Feathers? Why are they there...

indycop · Mar 7, 2009

If Akubra made the "Australia" hat I would leave the feathers in!

If I could find a buck tail I might be inclined to put that on a hat too. I learned that the Culpeper minutemen put them on their hats.

Garrett · Mar 7, 2009

Feathers for the Yanks, aren't ya one of em?!

HungaryTom · Mar 7, 2009

However, I still maintain that feathers in fedoras are generally silly affectations and are more appropriate to fowl, fly fishing, and ladies hats.

This excludes plumes historically used on military hats and those found on [generally] European Hunting Hats.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

Athough feathers as headgear are as old as humanity (Native Americans, Polynesians, Melanesians, Shamans of Asia etc.) and military still uses feathers (Bersalgieri, Blackwatch, Hussars Csákó) I think it was the Waidmannshut that inspired the look feathers in fedoras
http://www.neunerhaus.at/img/BuchingerHut_001.jpg.

And I also agree that feathers look a bit odd in fedoras - urban headgear.

carter · Mar 7, 2009

Interesting

Hungary Tom, I would like to see a close-up of the feather assemblage in this picture.

There appears to be a receptacle into which a feather (or other item) can be inserted and removed. This would make sense if one wanted a method to easily change the decoration worn on the hat. Is that the case?

It resembles a boutonniere holder.

I wonder if gentlemen ever wore flower buds on their fedoras. Hmmm ...

Drew B · Mar 7, 2009

I think it depends on the hat and the owner of said hat.

For example jec's hat works because it is not over the top.

depends on the colours used too IMO (and the feather types.)

Firefyter-Emt · Mar 7, 2009

Well, it is good to see for the most part, I am not alone. Now jec's hat does look good with those feathers, on the hat I just bought... not so much!

Looks like there is fishing gear tucked into the band to me!

HungaryTom · Mar 7, 2009

Just found these:
http://i21.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/fe/6c/b113_1_sbol.JPG
Bayerischer Trachtenhut
http://www.hicker.de/data/media/185/bayerischer-trachtenhut_9815.jpg
Bavarian Trachten:
http://www.fuenfseenland.de/nachrichten/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/trachtenhut.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2628458001_723ea00b8b.jpg?v=0
Flower Power:
http://www.hicker.de/data/media/185/trachtenhut-blumenschmuck_9817.jpg

These Trachten hats (not fedoras) definitely have boutonniere holder. I think our distingished Bavarian and Austrian loungers could provide more accurate info.
***

17th century Hungarian headgear with crane and ostrich feathers -ostrich being clearly the mark of the enemy -Ottoman- fashion:
http://www.bethlenhagyomanyorseg.hu/data2/sapienta7/Darutoll.jpg

Traditional Hungarian costumes of the aristocracy 11th-18th century -lots of feathers but no fedoras:
http://www.kitalaltkozepkor.hu/szkita_magyar_viselet_elemei/image010.gif

Crane feathers for sale:
http://konyvtar.fonyod.hu/daru7.jpg
Feathers as part of the countryside folk wear http://www.sulinet.hu/oroksegtar/data/100_falu/Karos/pages/images/012_Kocik_kabola_clip_image024.jpg died out when cranes and herons got decimated by late 19th century after the great marshlands -approx. 20-25.000 square kilometres- of the Carpathian basin were dried out and the rivers got regulated and industrialization finished off the rest.

dhermann1 · Mar 7, 2009

As I said, personally, I like feathers.

"For ze man, ze sword. For ze woman, ze kiss!"

rmrdaddy · Mar 7, 2009

Great Photo!!

"En Garde you heathen swine!......."

tandmark · Mar 8, 2009

Hiya Firefyter-Emt!

Some hat-wearing men detest feathers. Some feel naked without them. Some (including me) like them in some hats and not in others, or at some times and not at others. Some don't care or haven't really ever thought about it.

It's not a moral issue. There are no hard-and-fast rules anyone has to contend with.

