Putting on and Taking off your Fedora

[MikeBravo]

Do you doff? I never doff.

Ya gotta go the doff for a lady. Two fingers to the brim edge is fine for another gentleman/chap. I never grasp the edge of the brim, that's okay for a cap I suppose, but a bit of a Victorian class-divide reinforcement thing if you know what I mean.

Surely I'm not the only one who doffs!?

 

[Tomasso]

Surely I'm not the only one who doffs!?

Sounds like a subject for a poll........

 

[VitaminG]

I have a team of hat technicians who follow me around, ready to raise or lower my lid with the proper apparatus as needed.

But to recap what we have learned in this thread:
* In Hollywood's heyday, everyone (in the rest of society) handled their hats by the brim
* In movies, hats were handled by the crown because they were considered plentiful, disposable items
* Stars would do this because of the exhorbitant fees they commanded, from the very beginning of the film industry. This is unlike the paltry fees that movie stars earn today.
* No performers ever supplied their own wardrobe, even gritty low budget films had a costume department
* Despite the viewing public seeing all these Hollywood stars handling their hats by the crown, everyone else still knew that hats were only to be handled by the brim and continued to do so
* a hat will be destroyed if worn in a downpour while dancing in puddles & swinging from lampposts
* LOTR prop department is unremarkable for supplying multiple pieces per long-standing industry standards

My notion that many of the casual, incidental or otherwise meaningless behaviours & affectations we see in movies are either a reflection of the society in which the performers live, or an influence on the viewers to ape those behaviours, has gone out the window.

If before they were stars, these Hollywood types were like the rest of society and removed their hats by the brim, were they coached to grab their crowns once they started making movies? What was their motivation? If it was because it looked cool, surely that would influence their fans to copy the behaviour. But we've already established that no one outside of the movies was doing this.

I guess from all the movies I've watched, even before I considered wearing hats myself, I was of the impression that hats were often handled by the crown. Not to be crushed, but grabbed lightly. It was only after joining TFL that I learned that they should only be handled by the brim. But watching how lightly & casually someone like Monsieur Verdoux (a very natty dresser) grabs the crown when removing his hat affirmed that the practice was fairly normal, outside of TFL.

 

[Lefty]

But to recap what people have said in this thread

fixed

 

[jonbuilder]

I think it's a no brainer handle a hat from the brim. Think about it what do baseball cap wearers do. I have a Stetson 7X CB heavy western felt ( 60s ?) hat had a weak spot at the crown pitch when I received the hat. Two years later after heavy wear and one re-blocked I had the hat reversed front to back and re-blocked again because of the wear at the crown pitch. Now it’s reflective action handle hat by the brim.

after 1st reblock

as recieved
I looked and did find a picture of the hat since the recent reblock
I just added a recent picture after the hat was reversed I could not get this crease with the wear at the front pintch until I reversed the hat. I quess if you have an the atitude your hats are throw away handle them by the cronwn pintch

 

[danofarlington]

Ya gotta go the doff for a lady. Two fingers to the brim edge is fine for another gentleman/chap. I never grasp the edge of the brim, that's okay for a cap I suppose, but a bit of a Victorian class-divide reinforcement thing if you know what I mean.

Surely I'm not the only one who doffs!?

We probably have two separate cultures going on. Here in the U.S., the custom is definitely antiquated, and worse, the ladies here probably wouldn't appreciate it. My distinct impression is that they would think a man very strange for doffing, and regard him as something of a dork. (I am just speaking for my impression of the case in the United States.) There isn't two fingers to the brim around here that I've seen either, for man or woman when wearing a hat. We just ignore the fedoras we wear.

Although a poll about who doffs would be interesting, the poll I would really be interested to see is for women who visit The Fedora Lounge: Would you like men to doff fedoras at you, or not? And if such a poll is organized, I say the women should identify themselves by country.

 

[MikeBravo]

Ya gotta go the doff for a lady. Two fingers to the brim edge is fine for another gentleman/chap. I never grasp the edge of the brim, that's okay for a cap I suppose, but a bit of a Victorian class-divide reinforcement thing if you know what I mean.

Surely I'm not the only one who doffs!?

