Hat comeback

[FedoraFan112390]

While we've seen a limited hat comeback this year, do you we'll ever see hats come to the fore front of fashion the way they were once?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Fedoras? No.

.

 

[Torpedo]

I don't think so. At least in Spain, the only hats which have gained some ground are the cloth, factory creased, Kangol-like models, and, very limitedly, the woolen cheap models you can find in general apparel shops. The former are (or so I consider) a fashion that will dissapear together with other currently fashionable items; and the latter have not purchased enough ground to remain, much less to evolutionate into a general interest in better made felt hats.
My two cents.

 

[thunderw21]

In order to have a fedora comeback on such a grand scale you also must have a comeback of the suit, tie and every piece of clothing that has been dying in the last 30-40 years.

So no, I doubt they will ever make a comeback in our lifetime if ever.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

I'm doing my part...

Maybe if all the FLers worldwide that wear the vintage clothes and hats of the golden era (60-70 years ago) starting wearing our ensembles on a more regular basis, out and about in our not so ordinary lives...

In order to have a fedora comeback on such a grand scale you also must have a comeback of the suit, tie and every piece of clothing that has been dying in the last 30-40 years.

 

[Paisley]

In order to have a fedora comeback on such a grand scale you also must have a comeback of the suit, tie and every piece of clothing that has been dying in the last 30-40 years.

So no, I doubt they will ever make a comeback in our lifetime if ever.

I think you'd also need a major reason for wearing them: protection from the elements. Now SUVs serve that purpose.

 

[avedwards]

I don't think proper fedoras (forget bowlers, toppers and homburgs I'm afraid, they stand no chance) will make a comeback the way they used to be. However, cloth stingies/trilbys are becomeing more popular and some are plain black which isn't too bad compared to some of the outlandish colours there are. So I doubt fur felt fedoras will make a proper comeback but I do think that due to the rise of stingies a fedora will look slightly less unusual these days if seen on the street, as to the untrained eye it isn't too different from a cloth hat.

 

[MattJH]

There's just no way.

The only hat out there that has even the slightest chance of that sort of mass-fashion is the baseball cap.

 

[Bantam Man]

Comeback?

History, in short, does not repeat itself.

In its heydays, a fedora was more than just a piece of fashion. Hat-wearing was a part of social culture. Although hats may return to fashion, every now and then, that culture cannot return ...because the times have changed.

fftopic: Sometimes I think an analogy can be found in the history of jazz. In the late forties and the fifties of the last century, hardbop jazz was a part of popular culture. In the 21st century, plenty of people keep playing hardbop, or listen to newly recorded music in the hardbop style. But this 'neo-bop' music can not again become a vivid part of popular culture, as hardbop was half a century ago, when it was newly created and part of a hip lifestyle.

Just my two cents...

Regards,

 

[RHY]

Comeback?

Time magazine had a story of the hats worn at the inauguration for President Obama. See: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1873082,00.html

 

[Bingles]

While variations of the fedora have crept back into style, I don't think they will ever be as popular as the once were. I will say that with the rise of some icons like Justin Timberlake wearing hats, one does not "stick out" much anymore.

I personally like being an individual with my hats. It's my "thing", and my friends know me by them... some say they wouldn't recognize me without one. I don't want to blend in like everyone else.. which is one reason among MANY why I do not like wearing baseball caps.. they are so common.

"Any idiot can blend in. It's being different that takes courage."

History, in short, does not repeat itself.

In its heydays, a fedora was more than just a piece of fashion. Hat-wearing was a part of social culture. Although hats may return to fashion, every now and then, that culture cannot return ...because the times have changed.

fftopic: Sometimes I think an analogy can be found in the history of jazz. In the late forties and the fifties of the last century, hardbop jazz was a part of popular culture. In the 21st century, plenty of people keep playing hardbop, or listen to newly recorded music in the hardbop style. But this 'neo-bop' music can not again become a vivid part of popular culture, as hardbop was half a century ago, when it was newly created and part of a hip lifestyle.

Just my two cents...

Regards,

 

[HDRnR]

Fedoras? No.

.

I agree, I work in TriBeca and I see more and more hats but Fedoras are super rare. The only time I saw one it was on a construction worker, old and beat up, but it looked good.

 

[Neil]

Neiman's

I was in Neiman's the other day, and suddenly, they have three or four shelves of hats.
Awful hats, fedoras and straws, and stupidly overpriced, but hats nonetheless, which says something, given the conservatism of that store.

 

[Lefty]

Yes. Absolutely. Hats are back. Someone should start a magazine about it.

 

[FurFeltFedora]

I don't think you'll see hats at the level of popularity as in the heyday again. And to be honest, that's okay with me. I wear hats for all kinds of reason - I like them, they are functional, they remind me of my father, and I like being a little different from everyone else.

