To Feather or Not to Feather?

[Bob Roberts]

you like a talker so, do you?

 

[KarlCrow]

View attachment 77338

interesting, do you breed them?

 

[40Cal]

I just got this late 1940's Portis. The second picture is the feather that was on it. For the life of me I can't see how a bright green feather adds to the beauty of this hat.

 

[40Cal]

my grandfather always said ... "a feather on a hat is like a mustache on a beautiful woman"

I tend to a agree with gramps

this might be only the 7th time I've typed this in this thread ... could be the first though .. who knows ?

Grampa Moon was a wise man! ... and featherless!

 

[Bob Roberts]

interesting, do you breed them?

Not this one. I hand raise/hand feed for other breeders. I breed some of the smaller parrot species.

 

[Bob Roberts]

I just got this late 1940's Portis. The second picture is the feather that was on it. For the life of me I can't see how a bright green feather adds to the beauty of this hat.
View attachment 77342 View attachment 77343

I like most greens with tans/browns. Don't care for feathers in general and def don't care for that color green. I care for that Portis quite a bit though.

 

[Jeremy T Garner]

I like most greens with tans/browns. Don't care for feathers in general and def don't care for that color green. I care for that Portis quite a bit though.

AMEN to everything you said! Especially the last part...That Portis rocks!!!

 

[40Cal]

I like most greens with tans/browns. Don't care for feathers in general and def don't care for that color green. I care for that Portis quite a bit though.

I think it's the color I object to most , Bob. It's an artificial looking green . Just glad it could be removed without any damage to the hat!

 

[40Cal]

AMEN to everything you said! Especially the last part...That Portis rocks!!!

Thanks , Jeremy! I'm adding it to the Portis thread now.

 

[milandro]

Do you all wear feathers in your hats? Anyone know anything more about this trend?

Thanks!

Very old beginnings of this thread 8 years ago, one would think that indeed this matter would have come up as a matter of routine . I think that the use of feathers in headdresses ( which an hat indeed is) is as old as when mankind emerged from the other primates .

What made us “ different” was probably the ability to communicate and communication through symbols or signs (which is the object of semiotics studies) was one of the first thing which arose in a group so that when they met others it would be easy to identify the group, the tribe, and the function, in the group , of any given person.

So, I guess this arrived to us and we still use it although its original function may be lost and become completely vestigial.
A bit like the rule to salute or greet by touching the brim of the hat with the right hand which seems to have originated by knights lifting the visor . Something we still do while the visor has gone.

I particularly like the use of porcupine quills as decoration in a hat. I have seen this above but also a few times used by people around. I am in fact trying to acquire one for the fun of having at least one in at least one of my hats.

 

[GHT]

I just got this late 1940's Portis. The second picture is the feather that was on it. For the life of me I can't see how a bright green feather adds to the beauty of this hat.
View attachment 77342 View attachment 77343

Hat adornments are as much a matter of taste as the hat is. The green feather in that Portis probably makes that fine hat cry in it's box. But that's just my personal taste, or lack of it, in the case of that feather. Now if you drive a classic MG, and you want to be seen supporting the marque..............

Feathers though, can give a hat a lift if they contrast or enhance a hat. Much has been said of black fedoras, but with a good feather adornment it takes on a whole new appeal.

 

[milandro]

So, after I what I wrote before I took a short ride and bought a porcupine quill from someone.

I am not displeased (click to expand)

 

[Boomerang]

As a novice buyer of modern hats, my first two purchases came with feathers in the band. I didn't question their presence, and left them in place for a few weeks. Observing pics of people in similar hats, I noticed that feathers were not the norm. Upon feather removal, my hats assumed a completely different personality: practical beauty and simple, utilitarian grace shone like diamonds. I still have some feathers on-hand, and I tell myself that I keep them around for dressing a hat for formal occasions. Hasn't happened yet.

 

[milandro]

when I was young in Italy it was absolutely normal to see the occasional feather in the hats. There would also be the rarer (mostly from Tirol ) fur tassel.

 

[milandro]

Following n the Porcupine quill trail.

I have bought a couple more of the stubbier and thicker type.


Then I applied one to my refurbished Akubra Snowy river I am not displeased!)

I was researching how people used them and I came across a few “ interesting” pictures

 

[Héctor Fernández]

I own many vintage hats that have feathers on them. My rule of thumb, if is vintage leave it along. Modern fedoras, I take them off, no questions ask.

What are your thoughts?

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[deadlyhandsome]

It’s well plowed ground. With very few exceptions, I’m not a fan of feathers. I remove them from vintage hats as well as modern, but I do appreciate those who want to keep the hat original.


https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/to-feather-or-not-to-feather.81160/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/gentlemen-feathers-in-your-hats.56647/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/feathers.45630/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/poll-feather-or-no-feather.47245/







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[Héctor Fernández]

It’s well plowed ground. With very few exceptions, I’m not a fan of feathers. I remove them from vintage hats as well as modern, but I do appreciate those who want to keep the hat original.


https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/to-feather-or-not-to-feather.81160/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/gentlemen-feathers-in-your-hats.56647/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/feathers.45630/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/poll-feather-or-no-feather.47245/







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oops, well go ahead and remove the thread with my apologies. Unfortunately, I can't delete the thread. [emoji1][emoji3061][emoji482]

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[deadlyhandsome]

Oops, well go ahead and remove the thread with my apologies. Unfortunately, I can't delete the thread. [emoji1][emoji3061][emoji482]

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No worries. Lots of us have done this, and there’s a good chance that a bartender will come along and merge them. No harm done.

I don’t know why I don’t like the feathers...maybe a bit of gilding the lily? Maybe a bit like you’re trying too hard? They can also be ostentatious, and some of the huge feathered bands on westerns from the 1970s are not at all to my style. Sometimes, however, the feather just looks right. Reggie has some great hats that still wear their feather adornments and they just look right on his hats.


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[GHT]

When I saw this thread title, I thought for a second that this might be a new recipe for the Christmas turkey, cooked with the feathers on.
Hat feathers, depends on the hat, there again, depends on the feathers.