why I like fedoras now

[danofarlington]

Reflecting more of the talk on another thread about hats we can't stand, it occurs to me that by the 1930s to 1960s, hats were so prevalent that they were an integral part of the costume of people in many occupations. On the negative side of that, actually they were used as tools of intimidation. Think:

1950s cops and fedoras
gangsters and fedoras
rural cops and Open Roads
Black Panthers and berets
drill sergeants and Montana peak hats
state troopers and the same
Nazis in Nazi helmets (yeah yeah yeah I know they're not fedoras but I'm just saying)

In all of these cases, if (in the movies) you saw a man coming up to you in a hat, you were in trouble. I think some of that intimidation factor carries over today. When at church once I wore my wide-brim Borsalino dress hat, a guy grabbed his coat as if going for his gun, which was humorous. Or, I went to the supermarket deli in my Open Road to get some cold cuts, and the counter guy says "what do you need, boss?" However, most of that mindset seems to have washed away in the intervening 50 years since hats were popular. Now they are mostly just hats. At that level I like them. But it probably motivates some of the pushback of people about wearing hats, which harks back to the times when hats were worn as part of serious business by serious people who took themselves seriously and yes, wanted to intimidate YOU. Happy it's mostly gone.

 

[Tomasso]

Sometimes a hat is just a hat...........

 

[Shangas]

The replies I get are all things like "Nice hat!" or "Look, see, HE'S wearing a hat...Why don't you?" (yes, that's an actual one I heard).

 

[scottyrocks]

I get very little in the way of comments born of intimidation. Most of them are just positive in nature.

 

[Dan'l]

I've had nothing but compliments from guys and gals. Perhaps any lingering "intimidation" factor has the shallow minds keeping their thoughts to themselves

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Why I like fedora's it let's me show some style and color that we need in our daily lives. Let's me stand out from all the Ball cap wearing men who think nothing about how they look an wear mismatched outfits because in today's society there are no standards for clothing and people will where anything anywhere no matter what it looks like. I like a fedora it let's me celebrate the craftsmenship of both are past hat makers and those custom hatters of today. That's why I like fedora's

 

[hatophile]

Being 5' 8" and 140lbs, I am anything but intimidating. I do think the hats give me some added "height", though, and dress things up a bit. I've never felt afraid of fedora-wearers, on the contrary, always thought they were cool and added some panache to an outfit. I think at some level, people may like the fact that a hat gives them some added "authority".

 

[Orangegrad]

I'd love to intimidate someone just because I'm wearing a hat. At 5'6" on a very good day, I just don't intimidate.

So far I have a Cuenca and an Akubra Stylemaster. I wonder if I could find a "statement" hat that would make me intimidating without being ridiculous?

 

[Dubya]

Why I like fedora's it let's me show some style and color that we need in our daily lives. Let's me stand out from all the Ball cap wearing men who think nothing about how they look an wear mismatched outfits because in today's society there are no standards for clothing and people will where anything anywhere no matter what it looks like. I like a fedora it let's me celebrate the craftsmenship of both are past hat makers and those custom hatters of today. That's why I like fedora's

Couldn't agree more!
So many men seem not to care what they wear - jogging bottoms and football (soccer) shirts, or 3/4 length trousers, trainers and some non descript tee shirt are so often order of the day. If a hat is worn at all, the standard baseball cap is so often perched upon the head!
I can quite understand if you're lounging around the house, or gardening etc, but I like to make an effort when I go out and about, and a hat - be it a Fedora or one of my Olney Newsboys - is a must!

 

[Lefty]

Sometimes a hat is just a hat...........

+1. How is a hat intimidating if everyone is wearing one?


ETA: Heck, how are they intimidating if only a few are wearing them. Today, anyone wearing a fedora is probably too self-conscious to be intimidating.

 

[El Sid]

I like feodoras because they excite my imagination. Each time I see a new fedora, I imagine the adventure and intrigue I might experience while wearing the hat. I have also purchased a lot of clothes for imaginary adventures--I've never been on a safari, for example, but I've got enough khaki to spend a year in the bush. I guess my attraction to fedoras might fall under the category of the Walter Mitty Syndrome. I see a brown fedora, I'm already on my way to search for the Holy Grail, or to unearth a relic of great value and beauty in some dusty locale that I can't even name; I see a gray fedora and I'm riding the night train to Munich, or ready to stakeout a possible suspect for a crime that wasn't committed; I see an Open Road, and I imagine miles of open road rolling out before me, as I cruise along in the vintage pick up truck I do not own.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Nazis in Nazi helmets (yeah yeah yeah I know they're not fedoras but I'm just saying)

Maybe you were thinking of the Gestapo, or at least the classic Hollywood image.

