Trilby Vs. Fedora...what's the difference?

[Sam Craig]

Well said, Sproily

That's a perfect distinction.

Sam

 

[GWD]

From "Clothes and the Man" {verbatim}

The Fedora;

The fedora, named for the Victorien Sardou melodrama of 1882 (Fedora, written especially for Sarah Bernhardt), is perhaps the most versatile of hats. It is appropriate for casual day or evening wear. When first introduced, a fedora was a soft felt hat with a crown that was low and tapered and creased lengthwise with a permanently rolled brim. Today, however, most fedoras have a medium-width snap brim (a flexible brim that can be snapped up or adjusted down), with an up to two-inch band around the crown. Narrow-faced men ought to eschew wide-brimmed fedoras, as they only accentuate the thinness of the face.

The Trilby;

The trilby, or sloucher, named for heroine of an 1894 George Du Maurier novel, is simply another version of the snap-brimmed fedora. It is slightly more rigid than the fedora, streamlined, and tapered with a 3/8-to 1/2-inch band around the crown (usually of grosgrain). Originally associated with a trench coat, it evolved in the 1920's into a soft English country hat with a creased tapered crown worn with a front pinch. Appropriate for informal occasions, the edge of the brim is usually left unfinished, though it may be bound with matching grosgrain. Because of its softness, the trilby can be manipulated into a plethora of shapes. For this reason, the hat has remained popular even during times when most men felt wearing a hat was too conformist a gesture.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

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Well, there you go. At least in America, the trilby is a tapered hat with a narrowish ribbon. The latter detail distinguishes the trilby from the 1960s-2000s modern fedora, which is tapered but usually has a wider ribbon.

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[AlterEgo]

It's extremely likely that the hats worn in the Fedora and Trilby plays looked like Oscar Wilde's. (Photos taken during his 1882 American tour.)

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Mark, what fascinating photos!

His hat has an especially wide brim--looks to be at least 3 inches and I love the dramatic slant--and I see the tall crown is bashed into a three-point diamond with no telescope or discernable side dents. I can't make out the hat band too well, but it appears to be something other than thin, flat ribbon.

The time line for the hat is close to the applicable plays, but Oscar Wilde, from what I've read, was truly wild, a fact reinforced by the over-the-top clothes he's wearing in your photos. I'm thinking his hat may have been similarly hyperbolic for the day, and that the original fedora and trilby were probably more conservative.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm thinking [Oscar Wilde's] hat may have been similarly hyperbolic for the day, and that the original fedora and trilby were probably more conservative.

Ah, but read this:

The title character [of the play Fedora] was described at the time as "a passionate, impulsive Muscovite princess". Fédora Romanoff was a notorious cross-dresser and apparently wore this soft, center-creased man's hat at times.

Sounds appropriate for Wilde, though his hat wasn't "center-creased."

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[Lefty]

[

It's feltfan!

 

[Brad Bowers]

"Trilby" might have crossed from the Atlantic to the States in the last fifty years, but it's not a term I've ever run across in my research, and I really doubt was in use in America until the last few decades. I suspect it always was a colloquialism, Trilby in the UK, Fedora in the USA. Though, Fedora here was not terribly common, until more recently. At least, not in advertising. In the '10s to '30s, it was mostly either a soft felt hat or a snap-brim model, and once in a while, a fedora.

It's much the same as with Derby and Bowler.

I think it's only been the last few decades that people have begun defining them differently.

Brad

 

[Lokar]

Somewhere on this forum somebody mentioned watching "Style on Trial". I did so, and there's a clip in there from Britain during WW2 - they talk about what you can do with hats to re-use them due to rationing, and the hats are constantly referred to just as a "trilby".

Historically, at least, I definitely agree that trilby was the British term for fedora. When I've mentioned fedoras to older people I know from home, they have no idea what I'm talking about, but understand if I say trilby.

 

[JustAGuy]

Is this a Fedora or a Trilby?

I have no experience in hats, any help would be great!

 

[Lean'n'mean]

It's a cloth Trilby.

 

[GHT]

Today's technology would have given you the answer quicker than writing your post, had you just typed Trilby into Wikipedia, you would have read this paragraph.

"A trilby hat is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain and was frequently seen at the horse races. The London hat company Lock and Co. describes the trilby as having a "shorter [viz., narrower] brim which is angled down [snapped down] at the front and slightly turned up at the back" versus the fedora's "wider brim which is more level [flatter]." The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design."
The accompanying picture of a trilby hat would have confirmed it's definition.

