Tuxedo with a fedora?

[Glitterbox]

Hi all, new to the board and blown away by all the sharp and swanky looking members on here....this might be a silly question to some of you but I am totally clueless about it but here goes...

Is wearing a tuxedo with a fedora acceptable or is it a fashion faux pas?

I saw a gentlemen wearing this combination on a old movie recently and thought it was kinda odd looking at first but soon warmed up to it..was this quite common back in the day?

 

[Mulceber]

I would tend to say no. If you're wearing a tux, the only hat that goes with it is a top hat or possibly a black bowler. Fedora's just don't go with tux's IMHO. But what do I know. -Mulceber

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I think it's OK and I have done it (as evidenced below), but generally a top hat or a homburg compliments a tuxedo better, though a nice black fedora can do the trick as well. Frank Sinatra wore a small black fedora with his tux in the 50s and 60s.


This was the only hat I had with me.

 

[Zach R.]

I think its okay if you are out and about in the weather or travelling, with a topcoat if you prefer, but I personally think that NO hat should be worn with a tuxedo when you are at your destination, whether it be an outdoor party or not.

Tails, however, are a different story.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Or a morning suit.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

You can wear the two together -- if you want to be devil-may-care. See Cary Crant in the movie "Topper". Wears a black tuxedo with a black fedora.

.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

William Powell did as well in the Thin Man movies.

 

[epic610]

standards have fallen so low....

today, that the fact you are wearing a tuxedo at all will validate any accessories you happen to be wearing with it. i agree, though, a black fedora would not exactly be classic, but perfectly acceptable in these contemporary times

 

[ortega76]

today, that the fact you are wearing a tuxedo at all will validate any accessories you happen to be wearing with it. i agree, though, a black fedora would not exactly be classic, but perfectly acceptable in these contemporary times

How about a tuxedo for a daytime wedding? That always kills me. Ah, well.

As for the hat question. I think we fedora wearers are all idiosyncratic enough) in relation to "modern" dress to be a little independent. I think a black fedora worn with a tuxedo (especially while out and about before/after the event) is acceptable. A homburg is preferable. A bowler? Could be good but I'm not a huge fan of them myself.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Outerwear

As Hemingway Jones alluded to, wearing a Homburg would be more appropriate, but I would wear a hat with a tux only as outerwear, with an overcoat, in cold or rainy weather. Both should be checked at the door. Top hats are white tie only, I believe, but I've been wrong before.

 

[PADDY]

Fedora & Tux photo

This was the Xmas one guys! Yep, that ol Devil May Care Cary Grant look!! Just doing it Irish style!

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Indoors, you could always wear a smoking cap, in the case of black or white tie, I'd recommend a solid black coloured velvet or raw silk one without a tassle.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

I do it

I wear a fedora with a tux in the cooler months, but the hat comes off immediately when I enter a home, restaurant, office, etc. Here is a photo from last winter (Please excuse the geeky pose):

This is my vain attempt at the William Holden look in Sunset Boulevard.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

This has been discussed before, and since then I've seen at least a half a dozen movies from the 40's showing a fedora with a tux. The hats usually look black, but it's a little hard to tell when the movie is black and white. There doesn't seem to be a historical problem wearing one.

 

[Glitterbox]

thanks for your input, I guess it boils down to a matter of personal preference.

 

[Joseph Ciotti]

Nay.

I'm one not to wear a fedora with a tux... If you read through one of my posts, I'd only wear it with a necktie. But that's just me. But I pretty much wear my top hat with a or without a bowtie.

 

[Bargepole]

English etiquette

In England a dinner jacket (tuxedo, or just "black tie" as it's usually called) is informal evening wear -- in theory at any rate. A bowler is inappropriate as it's a daytime (and originally a sporting) hat. A top hat is inappropriate since it's a formal hat. A black fedora, preferably with a reasonably wide brim, or a Homburg, are the only two choice really.

The "rules" as I see them (though there aren't any rule any more, of course) are:

TOP HAT: With morning or evening dress (white tie & tails).
BOWLER: With a dark lounge suit or with black coat and spongebag trousers during the daytime.
FEDORA, BLACK: With a dinner jacket unless you are an Orthodox Jew or wish to be mistaken for one, e.g. for shouting at teenagers in the street ("You should be ashamed" etc.)
FEDORA, OTHER: All other circumstances, plus also acceptable with a dark lounge suit.
HOMBURG: With a dark lounge suit.

This is not prescriptive but descriptive. It's what seems to happen, in other words. My favoured headgear, personally, is a guardsman's busby, worn with a whalebone leg and parachute. One must keep up standards.

 

[thefedorastore]

mmmm, smoked fish!

 

[AlmostDecapitatedByMyCollar]

I would tend to say no. If you're wearing a tux, the only hat that goes with it is a top hat or possibly a black bowler. Fedora's just don't go with tux's IMHO. But what do I know. -Mulceber

I don't know why people on this forum (with exception of bargepole and gentleman farmer) continue to say that a dinner jacket should go with a top hat. This is a faux pas! Top hats only go with tails (white-tie and morning coat). A black Fedora is perfectly acceptable for the occasion.

 

[LeBois46]

I don't know why people on this forum (with exception of bargepole and gentleman farmer) continue to say that a dinner jacket should go with a top hat. This is a faux pas! Top hats only go with tails (white-tie and morning coat). A black Fedora is perfectly acceptable for the occasion.

A black fedora would be okay. A dark homburg would be more formal I would think. I agree that the top hat would be out with a tuxedo.