 

[Edward]

Reflecting more of the talk on another thread about hats we can't stand, it occurs to me that by the 1930s to 1960s, hats were so prevalent that they were an integral part of the costume of people in many occupations. On the negative side of that, actually they were used as tools of intimidation. Think:

1950s cops and fedoras
gangsters and fedoras
rural cops and Open Roads
Black Panthers and berets
drill sergeants and Montana peak hats
state troopers and the same

I'm not convinced by this line of argument. It seems to me that any intimidation factor now inherent in these styles is something retrospectively imposed upon them. Gangsters wore fedoras and hombergs back in the day because they were common civilian clothing - a simple coincidence that has been turned into the stereotypical gangster "look" by Hollywood later on. Whether the Black Panthers were any more or any less intimidating than US or British Army units which also wore berets is going to be influenced a whole mess of other factors which have nothing to do with the adoption of a beret. I don't believe for a minute that any of those groups back in the day adopted certain hats based on their ability to intimidate. That they became perceived in that way later on is a wholly different issue.

Nazis in Nazi helmets (yeah yeah yeah I know they're not fedoras but I'm just saying)

To indulge in a little pedantry, they weren't Nazi helmets either. Certainly, the design was changed post-war because they had developed the image of being a "Nazi" thing by association with the conflicts started by the political leadership of the Third Reich. In actual fact, the Stahlhelm worn by the Wehrmacht during the Third Reich period was essentially the same helmet first issued in 1916, when it replaced the Pickelhaube.

In all of these cases, if (in the movies) you saw a man coming up to you in a hat, you were in trouble. I think some of that intimidation factor carries over today. When at church once I wore my wide-brim Borsalino dress hat, a guy grabbed his coat as if going for his gun, which was humorous. Or, I went to the supermarket deli in my Open Road to get some cold cuts, and the counter guy says "what do you need, boss?" However, most of that mindset seems to have washed away in the intervening 50 years since hats were popular. Now they are mostly just hats. At that level I like them. But it probably motivates some of the pushback of people about wearing hats, which harks back to the times when hats were worn as part of serious business by serious people who took themselves seriously and yes, wanted to intimidate YOU. Happy it's mostly gone.

Nah, it's just crude Hollywood stereotyping at work.

Maybe you were thinking of the Gestapo, or at least the classic Hollywood image.

Yes, and again this is a retrospective, Hollywood imposition as much as anything. The fact is that from its inception the Gestapo had been a plainclothes organisation. Gestapo officers who were also in the SS did on occasion wear their SS uniforms, and after 1940 Gestapo officers stationed in occupied countries wore uniforms based on those of the SS, a response to the accidental shooting by Wehrmacht troops of Gestapo officers who had been mistaken for Resistance fighters. The classic image of the Gestapo remains their pre-war / home front plainclothes look. This has certainly been hammed up by Hollywood after the fact, but at the time they would have been wearing what were simply regular civilian clothes.

 

[MisterCairo]

Sometimes a hat is just a hat...........

And a good cigar is a smoke....

 

[scooter]

My early years were spent in my grandfather's house, where I was born. I was very close to him and never saw him without a hat if he was outside. I like to think he imbued me with a different set of standards, and wearing hats is an homage to him and the good people of his era. There was a time in this country when your word was your bond, you shook hands and had a deal, no paperwork was needed. I miss that attitude.

I think a hat completes a man, and I don't mean in a costume sense. They are utilitarian and serve many purposes, not the least of which is to demonstrate a certain elegance and sense of style.

 

[HatsEnough]

On the negative side of that, actually they were used as tools of intimidation.

Sorry, but that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

 

[scooter]

Actually, HE, I think I understand the point he is trying to make. A hat with eyes piercing one from beneath the brim can be imposing. Envision the County Sheriff glaring at you from beneath the brim of his hat after pulling you over. He makes an interesting point, in that, a great many authority figures sport a hat; cops, drill instructors, pilots, umpires, even conductors and train engineers in the past if not today. Perhaps it is a learned response in our society that a man in a hat is generally accorded some measure of respect.

 

[ShortAndCashed]

I'm 5'6" and I'm not that intimidating, but the only hats I wear right now is a cheap, old driving cap... It's not the clothing that intimidates people, it's the attitude under that clothing. I've never been more scared of anyone than a 5'3" female state trooper, and that was because of her attitude. The hat almost made me not afraid, because I could see the top of it while standing.

 

[scooter]

" The hat almost made me not afraid, because I could see the top of it while standing. '

Now that is funny!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I think myself a hat is part of the person wearing it at the time. If you view anyone here that has posted a picture of themselves wearing a fedora or cap, or whatever, you get a sense of "them" and in part, it is reflected by the hat worn. It is almost sort of (yeah I know corny but true), "part of the soul" for most of us to wear a hat. Like we see the beauty in wearing them, and are very "hooked" on hats to say the least!

Out in public or doing business, when I wear a hat I am always given a compliment from someone.