I definitely give you credit- the UK and Ireland tend to be far less receptive of this. You'll get more stares or rude/patronizing comments. And this is from people dressed in the most ugly, tasteless clothing. I notice people will wear hoodies or stocking caps well beyond their season here but find a straw hat odd. Likewise in the rain when a fedora and a raincoat make sense people will do anything but, like i was saying earlier. The funny thing is most people who do say it looks "cool" or that you are "sharp" would never do it themselves. put on a right shirt, tuck it in to pants, and put on a decent hat. It shouldn't be an issue of bravery or making a statement.
-
The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.
How popular is the fedora in 2011? Are hats seeing a resurgance finally?
- Thread starter FedoraFan112390
- Start date
I definitely give you credit- the UK and Ireland tend to be far less receptive of this. You'll get more stares or rude/patronizing comments. And this is from people dressed in the most ugly, tasteless clothing. I notice people will wear hoodies or stocking caps well beyond their season here but find a straw hat odd. Likewise in the rain when a fedora and a raincoat make sense people will do anything but, like i was saying earlier. The funny thing is most people who do say it looks "cool" or that you are "sharp" would never do it themselves. put on a right shirt, tuck it in to pants, and put on a decent hat. It shouldn't be an issue of bravery or making a statement.
I live in Philadelphia, PA and I don't see any evidence of a return. Wide-brim felt fedoras will always be associated with the early part of the 20th century in the public perception, and that can't be undone. A true resurgence is impossible because whatever could happen will always drastically pale in comparison to the old photos and movies, and there's no way to avoid the comparison. Know what I mean? That's why fedoras are so often associated with the dress of an old man. It's the same thing with suspenders, handkerchiefs, chain watches... heck, these days, even wrist watches are considered completely, utterly outdated by the majority, a totally impractical accessory collecting dust on top of your father's bureau.
Fashion moves forward, not backward. That's just how it works. I see so many people here look at a ball cap or a herringbone-checkered, loud-colored stingy with almost complete derision / disgust, but don't forget that it goes both ways! How you feel will sometimes mirror how they feel. The fashion industry doesn't need you to like current fashion, because the items are selling without you, and it's not because the consumers are stupid, or sloppy, or lacking in culture. It's 2011, and that's the fashion, and that's just how it works. There are some here who remind me of the cranky old guy on the porch yelling at the kids to get off his lawn, with their long hair and their athletic sneakers and their ball caps. Ball caps, folks? Really? C'mon, lighten up! People love ball caps. It's really OK. They've been around for as long as the fedora. Maybe longer. The ball cap won. It happens.
I've seen these sorts of threads a lot over the years. Don't worry about a resurgence. If you like hats and you don't mind being in the minority and blatantly standing out in a crowd, wear hats. I do. Heck, I forked over a good amount for a custom Art Fawcett! Make no mistake, though, that you will always, always be The Guy In The Hat in a crowd, and you need to be OK with that, all of the time. Yes, sometimes people stare because they admire you, and wish they could pull off wearing a hat. Other times, people stare because they think it's really strange that you're wearing a fashion piece that disappeared 50 years ago. That reaction is understandable, too, and you have to be comfortable with it. Not defiant, or angry, or pretending like it should be a totally normal occurrence to see someone walking down the street with an Adam Executive with a 6" crown height on their heads. Because it isn't. It stands out. Be comfortable. There's a thread here talking about the most common comments people get wearing a hat, from "Nice hat!" to "Where can I get a hat like that?" and all things in-between. You know what I get the most, that I haven't seen mentioned in that thread much? "Why are you wearing a hat?" or "What's with the hat?" You have to be comfortable with that, because there's no resurgence coming around the bend that's going to make our hats stand out any less.
Sure, sometimes certain bits of fashion are brought back into season due to the cyclical nature of things, and wide-brimmed fedoras could catch one of those waves someday, but it will be fleeting, because they will always, always, always be something from the past. Hats like the ones we discuss here aren't coming back. They've gone the way of the pennyfarthing, the monacle, the handlebar moustache and the wooden shoe. The remaining niche market that still enjoys wearing them exists right here on The Fedora Lounge and in the customer records of your local hat shops. That's OK. Don't worry about a resurgence. Be comfortable, enjoy your hats, and tip them at every elephant in the room you find. Embrace it.