Feathers are relatively standard for dress hats. My guess as to why, is that in the '30s, the crowd who insisted that men wear pocket squares in their suit jackets (not to mention boutonnières in the holes of their lapels) probably also favored hat feathers: Little touches of color to display a somewhat elitist stance. Some etiquette guides might well reflect this by insisting that anyone above the level of a common workman or agricultural laborer use a hat feather. And that's why I suppose it is that most of the dress hats I've ever bought were sold to me with feathers in them.

More Fedora Loungers, I'd bet, are anti-feather than other groups of hat-wearers. Whyzat? I see two reasons:

1) A majority of Fedora Loungers got into fedoras and other dress hats because they really dug the featherless hat of a certain fictional archeologist-adventurer from the silver screen.

2) A few folks on FL switched to dress hats after having grown up wearing cowboy hats or perhaps caps -- which have no feathers.

But in the end, feather-vs-nofeather doesn't really make a lot of difference.

Cheers,
Mark

barrowjh · Mar 9, 2009

This is educational. I thought that feathers in American fedoras was a 'modern' attempt to hold onto sales, something that grew popular in the late 1950's, with the Dobbs 'Game Bird' hat as more clear example of appealing to the hunter image. I was not aware that it was common to have a feather on fedoras in the classic period; I have plenty of ads that show no feathers (40's, early 50's). Long-nap finishes and under-2 inch brims seemed to follow after the feathers.

Trebuchet64_Fal · Mar 10, 2009

Not all my hats have feathers , and i certainly would not add them , but i have a Wormser Homburgh that has feathers which suit it to a "T".
I guess it all depends on the hat.

gtdean48 · Mar 10, 2009

tandmark said:
...
2) A few folks on FL switched to dress hats after having grown up wearing cowboy hats or perhaps caps -- which have no feathers.

But in the end, feather-vs-nofeather doesn't really make a lot of difference.

I grew up with buddies on the rodeo team & some of the bull riders wore turkey or even eagle feathers in their hats. If they'll ride a ton of ornery in a leather bag for 8 seconds, then letting a feather ride in their lid is quite alright with me. I have an owl feather in one of my western & a crow feather in another.

DanK76 · Oct 2, 2018

Just remembe the most famous fedora never had a feather.

Tukwila · Oct 3, 2018

Well, feathers can dress up a hat or make it look corny. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I think I have one hat with feathers in the crown ribbon. It looks alright, but my general thought is that feathers serve to distract viewers from poor quality felt...

DesertDan · Oct 4, 2018

My only feathered hat;

98ab56_4d879e9507154c58921e3e03e31d5ba9~mv1.png

Believe me, the felt is top quality.

Tukwila · Oct 4, 2018

DesertDan said:
My only feathered hat;

Believe me, the felt is top quality.

I know that hat, by Mike Miller.

Winston Carter · Oct 4, 2018

Probably 85% of my hats have feathers so add me to the Pro Feather Club.

DesertDan · Oct 4, 2018

Tukwila said:
I know that hat, by Mike Miller.

Yes, Mike made that one for me a year or two ago. He then named it the "Seeing Double" and offers it on his Dress Hats line.
He had used the double teardrop on a few hats at the time and I loved the look. I had wanted a low crown hat for awhile. Mike had also made a slew of hats in natural beaver and had also just come into his stock of Cactus Green ribbon. I just took those elements and ran with it,
There is a very subtle highlight on the knot that is shaped like a vase and the feathers come up from there. Unfortunately it doesn't really come out in the pictures.
I still feel very honored that Mike liked my design so much as to make it part of his lineup.

Tukwila · Oct 4, 2018

I've been down to see Mike several times and have 3 custom hats and a handful or two of refurbs from Mike. I keep track of his FB and Instagram photos and actually recently posted pics of 6? of his double teardrop fedoras (including yours) on another site just to show people that hats like this are still being made.

I didn't know this was yours. Very nice!

Feathers? Why are they there...

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