents worth.
Johnny

 

[mayserwegener]

You find them on more modern hats, but most of us hat enthusiasts don't care for them much.

Hans "Baron Von Munchausen " Elbers circa 1936 disagrees.

 

[rlk]

1620's

 

[Jedwbpm]

I like a little hat in my feathers

That is me and my buddy Doc at a Pipe Band Competition In Portland Maine in 2000

Jeff

 

[danofarlington]

Good question about the feathers. I agree that they go way back. Don't forget the words to "Yankee Doodle": "Stuck a feather in his cap and called in macaroni," whatever that means. In the modern era, I recall feathers in men's hats in the 50s and 60s, particularly the 60s, but because that's the hat era dominated by my father's generation, I ruled it out for me. Typical sighting would be a businessman in a stingy brim hat with a feather. It provided flair to that person in his world, but I don't use them now because of that association. Interesting that Aureliano says that NYC hipsters now wear them. I'm not there to see it, but I guess if they made a big push on it, they may return to style.

 

[rlk]

 

[rlk]

Wm. Powell Shadow of The Thin Man

1941

 

[Aureliano]

NYC Hipsters, definitely!

I feel like a jerk. Everyone is posting serious things about the subject and I throw a silly joke. Sorry all:sorry:

 

[hatophile]

To see a feather in it's natural state, go to the Dobbs Diner Thread and look at Delectans Gay Prince hat. That is a good example of a man's hat with a feather in it. I believe those hats were meant to be a little more flamboyant than the normal mens' hat.

 

[delectans]

I feel like a jerk. Everyone is posting serious things about the subject and I throw a silly joke. Sorry all:sorry:

Whoa, there Alejandro, I think you are coming down way too hard on yourself! I rather enjoyed your remark

To quote the English cleric Charles Caleb Colton: "Levity is often less foolish and gravity less wise than each of them appears". Food for thought...

To see a feather in it's natural state, go to the Dobbs Diner Thread and look at Delectans Gay Prince hat.

Here is the link to said example, in the Dobbs Diner.

 

[randooch]

RLK stop it, you're killing me!

 

[DavidVillaJr]

randooch, have a heart.....

dv

 

[panamaJess]

Thanks all!

Thanks for your responses everyone! Seems like feathers have been around for a while and across the entire spectrum of society. Though you don't hear of anyone aspiring to become a plumassier these days.[huh]

 

[johnnycanuck]

I know a few scouters who collect vintage scout hat plumes. Each to their own.

Johnny

 

[danofarlington]

Though you don't hear of anyone aspiring to become a plumassier these days.[huh]

Even if I were one, I probably wouldn't admit to it.

 

[warbird]

Keep the plumage off my hats thankee very much.