Feather in your cap

[K.D. Lightner]

(Moderator-- This was a little off topic for the future of hats)

I have a question for you. Today, my mother was looking at my father's old fedora, which was purchased, by the way, at Foreman & Clark, a men's store in Des Moines that I think is not longer in business there. She noticed a little reddish feather on the hat band and asked me why they put feathers on hats. I said I didn't know, but would ask the people who probably do know.

What is the origin of the feather? Is it a good luck thing, or just ornamental, or does it have some deeper meaning? Mother wants to know.

Thanks,

karol

PS Thank you Andykev for your books suggestions. I am ordering the Stetson book. They didn't have it at Borders or B&N bookstores here. Not any hat books -- but a half-dozen books on collecting Barbie Dolls. --kdl

 

[jamespowers]

Ah feathers my favorite subject. LOL Feathers have been used on hats for hundreds of years now. Much more in the past and much bigger and much more intrusive. To recap a trivia question, the bow on a hat ribbon is always on the left side of the hat due to feathers on hats in the 1500s. The feathers on their hats were so long that they interfered with the drawing of a sword if it were to be on the right side of the body. Yeah I know what about the lefties---there were none. If you were left handed they trained you to use the other hand more dominantly (mark of the devil and all that stuff ).
So feathers and hats have gone together for years. I am not sure if it had a symbolic significance but now it is just an ornamentation that I do not understand. LOL
Oh, have a look at the $70 Borsalino and the sucker that bought it. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

Say, that's good info! Feathers! I don't care for them to mutch but, I know Yankee Doodle stuck one in his hat and called it macaroni. LOL

Take Blue Boy for example. Feathers! They go far, far back!

Also a big hit with Pirates!

Root.

 

[jamespowers]

Ah, the Gainsborough. Yes the picture of young Master Jonathan Buttall. That is actually attributed to about 1770 but the clothing is from the correct period of time for the feather example I gave. Very good. You live closer to the Huntington than I do though. LOL Does that mean that Gainsborough was into vintage fashions? What a Vanguard of things to come.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

ARRRRRR!

 

[jamespowers]

There we go a feather on the correct side. Hollywood got that part right for once. Costume is a little strange but the guy on the left is really strange. LOL

 

[Wild Root]

I liked this movie my self. Did you see it? I thought it was the best movie that was based on a ride at an amusement park!

Root.

 

[jamespowers]

Ok, if you frame it in that context then you give it a best movie opinion.
The guy on the left is still a freak of nature though. LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

Huntington

Yeah, I live just about a 15 minuet drive from there! The whole area around that place is so 1930's! I take drives up there at night some times and it's like going back in time! Since I drive that Plymouth it really is cool. All the original 30's lamp posts and all! Very well kept area and very, VERY RICH! A home will sell there for well over a million! Doesn't mean I can't enjoy a walk around the place or a drive in the area of South Pasadena. The best part is that it's very quiet and there isn't much traffic.

The Huntington is such a lovely place to visit as well! Many historical things abound there. I love it!

Root.

 

[Wild Root]

Depp.

Well, you do have a point about him being a freak. But, I think he was perfect for that roll. He really seemed like a pirate to me.

The way he stood on the mast of his ship as it sank into the water and he stepped right off onto the dock, LOL Classic!

Root.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Maybe, then, the tiny feather in the fedora is a salute to the glorious past of hats.

Of course, we women can still get hats with Big feathers. So can you guys if you buy a Shady Brady. Or maybe a Navajo "Billy Jack" hat. I see a lot of Bradys out here in the back country, not many Navajo hats.

As for the photo from "Pirates," those are two gorgeous looking guys. Depp evidently modeled his character after Keith Richards. The Depp character was so funny and popular, Bootstoo is now selling "retro" pirate boots on ebay, invoking the name "Jack Sparrow." I saw the film on DVD and enjoyed it.

I have to log into ebay, want to see who bought that $70 hat.

Thanks,

karol

 

[Retro Grouch]

Not much for feathers but I do have a #22 Royal Coachman tucked into the band of my river hat. It's about the size of a fingernail.

And yes, Pirates was a good movie. Then again, I am a Johnny Depp fan.

 

[The Wingnut]

I don't like feathers in my hats, something about it just strikes me as frivolous and cheap-looking. It's a personal preference, of course.

I have been known to stash an emergency roll of green in my hats, though...

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by The Wingnut
I have been known to stash an emergency roll of green in my hats, though...

You wouldn't happen to have any hats that you do not need; do you? LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Well, I went snooping around the internet as I always do when I am curious about something. This had to do with hat feathers!

It seems hat feathers have been used in Europe for centuries and have been used not only as good luck, but were rewarded to soldiers who killed an enemy (obviously, this was also used by Native Americans in this country). They were also used as hunting trophies -- i.e., the guy who brought down the biggest buck got a feather for his efforts.

I also found that feathers were used as social status, and were used in the Australian military to identify which regiment a soldier was in. Some wore emu feathers -- and the soldier had to ride his horse and pluck a feather from a running emu so that he could wear it in his hat. Dead emus did not count.

One website I visited stated that that a feather in your hat could protect you from evil, i.e., the devil. From now on, I won't fret at feathers in the hats I acquire. It will bring me good luck, protect me from the devil, give me social status, and, wow, if I get a fedora from Wingnut, I will also have some $$$.

Now we know where the idiom "a feather in his cap" came from.

karol

 

[PADDY]

Feathers still used in some regimental hats...

I served in the Royal Irish Rangers (now the Royal Irish Regiment) and we had a green plummage of feathers (called a hackle) over the left eye on our beret on top of the regimental crest/badge (beret was called an Irish caubeen).

Other British regiments still retain the feathered hackle, such as the Northumberland Fusiliers (which is red and white). I suppose there was an age when line regiments needed to be identified by the general staff on the hill at a glance!

Possibly some American infantry line regiments still retain this tradition from their sudo-British-colonial days. Other European forces certainly do.

 

[jamespowers]

Nah, I do not think we have battlefield troops with any type of brightly colored plumage. It tends to make one a very obvious target---especially from the hill. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Paddy --

Thanks for the info. I figured the wearing of specific feathers must still be around today. I got much of my information on Australia hats and feathers from this website

www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/slouch_hat.htm

Sorry for the long title there, but that was the whole thing, I hope.

There were lots of sites dealing with military hats and feathers.

It would be interesting to know, in the history of the fedora, why they used feathers. Perhaps for luck. Or maybe just to add a flair of color to men's hats -- all those grays and browns and dark colors, and, there is this bright little feather. Sort of like ties today with all the dark suits.

But, then, I think a fedora wearer is showing a bit of class, and the feather is there to make a statement about his/her social status in the world.

karol

 

[PADDY]

Irish feather in your cap..!

For those not familiar with the military (especially the British Army), the Irish feather (hackle) and caubeen (baggy beret) would only be worn on ceremonial duties or urban type peace keeping patrols (such as in Northern Ireland; Bosnia; Kosovo; Iraq..etc, as local conditions allow).

Bearing in mind that the British Army is the world's most experienced military force in counter terrorism and close quarter battle situations (built up urban fighting), they often choose to wear their regimental berets (and feathers!) in order to gain the support and confidence of local populations. Power to the feather chaps!! Most recently in Basra.

Otherwise, they haven't progressed to date to this 'tickly' fashion accessory on the side of their kevlar helmets.

So, if you fancy it, wear your plummage with pride gents!! It's what the best dressed chaps in Basra are sporting these days!!