Brim up or Brim Down

[Sam Craig]

I am another person that wears mine either way. Up is a bit more casual...but my "casual" is a bit dressier than others! I do notice that when I wear brim down I tend to tug it down a little more in back, whereas up looks better on my head roughly parallel to the ground.

You are right, it's one of the neat things about wearing a hat on a regular basis. You really can change your look according to how you wear it.
Up in front does have a casual touch, especially with a hat that has a fairly "flat" brim.

As has been pointed out here, if the brim is too "flared" or "round" you do end up with an Archie Bunker look that may be less appealing for lots of people.

The James Taylor pic, above, shows how a flatter brim allows for that casual touch, I think.

Sam

 

[job]

I will only wear mine down.

 

[Pompidou]

Up and back - I don't want to look like I think I'm something I'm not. Wearing brim-up hats and wearing them as far back as they won't fall off ('cept in the wind) has largely put a stop to comments - that and my VS doesn't look like a traditional fedora, at least that anyone would recognize.

 

[hubbit]

2 1/8" brim with significant curl, worn up. A slight tug down front and back helps I think.

That's a fantastic brim, and it looks well on you. I just got a Federation IV in Moonstone that I'm slowly working the brim of, to have a similar curl as yours. It was very much a 1930s look, and a lot of the ads I've seen for open-crown hats sold in department stores in the early 30s depict that brim as well as the more familiar back-up, front-snapped-down look.

I don't know what year this was taken, I'm guessing around 1935 or 1936, but this page has a picture of E. C. Segar, the creator of Popeye. Segar is standing behind Popeye in this photo, and his fedora clearly shows a similar upswept brim as well as a center crease and front dents that do not extend to a front pinch: http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=221471&gsub=34537

 

[Sam Craig]

BIJ -- Before Indiana Jones --- you'd see a lot of people wearing brims up
Cagney, Robinson, even Gable and Bogart at times wore them up, depending on the hat. It wasn't JUST Archie Bunker and Ed Norton, as has been suggested.

Sam

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

Bogart turned his brim up all the way around in one of his movies to question somebody. They didn't recognize him from the day before...

Later

 

[DNO]

That was The Big Sleep...he put glasses on as well. As soon as he finished the questioning he left the store and the brim came right back down.

 

[Sam Craig]

That was The Big Sleep...he put glasses on as well. As soon as he finished the questioning he left the store and the brim came right back down.

Check out They Drive By Night

Bogart and Raft, both with brims up and both look cool

The other scene from Big Sleep was hilarious!!

But the Drive By Night look is cool

Sam

 

[Viper Man]

I can go up or down, it just depends on how I'm feeling.

 

[Sam Craig]

I almost forgot ... Mickey Rooney in his first "tough guy" scene in Boys Town!

Brim way, way up!

Sam

 

[T Rick]

For me, depends on the hat and my mood. Most stingier brims are more likely to be up, while wider brims I am more likely to snap down. No real rule though, and I do change it up (Hollywood brim is a common one for my Mallory Ten, just seems to go with the hat). I guess I could say down in front more often than not though.

 

[Sam Craig]

My 1940 Mallory looks great both ways, but I have to admit, I prefer it with the front up.

 

[Sam Craig]

Two words

Jimmy Durante

Ha cha cha cha!

 

[danofarlington]

Wasn't that "hot chadda da cha?"

 

[Sam Craig]

It was "good night Mrs. Calabash ... where ever you are!"

And the brim was UP while he was sayin' it!

Whadda guy!

Sam

 

[Sam Craig]

My new fawn Squatter came in the mail and I'm wearing it out for the first time today ... brim up and it looks great!

Neat thing is ... it looks just as good with the brim down.

Great hats.

Sam

 

[Nobert]

Personally, I'll always do brim up whenever possible but, as previously noted, it doesn't work with all hats, and probably depends on your own head/facial type as well. Havng a very narrow head and face, I prefer brims that are 2" or less. My main hat is a Dobbs with a bound edge, so I can get away with it there, another hat I have is a very thick "dynafelt" that looks ridiculous unsnapped. Part of it is just personal taste as well, I like fedoras that lean towards homburg in their shape and styling.

 

[Sam Craig]

Personally, I'll always do brim up whenever possible but, as previously noted, it doesn't work with all hats, and probably depends on your own head/facial type as well. Havng a very narrow head and face, I prefer brims that are 2" or less. My main hat is a Dobbs with a bound edge, so I can get away with it there, another hat I have is a very thick "dynafelt" that looks ridiculous unsnapped. Part of it is just personal taste as well, I like fedoras that lean towards homburg in their shape and styling.

That is what my vintage Knox 25 does.

It's ivory colored, long finish ... great hat with a tall crown and a wide brim ... and it just is a little severe ... almost costumy ... with the brim down.

With the brim up, however, it's like an almost homburg and really comfortable, too

By vintage Dobbs is the same way ...

Sam

 

[hubbit]

I'm trying to do something neither up nor down with my Akubra Fed IV. I'm trying to recreate a more formal Fedora brim style of the late 1920s and early 1930s, which had a brim that was sort of upswept all around, but more so on the sides than in the front and back.

The brim style I'm trying to recreate can be seen here and here .

Here's what I have, with just steam, my fingers, and my eye:

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w146/hubbit/?action=view&current=IMAG0039.jpg
http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w146/hubbit/?action=view&current=IMAG0040.jpg

I actually just flattened the brim slightly because I thought I'd been too extreme with it, but after looking at those early catalog images again, I think I had it right earlier. I may wind up sending it out, if any of the nouveau-vintage hatters would even have a flange to do this on.

 

[Tomasso]

I'm trying to do something neither up nor down... .

Oh, you mean the neutral position.