Berlin, Prague, and Vienna

ufguy11 · Apr 13, 2007

I was just in Europe, Germany, The Czech Republic, and Austria, with the orchestra I'm in, and i couldn't help notice while i was there, that there are many, many more fedora bearers and wearers there than there are here in the good ole U.S of A. Could anybody explain this to me? I guess Europeans just care more about how they look and take more interest in this, but i'm not sure...

Thanks,

J

John in Covina · Apr 14, 2007

MAYBE

Maybe, since the history of cities in Europe can be counted in millenium, the classic influence has maintained their sense of tradition and fashion. "New York, London, Paris, Munich...Everybody talk about Pop Music!"

griffer · Apr 14, 2007

Nice trip! i love those countries! I didn't notice many hats when I was there, though.

The real Henry · Apr 14, 2007

I cannot say you see many hat wearers here in Germany, even when I was in Berlin last year didn't saw a single fedora( And you don't think of ball caps as hats, do you?).

I know some musicians who wear hats, but that's really minority.

Regards,
Henrik

Achille · Apr 14, 2007

...and same in France

.

Regards
JM

DanielJones · Apr 14, 2007

So, would it seem that the majority of hat (being fedora or the like) wearers reside in eastern Europe, whereas the western half goes sans hat?

Cheers!

Dan

Marc Chevalier · Apr 14, 2007

Yeah, but I've seen those Eastern European hats on their heads. Most of them are junk ... and quite a few look alpine-ish, rather than fedora-esque.

.

Gid Scoop · Apr 15, 2007

The real Henry said:
I cannot say you see many hat wearers here in Germany, even when I was in Berlin last year didn't saw a single fedora( And you don't think of ball caps as hats, do you?).

I know some musicians who wear hats, but that's really minority.

Regards,
Henrik

Well, than maybe you just didn't visit the same places like the other Fedora bearers.

On a more serious note: I live in Berlin and - besides myself - I spot Fedoras now and then ... But in a city of millions of people, it is not that easy to find them, that's right.

Hemingway Jones · Apr 15, 2007

Marc Chevalier said:
Yeah, but I've seen those Eastern European hats on their heads. Most of them are junk ... and quite a few look alpine-ish, rather than fedora-esque.

.

At least they're not ball caps.

In Venice, I saw quite a few fedoras and some Alpine Tyrolian hats. The Borsalino stores in Italy sell coordinating fedoras with their beautiful suits. I felt very comfortable wearing mine there.

However, ufguy, you cannot speak of these amazing cities without posting some photos from your time there.

dhermann1 · Apr 15, 2007

Hemingway Jones said:
At least they're not ball caps.

However, ufguy, you cannot speak of these amazing cities without posting some photos from your time there.

Tell us more about your orchestra, too! Where did you play? Some VERY famous houses in those burgs!

moustache · Apr 15, 2007

I saw older men wearing fedoras in Prague,Vienna and Munich.Virtually none in Budapest or Frankfurt.London,maybe once in awhile.Paris same.
I will count next time.Should be a game.Maybe i will start a thread again:Count the fedoras!!!!

JD

Mark G · Apr 16, 2007

I really didn't see a lot of hats in Europe. When I was in Austria and Germany during the winter I was wearing an overcoat and sporting a hat. People were constantly (more than a dozen times) mistaking me for Italian or French and the only reason I can think, is the way I was dressed was so "not American". I guess they expected jeans and a sweat-shirt. So now when my wife sees me in the hat I wore she says, "hey Frenchy".

Fletch · Apr 16, 2007

But they knew you were an Ausl?§nder because you were wearing an overcoat and hat. Maybe in Italy or France you'd be taken for a German or Englishman...

Mark G · Apr 16, 2007

Yeah, that's what my wife said too. At least they don't start humming "Raiders of the Lost Ark" like they do here when I wear my Stratoliner.

HungaryTom · Apr 16, 2007

Custom made Fedora in Budapest

Marc Chevalier said:
Yeah, but I've seen those Eastern European hats on their heads. Most of them are junk ... and quite a few look alpine-ish, rather than fedora-esque.

