So what separates a homburg from a fedora structurally?

[deadlyhandsome]

Deadlyhandsome, I'm glad we agree about crown creases not defining a hat. In answer to the question about ironing a snap brim flat... To me this would certainly make a trilby no longer a trilby (I would inclined to call a country hat or safari hat or something like that). I would have said that means a fedora is no longer a fedora, but you're making question just how broad a range of hats Americans recognise as fedoras. I've always been opposed to the idea that trilbies and fedoras are different (or that trilbies are a subtype) partly because of British usage of the term and partly because I think saying a hat with a slightly smaller brim but otherwise the same structure is a different type is absurd. However, if the American perception of the term fedora includes flat brims, then in that sense trilbies could indeed be accurately regarded as a subtype of fedora. Interestingly, I have seen some British sellers state of their trilbies that they could be worn with the back of the brim snapped down like a fedora, which suggests some other British people are making other errors about just what the term applies by thinking have having the back snapped up stops it from being a fedora.

Interesting. I know Christys’ for one offers both Trilbies and Fedoras and by your definition they are both trilbies and by my definition they are both fedoras. As for the absurdity of giving a short brim (and usually smaller overall dimensions) fedora its own name; I agree. Then again, a Homburg without a ribbon brim binding ceases to be a homburg and becomes a lords hat. eBay allows me to refine my searches by looking for fedoras and/or trilbies, and I always select both because we can’t agree on common definitions.

The international scientific community uses standard agreed upon terminology, often in Latin or Greek, to avoid these confusions.

Even our dictionaries can’t agree on the definition of a fedora:
Oxford:
“A low, soft felt hat with a curled brim and the crown creased lengthways.”

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fedora


Webster’s:
“ a low soft felt hat with the crown creased lengthwise”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fedora

And both definitions would include homburgs, lords hats, etc.


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