Homburgs?

[Vladimir Berkov]

I have been wanting to get a homburg for some time, I think it is a really neat looking style of hat. I am a little wary of wearing one, however. Several people have told me that it is an "older man's" style of hat, properly worn by those at least 40-50 years old. Being 22, I am not quite there yet.

Does anybody know if Homburgs were worn by younger people in the 1920s or 1930s?

 

[BellyTank]

Remember the Homburg was a German regional style until Edward VII brought it back to England from Bad Homburg, the spa and made it popular. I guess the trickle-down into the fashion would have taken a while and then to America.
I would have imagined they weren't SO '20s especially for the younger Gent- a little later I reckon- but I could be wrong. I would have thought Homburgs became more popular later, in the '30s. And as you mention, the Homburg is a much more defined, more formal style perhaps more suited to a more formal role.
Ike wore a Homburg at his '53 inauguration.
B
T

 

[scotrace]

"Ah! Diplomatist!"

I associate them with the diplomatic corps, and with very formal business occasions. They are a very nice style and I also would love to have one. There would be few opportunities to wear such a hat, it seems. I'm surprised at the subtle variations in the ones I have seen as well.
But at least I have learned from your note, Mr. Berkov, that I am an "older man" now...

 

[BellyTank]

WoW!
I'm almost elderly too...
B
T

 

[BellyTank]

Vlad?

What hat size are you (US size)?......
B
T

 

[Feraud]

Homburgs are nice looking hats but dressier in appearance than others. I have two, black and brown. I love the brown one but do not have much occasion to wear it.

I think occasion is more relevant than the age when choosing to wear a Homburg or Derby.

 

[feltfan]

pinched

Pinched homburgs are a bit less formal. I have a pinched
(blocked that way) homburg with no ribbon around the edge
of the brim (it's from Quality Hat Works, once a hat maker
in San Francisco, and a heck of a piece of felt). The brim
still curves up and is flat. A hybrid...
It's still not as informal as a casual fedora, but works with
some things.

I gave a friend a Lee homburg. He shaves his head and
has tattoos and dresses in jeans and a t-shirt and the
hat seems to look okay in that context. So it kinda depends.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

My hat size? It is 7 1/2.

 

[jamespowers]

A homburg, like the bowler started out as a utilitarian hat and was elevated to the level of the formal. This was true of the top hat as well. Equestrian riders used the top hat as a "crash helmet" because it would crumple on impact--not their head.
The homburg became the banker's hat in the late 1930s on. It really depends on color though. I have them in brown, gray and black. I wear them like they were meant to be worn in their humble beginnings. It can be worn with formal clothes and it can be worn with casual clothes as long as it blends with what you are wearing. Homburg with T shirt and jeans---no. Homburg with pants, colared shirt and and wing tips--fine. Sometimes mixing in the old with the new works. Better than leaving it in the box as far as I am concerned but this is coming from someone who wore a bowler to work today.
Oh, and I am not part of the wheelchair set. Only about ten years separates me from the youngsters.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Michael Mallory]

The earliest form of what we now know as fedoras were, in fact, variations of what we now know as the homburg. The brims were a bit stiffer, did not snap, and were usually pencil rolled. The crowns were soft and were often bashed lengthwise, like a homburg or open road. Young people did wear them in the early part of the 20th century. But when fedoras began to evolve, sometime in the late 20s, into the form we now know, the homburg became more of a professional man's hat -- bankers, lawyers, et al -- and since most professional men were older, they gained a reputation as an old man's hat. I have a couple of homburgs (then again, I AM getting old) a black one I wear for formal occasions, and a really lovely grey milan straw one that I wear every now and then for kinda dressy, but not too formal events.