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To Feather or Not to Feather?

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
you like a talker so, do you?
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Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
I just got this late 1940's Portis. The second picture is the feather that was on it. For the life of me I can't see how a bright green feather adds to the beauty of this hat.
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I like most greens with tans/browns. Don't care for feathers in general and def don't care for that color green. I care for that Portis quite a bit though. :)
 

milandro

A-List Customer
Messages
391
Location
The Netherlands
Do you all wear feathers in your hats? Anyone know anything more about this trend?

Thanks!
Very old beginnings of this thread 8 years ago, one would think that indeed this matter would have come up as a matter of routine . I think that the use of feathers in headdresses ( which an hat indeed is) is as old as when mankind emerged from the other primates .

What made us “ different” was probably the ability to communicate and communication through symbols or signs (which is the object of semiotics studies) was one of the first thing which arose in a group so that when they met others it would be easy to identify the group, the tribe, and the function, in the group , of any given person.

So, I guess this arrived to us and we still use it although its original function may be lost and become completely vestigial.
A bit like the rule to salute or greet by touching the brim of the hat with the right hand which seems to have originated by knights lifting the visor . Something we still do while the visor has gone.

I particularly like the use of porcupine quills as decoration in a hat. I have seen this above but also a few times used by people around. I am in fact trying to acquire one for the fun of having at least one in at least one of my hats.

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GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,279
Location
New Forest
I just got this late 1940's Portis. The second picture is the feather that was on it. For the life of me I can't see how a bright green feather adds to the beauty of this hat.
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Hat adornments are as much a matter of taste as the hat is. The green feather in that Portis probably makes that fine hat cry in it's box. But that's just my personal taste, or lack of it, in the case of that feather. Now if you drive a classic MG, and you want to be seen supporting the marque..............
MG hat pin 002.JPG
Feathers though, can give a hat a lift if they contrast or enhance a hat. Much has been said of black fedoras, but with a good feather adornment it takes on a whole new appeal.
black fedora 002.JPG
 

Boomerang

One of the Regulars
Messages
253
Location
Washington State
As a novice buyer of modern hats, my first two purchases came with feathers in the band. I didn't question their presence, and left them in place for a few weeks. Observing pics of people in similar hats, I noticed that feathers were not the norm. Upon feather removal, my hats assumed a completely different personality: practical beauty and simple, utilitarian grace shone like diamonds. I still have some feathers on-hand, and I tell myself that I keep them around for dressing a hat for formal occasions. Hasn't happened yet.
 

milandro

A-List Customer
Messages
391
Location
The Netherlands
Following n the Porcupine quill trail.

I have bought a couple more of the stubbier and thicker type.
stekels.jpg

Then I applied one to my refurbished Akubra Snowy river I am not displeased!)
akubra-snowy-river-stekel-piccola-jpg.188311


I was researching how people used them and I came across a few “ interesting” pictures

IMG_3945.JPG

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Last edited:
Messages
18,915
Location
Central California
It’s well plowed ground. With very few exceptions, I’m not a fan of feathers. I remove them from vintage hats as well as modern, but I do appreciate those who want to keep the hat original.


https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/to-feather-or-not-to-feather.81160/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/gentlemen-feathers-in-your-hats.56647/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/feathers.45630/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/poll-feather-or-no-feather.47245/







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Héctor Fernández

One Too Many
Messages
1,267
Location
Greatest Country, U.S.A.
It’s well plowed ground. With very few exceptions, I’m not a fan of feathers. I remove them from vintage hats as well as modern, but I do appreciate those who want to keep the hat original.


https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/to-feather-or-not-to-feather.81160/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/gentlemen-feathers-in-your-hats.56647/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/feathers.45630/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/poll-feather-or-no-feather.47245/







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Oops, well go ahead and remove the thread with my apologies. Unfortunately, I can't delete the thread. [emoji1][emoji3061][emoji482]

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Messages
18,915
Location
Central California
Oops, well go ahead and remove the thread with my apologies. Unfortunately, I can't delete the thread. [emoji1][emoji3061][emoji482]

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

No worries. Lots of us have done this, and there’s a good chance that a bartender will come along and merge them. No harm done.

I don’t know why I don’t like the feathers...maybe a bit of gilding the lily? Maybe a bit like you’re trying too hard? They can also be ostentatious, and some of the huge feathered bands on westerns from the 1970s are not at all to my style. Sometimes, however, the feather just looks right. Reggie has some great hats that still wear their feather adornments and they just look right on his hats.


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GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,279
Location
New Forest
When I saw this thread title, I thought for a second that this might be a new recipe for the Christmas turkey, cooked with the feathers on.
Hat feathers, depends on the hat, there again, depends on the feathers.
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