How popular is the fedora in 2011? Are hats seeing a resurgance finally?

[zetwal]

Well done! that is amusing.

 

[Terry "The Hat"]

I still don't understand how a hat ever gets wet though.

So when it rains, you guys wear felt hats, but don't your clothes and shoes get wet too? Even if the hat can resist rain, the rest of the outfit isn't exactly water-resistant.

I've found that I don't get near as wet when I have a nice size hat on unless I'm just tooling around in the rain. I can walk to my car in a steady drizzle or nice shower and barely get wet at all. I wear a hat every where I go every day.

 

[GamaH]

I've found that I don't get near as wet when I have a nice size hat on unless I'm just tooling around in the rain. I can walk to my car in a steady drizzle or nice shower and barely get wet at all. I wear a hat every where I go every day.

Seriously? I'm actually somewhat tempted to try it. =P

 

[Oldsarge]

My thirty-four-year-old son dislikes hats and doesn't wear any at all. (Just wait until his hair starts to thin!) However, my twenty-two-year-old nephew wears caps or stingy brim hats most of the time. Will he eventually move up to fur felt fedoras? Only time will tell.

 

[RBH]

My thirty-four-year-old son dislikes hats and doesn't wear any at all. (Just wait until his hair starts to thin!) However, my twenty-two-year-old nephew wears caps or stingy brim hats most of the time. Will he eventually move up to fur felt fedoras? Only time will tell.

Get him a nice fur fedora.. and time will have spoken.

 

[davidg]

I am also a "Master Mason" and if anyone knows anything about Masons (except the crap on the History Channel) you will know that we really like our hats!

Particularly if you are or have been W.M.

 

[Terry "The Hat"]

Particularly if you are or have been W.M.

Working my way East as we speak!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I won't miss that. I hate when I go somewhere and I get referred to as the 'gentleman in the hat.' It comes with the territory, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

That's one thing I'll miss if hats do make a comeback, I'll no longer be "the guy with the hat".

 

[Sam Craig]

I just can't wait for all of the newbies to get tired of whatever fad there may be and for all of their former hats to show up in the flea markets of the world.

Hmm!

Flea market hats .... Flea market Penmans and ABs and Art Fawcetts .... hmmm!

Sorry, I have to excuse myself now ...

Sam

 

[Rat Pack]

Does anyone know whether business is up, flat or down in terms of fedora sales nationwide?

 

[mercuryfelt76]

I just can't wait for all of the newbies to get tired of whatever fad there may be and for all of their former hats to show up in the flea markets of the world.

Hmm!

Flea market hats .... Flea market Penmans and ABs and Art Fawcetts .... hmmm!

Sorry, I have to excuse myself now ...

Sam

I don't know who you're referring to but I've been collecting hats for 10 years but only joined FL recently. My hats won't be sold til I'm dead, you've got a long wait.

 

[jazzncocktails]

I still don't understand how a hat ever gets wet though.

So when it rains, you guys wear felt hats, but don't your clothes and shoes get wet too? Even if the hat can resist rain, the rest of the outfit isn't exactly water-resistant.

One word: trenchcoat (or is that supposed to be two words?). With a good trenchcoat and a fedora, there's no need for an umbrella. Shoes will get wet no matter what you're wearing/carrying on top.

 

[Maguire]

One word: trenchcoat (or is that supposed to be two words?). With a good trenchcoat and a fedora, there's no need for an umbrella. Shoes will get wet no matter what you're wearing/carrying on top.

true, everytime its winter or we've got rain my friends/coworkers are running for cover, grabbing grocery bags or using shirts as makeshift baraclavas, while i'm always bone dry on account of a fedora and a .. rain coat. I can understand why some people do away with hats, but what makes no sense to me is how today people go out of their way not to wear hats even when it makes sense to do so.

 

[Theodor Adorno]

Another perspective from the UK ...

I've seen a few more panamas this year in what passes for a British Summer and generally what I've noticed is that I get a lot less strange looks when the weather is either hot or cold/wet, people seem to instinctively realise that you have a weather-beating advantage over them.

The other day I wore what I thought was one of my loudest felts - a bright lightweight Dove-grey Optimo, 2.5inch brim and 5 inch crown. I started the day feeling self-conscious but by the end, I'd been complemented by a taxi-driver who said he thought most people secretly admired people with the confidence to wear hats that no-one else does and a gang of women at the train station (admittedly drunk) asked to have their photo taken with me.