I really should clarify. Doffing is not for all occasions, of course. One incident was while strolling through a park on a Sunday morning there were two ladies approaching from the opposite direction along the same path I was on. They smiled at me, and in return I "lifted me lid". They obviously thought it was quite sweet on my part. It made my day, and probably theirs too

During a recent lindy exchange in my fair city, I was waiting on a visitor on her motel porch wearing my everyday fedora. A chap passing by, who was not of my acquaintance, was inspired to call out "How are you". In reply I saluted him by lifting my fingers to the brim of my hat.

 

[dlvh]

I'm not so certain I agree with what seems to be the majority here.

I agree with the fact that Hollywood stars may have treated their hats with some...disregard perhaps, given the fact that in "those days" hats were...disposable, a normal part of everday wear. However, earlier in the week, I spotted several fellows donning and doffing their hats via the crown (which made me post the original question here..."Putting on and Taking off your Fedora") like I do, and not the brim. Their Fedoras were in the 2 1/2" range, so they were virtually the same as mine.

I'll admittedly state that using the crown to doff or donn, is a bit harder on the hat, but it is the way I have done it for...well a couple of decades now. Now if the hat was a very light color, I suppose I would be a bit more gentile on it, but I do believe I would still use the crown, but that's a personal choice.

Taking off a baseball cap by it's brim, is a no-brainer, how else do you do it? If my Fedoras had such a stiff brim, like a baseball cap, perhaps I would replace it that way as well. A lot of western hats do have a very stiff brim, and I can easily see using that to donn/doff, but not with my somewhat flimsy Fedora brims.

We've all seen the pictures of Johnny Depp's hat with a hole in the very front of the crown. Now perhaps he has used that/those hats for a movie roll, but I cannot say for certain, but if he hasn't used it in a movie roll, that would most likely prove that he donns and doffs via the crown, but that doesn't mean anything, other than the fact that Johnny Depp uses the crown of his Fedoras to put his hats on and take off.

For the most part, I always put my hat on with one hand, which is another reason I use the crown. I lower my head a bit, and place it slightly tilted to one side. Perhaps I am more of a casual hat installor, and remover. I place it on my head just as securely with one hand, versus the two hand method, I've done both...many times, but prefer the one hand crown method.

No matter what method you use to donn or doff your hat is just fine for you, but please remember, there is no right or wrong method, it's just a personal choice. I don't do it to emilate a person or persons, I just donn/doff the Fedora the way I find most convenient for me, and whatever way you do it is the right way for you!

Thanks for all your opinions on the subject and lets hear/read some more.

Happy Fedora Wearer!

 

[split]

Please ladies and gentlemen, don't be too gentle with your hats. You may cause our dear hat manufacturers to go out of business!
But seriously, I tend to handle my hats by the crown. The hats I have owned untill now are made of litefelt and simply too flexible to
hold by the brim. So what I mean to say is that it also depends on the material where you hold your hat.
Michael

 

[danofarlington]

I really should clarify. Doffing is not for all occasions, of course. One incident was while strolling through a park on a Sunday morning there were two ladies approaching from the opposite direction along the same path I was on. They smiled at me, and in return I "lifted me lid". They obviously thought it was quite sweet on my part. It made my day, and probably theirs too

During a recent lindy exchange in my fair city, I was waiting on a visitor on her motel porch wearing my everyday fedora. A chap passing by, who was not of my acquaintance, was inspired to call out "How are you". In reply I saluted him by lifting my fingers to the brim of my hat.

If I saw it was wanted, some kind of hat-type salutation, I might do it. What seems natural at the time is probably the best guide, so I see what you mean.

 

[Engrishman]

You may cause our dear hat manufacturers to go out of business!

I'd be hesitant to manhandle a hat if the dear hat manufacturer was already out of business. (ie. ~ Portis))

 

[split]

I,ve always been very carefull with everything i've owned and cared about. Wether it were cars, vintage motorcycles, jackets or hats. But i have come to the understanding that being too carefull, does not always add to the pleasure of owning and using them. Besides, hunting for something to replace an old worn out thing is a hobby by itself!

 

[VitaminG]

I,ve always been very carefull with everything i've owned and cared about. Wether it were cars, vintage motorcycles, jackets or hats. But i have come to the understanding that being too carefull, does not always add to the pleasure of owning and using them. Besides, hunting for something to replace an old worn out thing is a hobby by itself!

I agree. I'm always careful with my guitars. They aren't mistreated, but I'm not precious with them either. The joy is in using them. They're not for hanging on a wall or locking in a cabinet. They may get a ding or a bruise from time to time, but that just adds to their story.