 

[Hal]

"A trilby hat is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain and was frequently seen at the horse races. The London hat company Lock and Co. describes the trilby as having a "shorter [viz., narrower] brim which is angled down [snapped down] at the front and slightly turned up at the back" versus the fedora's "wider brim which is more level [flatter]." The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design."

It looks to me as if Lock and Co. are aiming this definition at the American market (by using the American spelling "favored", for example). The word "fedora" was hardly ever used in the UK before 1980, perhaps as late as 1990; the British word was "trilby" whatever the width of the brim. But language usage changes...

 

[Trenchfriend]

It's more a Trilby than a Pork-Pie, but please, the brim at the front downside.

 

[TheDane]

Is this a Fedora or a Trilby?

The answer depends on where you live. Style designations like that are mostly local.

I believe that words like "porkpie" and "baseball cap" are used more or less internationally, while "fedora" and "trilby" are used by rather few nationalities. Even in areas where the two latter are in use, it seems like distinction between them is not very clear.

In Scandinavia I believe very, very few will know the meaning of the words "fedora" and "trilby". In Denmark they are used by a couple of Lounge members and a few of our family members and friends ... and next to nobody else

 

[GHT]

It looks to me as if Lock and Co. are aiming this definition at the American market (by using the American spelling "favored", for example). The word "fedora" was hardly ever used in the UK before 1980.

You are right, but it's my guess that the compilation of Wiki might have had something to do with the spelling as well as the compiling.
For what it's worth, I remember my grandfather wearing hats like those in Foyles War, they were always referred to as a Trilby, yet today's Trilbies are of the shape shown in the O/P's photo. According to Top Secret Hats, the difference has evolved with the UK adopting the US terminology.
It strikes me that ambiguity, and the resulting opinions, might be the reason for this thread.

 

[TheDane]

Today's technology would have given you the answer quicker than writing your post, had you just typed Trilby into Wikipedia, you would have read this paragraph.

What you read on Wikipedia may be very wrong. As with pre-web technologies it's always important to check the source and it's background knowledge.

If you check the "References" and "External Links" at the bottom of the page, you will notice, that the sources to the article also inform, that hats went out of fashion due to JFK - and that the fedora got it's name because the main character wore such a hat in the play, named "Princess Fedora".

If the spelling in the article is due to compilation issues or the author's I don't know. All I know is, that the sources are dubious, and it's my impression, the author lack insight.

Don't believe everything, you read on the web without a thorough check of sources

 

[Lean'n'mean]

and that the fedora got it's name because the main character wore such a hat in the play, named "Princess Fedora"

Yeah, well , that is kinda true. In 1882 Victorien Sardou did write a play for Sarah Bernhardt (interestingly,both were cross dressers & women's rights activists) titled 'Fédora' .(Bernhardt played princess Fédora Romanof) & although the play had nothing to do with hats, one of hats she wore in the play, described as a "soft felt hat with a wide brim & center crease, did strike the eye of the audiences, (much like Indy's hat did in the 80's I suppose ) & became popular,( especially with women's rights militants,) though it wasn't until 1890-ish that this type of hat was named 'fedora.'
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any pics of Bernhardt wearing this famous hat but Oscar wilde who was an admirer of Bernhardt, is said to have adopted a similar hat a year or so after the play was first produced, so the 'original' fedora may have looked something like this....


Not unlike Tom Baker's hat in the 70's Dr.Who.

 

[TheDane]

Yeah, well , that is kinda true

With all respect, I don't belive you're right. That part of history has been thoroughly looked into by our fellow Lounger Brad Bowers. As I remember it, he re-wrote history quite a bit - and even had some encyclopedia articles changed (not Wikipedia).

He has covered the subject in posts here on TFL, though I can't find them right now. I'm sure Brad will comment this, if he sees this thread

 

[mayserwegener]

Actually Robert (RLK) did much of the initial work and Spencer (Dinerman) found the Knox the Hatter advertisement. Knox the Hatter of NYC used the opening of the play Fedora to promote a new European soft felt men's hat which he named after the play. I don't believe anyone found a visual example of the hat. It gets very confusing because you also see women's Fedora felt hats and different variations of the men's Fedora. Early on most of the men's Fedoras were Homburg like but there were exceptions. Brad made some posts on the transition if you search or maybe will post again.

 

[TheDane]

I've so far been able to find the new article from Oxford English Dictionary: http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today...e-2015-update/release-notes-adore-the-fedora/

- and this TFL-thread in the subject (please read the whole thread): http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/fedoras-in-the-19th-century.48956/