What I find interesting/depressing is that no matter how stupid something looks, as long as its "the fashion" it's okay, but some people feel somehow threatened by a beautifully built felt hat. E.g. for the past year or so, young people have been wearing furry hunting hats with ear flaps and I saw a guy with one despite the fact it was a warm day - he didn't get any funny looks from anyone, whereas I saw a few people look at me as if I was the one who was odd despite my Optimo being perfect for the weather that day ...

I'm about to start the ordering process for 4 Art Fawcett creations - so that will give the aesthetically-challenged gawkers something to look at come Autumn time!

best to all,

Paul.

 

[danofarlington]

Gather your guts and wear 'em. If you think they look good on you, it'll play out there on the street. Part of the game is getting used to them yourself, so you can cultivate the suitable amount of insouciance in public. When you forget they're even on your head, you've cultivated it enough.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Theodor: interesting. I've often thought the same about the fact that no one cares about people wearing their jeans half way down their legs so that they can't run for the bus without falling over, yet I get funny looks because I'm wearing a panama in the sun.

This morning I heard some kid behind me say to his friends "he's brave - wearing a top hat in public". It was actually a grey homburg but I wouldn't expect anyone to know the difference these days. But when I do wear an appropriate fedora in the rain everyone thinks it's a cowboy hat. So the fedora can't be that popular in Britain in 2011 if people still think it's a culture foreign to us (we don't have cowboys here).

 

[Shangas]

I think hats have finally returned to the mainstream in this, the second decade of the 21st century. What we can attribute this to, I'm not sure. But I am suddenly noticing a lot more hats on the street. Not baseball caps...actual HATS. Trilbies, fedoras, cowboy hats, even a couple of bowlers. I think it's a mix of Hollywood style and a desire to go back to more traditional forms of everyday attire.

 

[Lastmohecken]

Well, I don't know, here in the Ozark mountains, of Arkansas, I don't see much change, except I did see a young kid or two with cheap wool Fedora's on at a Walmart, back a while.

Cowboy hats, usually a natural white straw this time of year, except for a couple of hold outs that continue to wear black felts, are still seen sprinkled through the rural crowds at stores and cafes, but it's the common baseball cap that rules the roost.

I ate breakfast at a local cafe, this morning, and with time on my hands, and no one clouding my thoughts, I started making notes in my mind, as to what people were wearing if anything for head wear. The smaller the town, the more hats you see, I think. Anyway, today I counted about 8 or 9 ball caps, and pretty nice quality ones too, I guess it was their Sunday best. One do-rag, I guess the bikers were staying home, due to rain chances, and the owner of the cafe was wearing a straw cowboy, (he wears a felt in cooler weather, usually a tall crown, and the smaller 3.5 inch brim, same with his straw). I was wearing a converted Silver Belly 5X Stetson, which is becoming one of my favorites, after I had the Cavenders spray the brim with some more stiffiner to get the brim to shape up, like I wanted it.

All in all, I would say that about 75% of the men had some kind of hat on, this morning, however, I seriously doubt that the ball cap will loose any ground to real hats, anytime soon, in this part of the world.

The only place I see real felt hats, edging out ball caps, is Church. As the church I go to, has a couple of guys that continue to wear black felt cowboys, and another that will occasionaly wear a Silver Belly Cowboy, but cowboying is his lifestyle, and I usually wear a converted cowboy fedora, or my Stetson 25. Most everyone else goes bareheaded as has become the norm, and I don't see that changing much.

 

[Oldsarge]

I believe I was the only man wearing a hat at church this morning. Now when I stopped in the gas station on the way home there was a young chap sporting a plaid tweed driving cap. If the rest of his attire had matched that cap he's have been quite natty.

 

[jkingrph]

I occasionally see another fedora being worn around town, but not often. Gimme caps and western hats are much more popular here.

Last week I was shopping for some trousers and the sales lady noticed my Panama Bob fedora and pulled out some kind of black straw and tried to get me interested. I said thanks, but I prefered my natural light colored straw to a black for the Texas summer. At least some of the better stores are starting to carry some hats.