.

Dear Marc,

I live in Budapest and unfortunately I must agree. Pensioners wear Fedoras but for reasons I can never guess they have the brims like 1 inch or in the neighborhood. This looks simply:rage:
I can tell you only the story of my custom made Fedora-esque fedora from Budapest.
I was recommended a custom milliner in the 8th district with 200 years old worn-down buildings. I walked in the small shop on Monday, specified a light color. They found a large unblocked beige block made from rabbit. They said it was from the Czech Republic. I chose dark brown ribbon. My hat was blocked, satin lined, dressed and ready to wear on Friday. It cost me the equivalent of 50 USD.
It came out great (My opinion) has a 3" brim wide ribbon, fitting well my big head of 7 5/8 and 6'1" statue. Colleagues immediately called me "don Tomassino" seeing it on my head.lol
It was tossed between the railroads in front of the arriving commuter train by a windblast in the first hours of wear and survived like in a miracle untouched!!! It suffered already from rain, brim is wavy but it is still a nice hat with many yrs of service to come.
Disadvantage: this shop has a limited supply in colors: mine was a unique piece, they have only black, navy blue and charcoal grey bodies to be blocked as Fedoras. They don't have too much variations of blocks either. In other words Art Fawcett and Gary White&Co have no real menace from their sides.

Raw materials:
The last beaver was shot in the 1860’s in Hungary.

WWF tries hard to re-introduce them, so you must forget about sterling beaver here.

Also the privilege of getting a Montecristi Fedora blocked here. What you find here is custom made hare felt Fedoras at prices you never see in the "Western hemisphere"!

Tradition of artisanship and its loss:
This would be a lengthy history in 20th century dictatorships and their devastating consequences. Let’s talk hats, I rather save you from that!

Cheers

Tamas

Mark G · Apr 16, 2007

$50.00 usd. That's a really good price for a custom rabbit fedora.

HungaryTom · Apr 16, 2007

Mark G said:
$50.00 usd. That's a really good price for a custom rabbit fedora.

Dear Mark,

I know.
Some 9.000 HUF was the bill.
That milliner is working for another revenue than in the US.
I am lurking around here on FL since October 2006 so I can compare.

ufguy11 · Apr 17, 2007

I've never done this before and can't figure out how to get the pictures on here....can anyone help?

ufguy11 · Apr 17, 2007

Also...my orchestra resides in Atlanta, GA. The trip was organized about a year ago to go to Berlin, Prague, and then Vienna. If i can get the pictures up, i can show the places that we played in. In Berlin we played in a building covered in windows across from our hotel, the exquilsior, which wasn't far from a big town square. In Prague we played in a hotel, that happend to have a extremely large theater-type room. It had paintings on the ceiling with two large statues on either side of the stage. I will post a picture if i can figure it out but it was very elegant. In Vienna we played in a wing of a large palace, formerly used by the royal family. This trip extended over 10 days and was the most interesting and fun trip i've ever been on. On the subject of hats, i only found one hat store while there, and it was in Vienna. I can't remember the name (like i can't remember the name of anything else), but it was a small shop near a large town circle with a statue memorial of those who died in WWII.

~If anyone would like to know more just ask...

Thanks,

J

Miss Neecerie · Apr 17, 2007

ufguy11 said:
I've never done this before and can't figure out how to get the pictures on here....can anyone help?

You need to host the pictures someplace like photobucket.com...its free and easy to use.

After thats done, you can then use the insert image function which prompts you for the url of the picture...which photobucket kindly puts below each picture.
The insert image button is the one that is a small yellow square with mountains and a moon in it....

once the code generated is in your message...the picture will show up when you hit "post" on your message.

Berlin, Prague, and Vienna

One of the Regulars

Practically Family

Practically Family

Familiar Face

I'll Lock Up

Gone Home

New in Town

I'll Lock Up

I'll Lock Up

Practically Family

A-List Customer

I'll Lock Up

A-List Customer

One Too Many

A-List Customer

One Too Many

One of the Regulars

One of the Regulars

I'll Lock Up

Similar threads

Log in

Forum statistics