Chinese Fedora

[hatflick1]

Ever notice in old National Geographic Magazines and movies like 'Empire Of The Sun' that fedoras were worn in China back in the 30's? Anybody ever seen a classic Chinese made fedora? Would these have been Stetsons sent overseas? Anybody been to China and spotted an old fedora? Lots of Mao hats out there but no pinched brims.

 

[Brad Bowers]

GCollins is over there, maybe he can hit the antique clothing stores and tell us more.

Brad

 

[gcollins]

The shanghai fedora of the 30s

Hey Hatflick,

Those fedoras of the 30s were very cool, especially with the 30s long gown and colorful, embroidered silk vests. You can see some of these in films that show the period--here, of course, all the TV soap operas are of one Chinese dynasty and period or another (which spans pretty much the last 4000 years).

But those fedoras. Classic european brims of the 30s were found in Shanghai, and they were brought in by the European businessmen who ran the textile mills and frequented the gin joints and jazz clubs around the city then--imagine how wealthy the underwear guys were then. Can't find any good ones anymore, and there wouldn't be any vintage shops here--developing economies like to look to the west and the modern technologies and fashions. Japan has them though.

You see fedoras now and again in China, but they are cheap, still wool numbers, and no one in their right mind would pay for a nice hat...except maybe me. Not a lot of mao hats in the last 10 years or so....more baseball and golf caps. And every woman wears a hat or carries umbrellas on sunny days n the bigger cities, but they won't usually go for nice hats, just a practical consideration as Asians value white skin over tanned skin. A city dweller differentiates herself from the very dark-skinned peasants with white skin and fashionable dresses. Not so casual as the US.

anyway, I too would love to find a Chinese fedora from the period. But then again, my borsos and custom hats are the best around these parts, I should think.

Regards,
G

 

[Brad Bowers]

I knew you'd have the answers, G. Makes sense the Chinese wouldn't have vintage shops. Japan, you say? Hmmm.

Brad

 

[gcollins]

Hey Brad, I remember Art used to say that he would have a few visits per year from Japanese buyers looking for vintage clothes for shops in Japan. I've never seen a vintage shop there though. But, if they exist, imagine the prices. Whew!

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I would also imagine that a Japanese vintage shop would stock mostly sizes unwearable by most Westerners.

 

[BellyTank]

The Japanese are the ones that have been buying up all the primo American vintage clothing and a lot of the militaria over the last 20 years.
They put a very high monetary value on such Americana and are prepared to pay whatever the price is. That's most of the reason for the crazy prices.
B
T