when did the hat die?

Originally Posted by Mustapha

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I wish someone here would post a picture of themselves wearing an old fashioned blocked hat.

If you want more pictures, go to Fedora Lounge a great forum for those that enjoy hats. They have a "what are you wearing today" thread as well. You might even catch my thread and a picture of me with my new Borsalino!

How very interesting, an entire culture of hat enthusiasts. Thank you. I have a lot of reading to go through.

Best,

Moose

Originally Posted by Will

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I can't speak for you but I think it looks fine in the street. As I've written elsewhere, the only concern I've had about this particular hat is that strange women walking on the sidewalk compliment me on it, which means it's a bit too noticeable. But there are worse problems.

Hat head? Y'know, when you take off your hat and your hair has a historical memory of it for hours?

Originally Posted by s4usea

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Hat head? Y'know, when you take off your hat and your hair has a historical memory of it for hours?

You probably have more hair than I do.

Originally Posted by s4usea

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Hat head? Y'know, when you take off your hat and your hair has a historical memory of it for hours?

A comb.

I really enjoy wearing my brown fedora (similar the one worn by my avatar). My gut feeling is that hats are making a bit of a comeback, which is possibly the result of people slowly realizing that the baseball cap, like the mullet 20 years before, has become part of the slackjawed archetype. As for people staring at me when I wear my fedora, well, if they don't like it then they can all screw themselves and and their dry-wall contractor sense of Costco sartorial style.

Actually, since I live near San Francisco, I rarely receive disapproving glances. And it's a lot of fun wearing the same type of hat as Jimmy Stewart did in Veritgo, which has so many cool street shots of 50's San Fran. My wife is from an old San Francisco family where men always wore hats and women always wore elbow length gloves when going downtown. So in San Francisco, wearing a fedora is, to me, no big deal.

Yes, I do believe that the white gloves for women should come back.

Originally Posted by Abudeeba

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As for people staring at me when I wear my fedora, well, if they don't like it then they can all screw themselves and and their dry-wall contractor sense of Costco sartorial style.

Aw, c'mon! Don't hold back, tell us how you REALLY feel!

I've never gotten a disapproving stare, but I have gotten many, many compliments when I were a fedora. I'm actually considering getting a dark blue homburg to go with my dark blue suit (and my cream colored suit, and my glen paid suit, and my....)

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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A comb.


Assuming you comb your hair....

In the 1950s, the quality of hairpieces or toupà es began to improve swiftly. Throughout perhaps all of the twentieth century, the dominant look for men - the cluster of looks that all men aspired to have - was youthful. Young people have a full head of hair. If you pay a lot of money for a top-quality hair piece, you are not going to wear a hat: you are going to show it off.

About fifteen years ago, IIRC, minoxidil or "Rogaine" was released. An entire generation of men was saved from male pattern baldness. If you spend a lot of money on top-quality hair drugs, you are not going to wear a hat. You are going to show off your hair.

In my wife's family, the father has been bald since his mid-20s. He has worn hats all his life. Hats not only make the balding man look younger - for they hide his pattern baldness - they also keep his head warm. When there is no hair up there, you get cold fast. His son, my brother-in-law, began the Rogaine in his early 20s. I'm not sure what he does these days, but he has a full head of hair and he does not wear hats often.

Lots of things led to the demise of the hat, and this is only one reason.

If the hat is returning, I think it is because the people who are younger than the baby boomer generation are not sold on the benefits of the pursuit of perpetual youth. Some of us yearn for maturity in our elders. So perhaps, for a short while at least, we are enjoying a fashion among the youth of "looking old" and hats, long associated with follicle-ly challenged elders, fit right in.

Originally Posted by flylot74

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Aw, c'mon! Don't hold back, tell us how you REALLY feel!

I've never gotten a disapproving stare, but I have gotten many, many compliments when I were a fedora. I'm actually considering getting a dark blue homburg to go with my dark blue suit (and my cream colored suit, and my glen paid suit, and my....)

I guess I did sound a little like Bill Hicks. Homburgs are sharp. I just wish I had the clothes and lifestyle that could justify purchasing one.

Originally Posted by Dewey

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If the hat is returning, I think it is because the people who are younger than the baby boomer generation are not sold on the benefits of the pursuit of perpetual youth. Some of us yearn for maturity in our elders. So perhaps, for a short while at least, we are enjoying a fashion among the youth of "looking old" and hats, long associated with follicle-ly challenged elders, fit right in.

Interesting thought. I sometimes wonder if the resurgence of the hat isn't a reaction to the turbulent times we live in, and our desire for icons that evoke order and sensibility.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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Yes, I do believe that the white gloves for women should come back.

At least the Sheraton Palace should require them for Saturday tea in the Garden Court.

Originally Posted by Abudeeba

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Interesting thought. I sometimes wonder if the resurgence of the hat isn't a reaction to the turbulent times we live in, and our desire for icons that evoke order and sensibility.

Yes, that is what I see. I also see the country headed into a ten-twenty-plus year period in which the standard of living declines for most people. Two more data points supporting this argument: the rise of ebay and the mad popularity of "uncluttering" advice. Folks are going through their stuff and taking inventory. Secondhand markets appear to be thriving.

If we are moving back to a time when the fabled abundance is not so abundant, there's going to be more scrutiny on the quality of the fewer things we can afford to enjoy.

The classic hat, the sportcoat, wool pants, handmade (recraftable) shoes, these are things that were perfected in lean times. If we are returning to lean times, that might explain the resurgence in interest in such things.

It's just a theory ...

I think suburbs were a big hat killer. The expansion of suburbs happened to coincide with Ike, quality hairpieces, rock and roll, etc.

Traditionally if you lived in the city and walked or took public transit, you needed a hat for weather reasons. Even when you got to your office it was probably cold and drafty, or at least the HV (there was no AC) wasn't well balanced for each room.

Then come the suburbs. You dash out your door and jump in a car. Then you drive to work, park, and run inside again. Not as much need to keep your head warm, and a hat is an inconvience inside a car anyway.

The longer you spend outdoors (walking to a public transit stop, being a cowboy, picking vegetables), the most need you have for a hat. Now cars have heated seats, sideview mirrors, and remote start so you can warm them up. Who needs to wear a hat then?

Were hairpieces really as rampant as they say they were?

Hairpieces always struck me as a very perverse piece of vanity.

Originally Posted by crazyquik

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Then come the suburbs. You dash out your door and jump in a car. Then you drive to work, park, and run inside again. Not as much need to keep your head warm, and a hat is an inconvience inside a car anyway.

The longer you spend outdoors (walking to a public transit stop, being a cowboy, picking vegetables), the most need you have for a hat. Now cars have heated seats, sideview mirrors, and remote start so you can warm them up. Who needs to wear a hat then?

I think there's a lot of truth to that. However, I see so many people wearing baseball caps these days that clearly people really don't mind wearing hats, and in fact want to or they wouldn't do it. Everybody everywhere seems to be wearing baseball caps.