Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady

[Yohanes]

Having just watched this wonderful classic, as now I am a hat fans, certainly watched the hats, too.

I'm curious, don't you think that Prof. Higgins' (Rex Harrison's character) hat is out of place / anachronistic? He's wearing a trilby it seems, made of .. tweed? Don't think it's felt, I believe it has checkered pattern.

So first, anyone can identify what type of hat he's wearing exactly?

I feel it's rather out of place because the story takes place possibly in 1910-1920s UK? when fedora was not yet common style? As you see that most of the other characters wear top hat or at least homburg.

 

[Stoney]

http://images.google.com/images?q=rex+harrison+my+fair+lady&gbv=2&ndsp=20&hl=en&start=0&sa=N

A quick search came up with some images of his hat. I tend to agree that it looks more like a mid 1950s hat which is when the movie was made.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Didn't Leslie Howard wear virtually the same hat when he was Henry Higgins in the 1938 film of Pygmalion, the basis for My Fair Lady?

Alas, I am not allowed to do an image search here at work, but I bet it would be easy to find one...

I suspect that a tweed hat of that type was a familiar country style even when the play was first written, in 1914...

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Didn't Leslie Howard wear virtually the same hat when he was Henry Higgins in the 1938 film of Pygmalion, the basis for My Fair Lady?
...

I must have missed this thread when it was first posted, just came across it while doing a search on Leslie Howard.

Anyway, the hat Leslie Howard wears in Pymalion is felt, not tweed. Tomorrow or the day after, I will see if I can find some good pictures of him wearing the felt hat in Pymalion to post.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

here's the picture link:

http://www.reelclassicdvd.com/Pimpernelps.jpg

Sorry, it's not as good as the one I had somewere and can't find now.

 

[YARVTON]

Harrison's "Fair Lady"

1956 stage

1964 film

 

[YARVTON]

The tweed hat of Prof. Higgins

Is it not similar to that worn by Henry Jones, Sr. in "Last Crusade" -- an out-of-fashion hat for a movie set in 1938.

 

[Miss Crisplock]

As it happens, I was at a stage production of My Fair Lady last night.

I did notice that Prof. Higgins was in brown, and tweed in all scenes but the Embassy Ball. Having spent time on the lounge, I can only assume that his very casual country dress was a huge indicator to the audience of the time of his unwillingness to behave in a conventional manner in most instances. I assume that the hat, while it may have been of the period, was relegated to the country, and would not have been usual in London for many years to come.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

As it happens, I was at a stage production of My Fair Lady last night.

I did notice that Prof. Higgins was in brown, and tweed in all scenes but the Embassy Ball. Having spent time on the lounge, I can only assume that his very casual country dress was a huge indicator to the audience of the time of his unwillingness to behave in a conventional manner in most instances. I assume that the hat, while it may have been of the period, was relegated to the country, and would not have been usual in London for many years to come.

Be glad it wasn't one that recently closed up here...I understand several cast and even audience members are still searching for the costumer...they seem to feel the costumer ought to be wearing tar and feathers...

 

[Miss Crisplock]

Well I may join them. Higgins was fine, but there was a newsboy with a sign that the King had died. All of the ladies at Ascot were wearing black, with only Eliza sporting black and purple.

Such a waste in what should have been a shining moment.

 

[Woodfluter]

Miss Crisplock, I hate pointless anachronisms also. Now if the anachronism has a point, that's altogether different.

Anyway, I seem to recall that woven or tweed hats and caps weren't entirely out of place on a gentleman of the late 19th to early 20th century, although generally considered appropriate to country wear. As noted herein. I agree with you and suspect the tweed hat (plus other aspects of H. Higgins' outfit) was meant to suggest an independent frame of mind, a desire for inquiry, a sort of "gentleman scientist" garb.

- Bill

 

[YARVTON]

Dressing Henry Higgins

Professor Higgins would certainly dress to please himself. The costumer's mistake would be to provide a hat not of the period -- or just before the period of "Pygmalion".

 

[Woodfluter]

See this thread:
http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=6223&highlight=winter

I think it's the fifth advertisment down, from 1932. Seems cloth tweed hats have been around for a while. This doesn't provide evidence about the social situations in which it would have been seen as acceptable, or slightly outside the pale, or perhaps rather flippant.

Recall, y'all, that Prof. Higgins was the creation of G. B. Shaw, who was a bit of an iconoclast himself. I could sort of see Shaw putting his aloof, erudite Higgins at a social gathering in expensive but inappropriately casual clothing. And seeming totally unconcerned.

- Bill

 

[Naphtali]

See "The Dorset" at http://www.bates-hats.co.uk/tweed_hats.html

 

[JMB]

Henry Higgins Hats & Costumes

Regarding the signature hat worn by Rex Harrison in the stage and film productions of MY FAIR LADY, the headgear was supplied by Herbert Johnson, London. That was half a century ago, when Herbert Johnson was considered truly a great hatter, long before it was folded into Swaine, Adeney, Brigg. The Higgins hat came in two flavors, a dogtooth check or a glenuquart plaid, depending upon the production. M'thinks the materials used for the hats came from one of the Scottish woolen mills, perhaps Harrison of Edinburgh. It had a 5 1/2-inch crown with a permanent center crease, no pinching, and a 2 1/2-inch brim that was reinforced with a number of concentric lines of stitching for durability. A fair amount of work was required to shape the brim properly. No problem for Herbert Johnson, but not the sort of thing to fiddle about with over the spout of a kettle.

Regarding the tailoring of Rex Harrison for the productions, blame it on a difference of opinion about the costuming between the actor and the costume designer. Cecil Beaton and Rex Harrison agreed to disagree. Like many actors, Harrison paid an enormous amount of attention to what he wore on stage and screen. At times he used Kilgour, French and Stanbury, at other times H. Huntsman. While the costuming in the film may not be quite accurate for a story set in 1914, at least it's some of Savile Row's tailoring at its very best. However, the affectation of a colorful silk scarf dangling out of Higgins' coat and cardigan pockets is a whimsical touch of Beaton.

 

[DominusTecum]

I can only assume that his very casual country dress was a huge indicator to the audience of the time of his unwillingness to behave in a conventional manner in most instances.

Exactly, I daresay you're right on the money. In the story, Prof. Higgins is clearly something of an eccentric, cultured enough when he wants to be, but certainly marching to the beat of his own drum. He's definitely an academic, studying accents and speech patterns, and academics, at least in the 20th century, have generally "dressed down." If a businessman were wearing a suit, the academic would wear flannels and a sport coat, for instance.