If everyone wore a hat like they did in the 50's I probably wouldn't want to wear a hat...because everyone else was wearing a hat. In their heyday hats were part of the everyday outfit, no one gave them a second thought. I think we're as passionate as we are about hats because they are a rarity now.

Precious gems are only precious because they are pretty and not everyone has them. Other than than most of them are just useless shiny stones (except the industrial applications of diamonds - come on, just roll with idea for a minute).

Anyway, that's just my opinion. I could well be wrong. It's been know to happen. Just as my ex-wife, she carries a list around to show people

 

[Lefty]

If everyone wore a hat like they did in the 50's

Not true.
We've had many threads that talk about hats really starting to die out well before WWII. Check out some of these articles, particularly this one:
Third Source

E. J. Kahn, The Talk of the Town, "Hats On," The New Yorker, September 28, 1946, p. 19

Talk. Stanley expedition to Danbury for an investigation of men's hatlessness. N. Y. is the most hatless city in the country. Danbury itself is not 100% hatted. Factories used to have a rule no employees could come to work hatless; buyers, however, are instructed not to interview hatless salesmen. Twelve per cent of all men never wear hats. 32% always wear hats. 98% of all men over 45 own at least one hat. Only 70% of college men own hats. Only 62% of college men consider hats important to personal appearance, veterans, 68% of them, do. Early in this century U. S. had 25 million males old enough for hats, and the annual production was 36 million; just before the war 50 million hat-males, but production of felts only 22 million. 59% of the women dislike hatless men. Goes into the question of baldness because of hats.

As to the hat comeback, here it is in 1982, and again in 1999.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

As to the hat comeback, here it is in 1982, and again in 1999.

:eusa_clap Excellent references there, Lefty! If only every Lounger would come across those articles ...

.

 

[jazzncocktails]

Not true.
We've had many threads that talk about hats really starting to die out well before WWII. Check out some of these articles, particularly this one:
Third Source

E. J. Kahn, The Talk of the Town, "Hats On," The New Yorker, September 28, 1946, p. 19

Talk. Stanley expedition to Danbury for an investigation of men's hatlessness. N. Y. is the most hatless city in the country. Danbury itself is not 100% hatted. Factories used to have a rule no employees could come to work hatless; buyers, however, are instructed not to interview hatless salesmen. Twelve per cent of all men never wear hats. 32% always wear hats. 98% of all men over 45 own at least one hat. Only 70% of college men own hats. Only 62% of college men consider hats important to personal appearance, veterans, 68% of them, do. Early in this century U. S. had 25 million males old enough for hats, and the annual production was 36 million; just before the war 50 million hat-males, but production of felts only 22 million. 59% of the women dislike hatless men. Goes into the question of baldness because of hats.

As to the hat comeback, here it is in 1982, and again in 1999.

Nice, Lefty...thanks for those links; they should be stickies.

I agree, hats could come back into broader fashion beyond the Timberlake-of-the-moment. Many men I've talked to admit a curiosity about wearing a fedora, typically relying on the "I'd look foolish in one" excuse. But if a friend tries one of mine on, he may put it on as a joke to begin with, but with compliments, he starts feeling better about it.

More importantly, in an age of global warming, hats will come back if enough people begin to genuinely worry about skin cancer. Then a lid, along with the sunscreen, will seem more and more like a desirable fashion.

I don't imagine they'll ever be as common as in the '20s or '30s, but they may become less uncommon.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Amen, Brother... you're preaching to the choir

I really like this here Bingles. I feel the same way with my hats! No one even sees my hats as something different, its just part of me. I think I Blending in... what's that? I'd probably have comments from friends if I didn't wear one.

I personally like being an individual with my hats. It's my "thing", and my friends know me by them... some say they wouldn't recognize me without one. I don't want to blend in like everyone else..
"Any idiot can blend in. It's being different that takes courage."

 

[LordBest]

I do think 'proper' hats are coming back in Australia to some extent, even homburgs (I have seen two homburgs being worn by Australians on television in the last couple of months. One a film director or some such, the other some chap at one of our billionaires funerals). Locally I see many more hats around today than I did nine months ago. A lot of tweed caps (I swear some of them must come from Bookster) a lot of Akubra countries and even a few fedoras. This summer there were a lot of panamas around, compared to the previous summer where it was all cheap canvas stuff.
I even asked a chap working at a local menswear store and he said they have been selling quite a few Akubra stylemasters.
Here in Australia we have more reasons to wear hats, an extremely harsh sun and one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the developed world. I always felt it was insane that Australians abandoned hats so readily.