Fashion moves forward, not backward. That's just how it works. I see so many people here look at a ball cap or a herringbone-checkered, loud-colored stingy with almost complete derision / disgust, but don't forget that it goes both ways! How you feel will sometimes mirror how they feel. The fashion industry doesn't need you to like current fashion, because the items are selling without you, and it's not because the consumers are stupid, or sloppy, or lacking in culture. It's 2011, and that's the fashion, and that's just how it works. There are some here who remind me of the cranky old guy on the porch yelling at the kids to get off his lawn, with their long hair and their athletic sneakers and their ball caps. Ball caps, folks? Really? C'mon, lighten up! People love ball caps. It's really OK. They've been around for as long as the fedora. Maybe longer. The ball cap won. It happens.
I've seen these sorts of threads a lot over the years. Don't worry about a resurgence. If you like hats and you don't mind being in the minority and blatantly standing out in a crowd, wear hats. I do. Heck, I forked over a good amount for a custom Art Fawcett! Make no mistake, though, that you will always, always be The Guy In The Hat in a crowd, and you need to be OK with that, all of the time. Yes, sometimes people stare because they admire you, and wish they could pull off wearing a hat. Other times, people stare because they think it's really strange that you're wearing a fashion piece that disappeared 50 years ago. That reaction is understandable, too, and you have to be comfortable with it. Not defiant, or angry, or pretending like it should be a totally normal occurrence to see someone walking down the street with an Adam Executive with a 6" crown height on their heads. Because it isn't. It stands out. Be comfortable. There's a thread here talking about the most common comments people get wearing a hat, from "Nice hat!" to "Where can I get a hat like that?" and all things in-between. You know what I get the most, that I haven't seen mentioned in that thread much? "Why are you wearing a hat?" or "What's with the hat?" You have to be comfortable with that, because there's no resurgence coming around the bend that's going to make our hats stand out any less.
Sure, sometimes certain bits of fashion are brought back into season due to the cyclical nature of things, and wide-brimmed fedoras could catch one of those waves someday, but it will be fleeting, because they will always, always, always be something from the past. Hats like the ones we discuss here aren't coming back. They've gone the way of the pennyfarthing, the monacle, the handlebar moustache and the wooden shoe. The remaining niche market that still enjoys wearing them exists right here on The Fedora Lounge and in the customer records of your local hat shops. That's OK. Don't worry about a resurgence. Be comfortable, enjoy your hats, and tip them at every elephant in the room you find. Embrace it.
danofarlington
My Mail is Forwarded Here
- Messages
- 3,122
- Location
- Arlington, Virginia
I can't say whether hats are resurging or not, although they've resurged to some degree. I agree with you in many ways. I like being the standout with the hat, so long as I think it looks good. Gives me personality I may not otherwise have.
T Rick
Practically Family
- Messages
- 943
- Location
- Metro Detroit
Well, yeah... I saw a supposed "hat expert" I guess, on the Today show this morning. Discussing Women's hats, they went to a Panama. The "Expert" said how great it was for the Sun compared to a "Fedora", because it had a wider brim than a Fedora. Hmm... (in fact, I think she compared it to a "straw Fedora"). I am sure she was invoking stingy brims, but didn't seem to realize that a wide brim (or a Panama for that matter) could be considered a Fedora.
HatsEnough
Banned
- Messages
- 1,142
- Location
- Cincinnati, Ohio
If she was talking about a women's sun hat, she might be sort of correct. But, obviously the word "expert" is relative.
Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,557
In the greater Los Angeles area, there has been a small "resurgence." I see stingy brims on a regular basis, almost as much on women as on men. I sometimes also see medium brims, but usually in straw, though. Nowadays, I can wear casual clothing with a fedora and not get any type of odd stares (city clothes and a fedora is another matter, though). Try doing that with a homburg or a boater...
Last edited:
HatsEnough
Banned
- Messages
- 1,142
- Location
- Cincinnati, Ohio
My guess is that a boater would bring odd looks anywhere! But I have never yet gotten any problems with my fedoras and I've been in many major cities with them over the last several years.
MikeBravo
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,301
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Okay, I'm weird! Always have been and always will be weird, I imagine.
It was only when I started wearing hats on a regular basis, and not just for sun protection, that I began to embrace my weirdness and be comfortable with it.
You all know what I'm talking about as most of you are weird as well, that's why you're here
As for a resurgance, I hope there isn't one! There, I've said it. I don't want people wearing fedoras to be trendy or fashionable (the enemy of individualism), I want them to wear one so I can recognise a fellow weirdo!
It was only when I started wearing hats on a regular basis, and not just for sun protection, that I began to embrace my weirdness and be comfortable with it.
