Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Could this be a sign as to the Return of the Hat?

FedoraGent

One Too Many
Messages
1,221
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Loungers,

Magneto and I were reading the SF Chronicle this morning and I was skimming through the 'Style' section. I wanted your take on this, but this photo as well as the article could or could not be evidence that the Return of the Hat is indeed coming...

lv_sfis_academy68joh.jpg


And alas the article...

Grins,

FG.
 

Nick D

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,166
Location
Upper Michigan
Something showing up on a runway is no sure sign something will catch on. Last year some designer put out a bunch of stuff on the runway with bits and pieces inspired by medieval armour (a 14th century hourglass gauntlet as a hat?! [huh] )

The tough thing will be making hats jump from fad to trend to fashion and back into 'style', popularly at any rate.
 

hargist

One of the Regulars
Messages
200
Location
Los Angeles
Fashion is fickle. Trends evolve so fast that hats are often seen as a novelty and not something to incorporate into everyday wear. Fashion designers do not make clothes that the general public will wear (or can afford). Instead, their styles are often purely conceptual, more akin to abstract art than fashion. Indeed, they do not design with the public in mind at all. They design for their peers.

So unfortunately, no. This is not a sign that the hat is back because these designers use it as a punchline rather than something that should be an everyday accessory.
 

Russ

One of the Regulars
Messages
209
Location
Tokyo
hats are definitely back

Somehow my post appeared twice, so I'm killing the first appearance.
 

Russ

One of the Regulars
Messages
209
Location
Tokyo
Hats are definitely back -- at least in the east

In Tokyo I have been watching the hat scene with interest for the past 20 years. This year for the first time there are fedora-looking hats in many stores, with new stores dedicated to hats alone. They are also selling well, as I see them on the heads of young people everywhere as well. They are not the old felt fedora, but cloth hats in the shape of a fedora, stingy brim, and mostly in black. From a distance you couldn't tell them from felt fedoras.

So the idea of wearing a brimmed hat is back in fashion now if not the traditional felt hat. Still, in one new hat shop I visited, there were a few traditional felt Borsalinos on the top shelf in back -- listed at obscene prices. BTW, the store was packed with young people trying on hats -- the cloth hats, that is. But many did stop and take notice of my felt fedora as I walked past.
 

Slicksuit

One of the Regulars
Messages
239
Location
Suburban Detroit, Michigan
I wouldn't take that picture that originally started this thread as proof. While I don't think that traditional brimmed hats will be de rigeleur as they were 80 years ago, they are appearing as a viable, and once-again socially acceptable alternative to the pervasive baseball cap. While of cheap quality, even Target is carrying cloth and straw stingy-brim fedora styles...so I think that counts for something. In the very least, I think that it's not seen as fogey as they once were 10 years ago.
 

FedoraGent

One Too Many
Messages
1,221
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Well Folks, it was more of a question...

I've seen the other remarks, but yet I can't help but notice that there are more young people wearing hats today or just more people wearing hats in general. I too agree that the picture of all those folks wearing hats will never be mainstream as it was back then. But what also makes me sit back and shake my head is that in the mainstream (popular and the like) there is absolute rubbish being considered a hat these days. Take for instance, here in San Francisco there is a somewhat new shop that popped up in North Beach's Washington Square called Goorin Brothers. Now, I realize that they are a family owned company that started elsewhere other than in San Francisco, but I was quite surprised when I went in there for the first time. I walked in to peruse the hats and had asked the sales clerk whether she had any Borsalino hats in size 7 3/8. She looked at me and said "Oh, we don't carry those kind of hats. But, we do have some nice corduroy hats shaped like a fedora." I just about died on the spot. So, if the hat is indeed coming back and the types of hats are "hip-hop" and/or "hyphee" then I'd rather they not come back at all.

Oh my gosh, I hope I don't sound like my father. That would be the final insult. ;)

FG.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
Yes, unfortunately (and I do mean unfortunately), places like Walmart and Target are carrying this bastardized version of a "fedora" or "trilby" and I believe this is only a trend resulting from celebrities like Timberlake and Usher wearing them in videos. Although, I dare say, the hats they wore were probably the real thing, just cut down to look "hip".

I think given a few years, these cotton and polyester fedoras will be clogging up garbage dumps and garage sales just like spandex suits and slap bracelets.

Granted, I have CONSIDERED getting a wool stingy brim from Target for evening walks in the fall...because it matched an outfit I like...but then I decided I'd rather buy some construction paper and glue and make my own. Just a thought.
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
I like to see variety. A few less ball caps and a more "newsie" caps and fedoras would be nice.
The quality and price of hats in the past varied just like today. A custom 100% beaver hat is not a requirement for everyone. A stylish lid should be.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
107,031
Messages
3,026,751
Members
52,533
Latest member
RacerJ
Top