You all know what I'm talking about as most of you are weird as well, that's why you're here
As for a resurgance, I hope there isn't one! There, I've said it. I don't want people wearing fedoras to be trendy or fashionable (the enemy of individualism), I want them to wear one so I can recognise a fellow weirdo!
T Rick
Practically Family
- Messages
- 943
- Location
- Metro Detroit
I prefer the term unique. But okay, yeah.Okay, I'm weird! Always have been and always will be weird, I imagine.
It was only when I started wearing hats on a regular basis, and not just for sun protection, that I began to embrace my weirdness and be comfortable with it.
You all know what I'm talking about as most of you are weird as well, that's why you're here
As for a resurgance, I hope there isn't one! There, I've said it. I don't want people wearing fedoras to be trendy or fashionable (the enemy of individualism), I want them to wear one so I can recognise a fellow weirdo!
Haha. There you go!
And to a few who've responded saying you don't get weird looks, I'm not really saying you're going to all the time or anything. Just saying that if you choose to walk around with a very prominent fashion accessory from a long time ago, it's going to happen sometimes, and you have to be comfortable with it if it does.
MikeBravo
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,301
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
I concur with my learned friend
PS Everybody is unique, not everybody is weird.
PPS I love the word "weird", it's the exception to the "i before e, except after c" grammar rule.
scottyrocks
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 9,178
- Location
- Isle of Langerhan, NY
My wife and I went out to dinner Sunday evening to an outdoor seafood restaurant. I sat down and actually took off my fedora, something I dont usually do outdoors, but the weather was perfect, and there was no sun on my head.
While we were eating, in walked a couple wearing matching white straw-ish stingie fedoras. They sat at a table with other people and left their hats on the whole time. I guess what made it look weird to me was that the hats were identical. And they weren't a young couple. Nothing wrong with it, really. Just struck me as weird - like they were going for cute but went beyond into yargh.
While we were eating, in walked a couple wearing matching white straw-ish stingie fedoras. They sat at a table with other people and left their hats on the whole time. I guess what made it look weird to me was that the hats were identical. And they weren't a young couple. Nothing wrong with it, really. Just struck me as weird - like they were going for cute but went beyond into yargh.
The Good
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,361
- Location
- California, USA
The other day at the beach, I had seen what may have been as many as over a dozen brimmed hats, several of which looked like fedoras, while others looked like cowboy or Australian hats. All of these were straw of course. There were wide and stingy brims. I happened to be wearing my Sunbody palm straw fedora myself. It looks like that the fedora, among other types of hats, has become generally accepted summer wear at the least, if not quite making it yet as a common fall/winter/spring wear piece.
Oldsarge
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,440
- Location
- On the banks of the Wilamette
Blame it on global warming . . .
There are, besides myself, at least two other people who wear fur felt fedoras on Iowa State's campus. One is a grad student and is always impeccably dressed in suit and hat. I'm not really worried about being considered eccentric for wearing hats, as my goal is to be a professor and eccentric appears in the job title.
The Wiser Hatter
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,765
- Location
- Louisville, Ky
Hat video from the Today show Monday
An the poor Panama at the end of the video looks like it has had a rough life.
adouglasmhor
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 77
- Location
- Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Their is a school of though that it is not the only exception. The deity knows why neighbour but I shouldn't weigh in?
beige, cleidoic, codeine, conscience, deify, deity, deign,
dreidel, eider, eight, either, feign, feint, feisty,
foreign, forfeit, freight, gleization, gneiss, greige,
greisen, heifer, heigh-ho, height, heinous, heir, heist,
leitmotiv, neigh, neighbor, neither, peignoir, prescient,
rein, science, seiche, seidel, seine, seismic, seize, sheik,
society, sovereign, surfeit, teiid, veil, vein, weight,
weir, weird
Last edited:
Edward
Bartender
- Messages
- 25,074
- Location
- London, UK
According to QI, there are more "exceptions" than there are words which actually follow the rule.
Featured products
-
Gustin Vintage Heavyweight Sweatshirt - Natural Rainbow Nep - $119 Rugged 14oz cotton that gets better with every wear. -
Grant Stone Diesel Boot Dark Olive Chromexcel - #395 Goodyear welted, Horween Chromexcel, classic good looks. -
Himel Bros. - The Ross Mk. 1 Leather Jacket Classic D-pocket motorcycle/aviator style jacket.
fenris
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 214
- Location
- Philippines
whoopsie!
To get back on topic, when I went to the beach, almost everyone was wearing a fedora or cowboy hat. All straws, of course. I think I'm the only guy crazy enough to wear a fur felt in the Philippines' tropical climate.
