Full Brim vs. Stingy Brim

[monbla256]

Please consider what I'm up against. Let's be frank. As a black man, I'm trying to avoid the "gangster" look popularized in the video "Gangsta Party" with Snoop, Pac, and Dre. Then, think about all the non-stingy brims they call "pimp" hats on eBay. Thankfully, there are actual hat wearers like Ne-Yo and Mos Def in the hip-hop world as far as examples within the bounds of popular culture that I can look to in the current era.

So whichever I choose, I'm trying to avoid looking trendy with stingy brims, as well as avoid that other look. So I'm pretty much going for a classic look, one that perhaps hearkens back to the 60s and earlier. And while I see a few younger men on here, I see more 40s to 60s patrons of this board.

HH,
If that is you in your avitar, the size and style of hat you have on your head looks to work well on you! Having grown up in the 50s and gone to college in the late 60's thru 70's I'd have to say that was the pinacle of the "stingy" brim. I don't recall many new fedoras at that time which were not what we would call "stingy" today though they were "normal" back then. My father and men of his generation were wearing wider brims back then and we younger guys thought they were so "old fashioned" And remember Monk had a cool look going always Onward thru the fog

 

[HHCassius]

I think of 2" as perhaps a small brim, but not stingy. The hat Tom Landry wears I would consider a small brim, perhaps borderline, but definitely small. Back to the debate, though. The jazz musicians and hepcats. My diamond crown is a stingy brim, and you could say I wore it like the "clown" a few pages back, but it has its points. Of course, I even went deeper down the trendy rabbit hole when considering that Hayden Christensen wore a similar hat in Takers.

And yep, that's me in my avatar. Funny, I posted a pic in the same hat on FB from when I first got the hat, to which my freshman year roommate replied that I looked like a clown. So while others' opinions do matter, I still consider the source. Being from Philly, I'd hope he'd understand the need for proper headgear...

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

As we've been saying, though, it's up to your own style and face shape. Me I've found out that anything under 2" looks very bad on me. Tall crowns look bad on me, too. And I don't have any interest in straws. Wide brimmed, fur felts with tapered crowns look best on me.

Other's miles may vary, ya know?

 

[HHCassius]

If no straws, what do you do in the summer?

 

[monbla256]

Of course this whole discussion is moot as nowhere on this Forum nor in this thread has a definition as to what is a "stingy" brim is Is it 2" and under? Is it 1.5" and under? Is it 1.125" and under? 'till an agreed upon definition is declared it's totaly a subjective, personally defined thing Onward thru the fog

 

[monbla256]

If no straws, what do you do in the summer?

He sweats

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

He sweats

LOL. Yeah, I just don't like the whole idea of a straw. I wear fur-felts all year long. Just used to cowboy hats and the like, I guess. Never liked straw cowboy hats either. Not that I think they are bad or wrong for anyone else, it's just that they don't strike my fancy is all. Maybe I'll pick one up just to try it... but I just don't really have an interest in them.

 

[GWD]

[
As noted earlier, Dguy, you are an acknowledged "stingy master." That style fits your face incredibly well, but you also have some incredible stingies.

I should have also included GWD in the stingy master category as well. I think this one looks great! GWD, what hat is this one?

It's a Forest Green Knox Premier that I no longer own.

 

[HHCassius]

LOL. Yeah, I just don't like the whole idea of a straw. I wear fur-felts all year long. Just used to cowboy hats and the like, I guess. Never liked straw cowboy hats either. Not that I think they are bad or wrong for anyone else, it's just that they don't strike my fancy is all. Maybe I'll pick one up just to try it... but I just don't really have an interest in them.

Perhaps something for a different thread, but if you're wearing a hat, and you're sweating because you're wearing the hat, should you not be wearing the hat?

 

[monbla256]

LOL. Yeah, I just don't like the whole idea of a straw. I wear fur-felts all year long. Just used to cowboy hats and the like, I guess. Never liked straw cowboy hats either. Not that I think they are bad or wrong for anyone else, it's just that they don't strike my fancy is all. Maybe I'll pick one up just to try it... but I just don't really have an interest in them.

I understand but would you order some Montecristi Panama's from PB so that I can wear them FOR YOU this summer ? My favorites really are Panamas

 

[HHCassius]

Also, in some circles and certain materials / colors / styles of fedoras, wider-brimmed hats would/could be considered more flashy. For example, my wife's BFF's husband authentically pulled off a nice Panama when we vacationed in Cancun last year. But he has a more outgoing, to put it lightly, personality than me. When I say authentically pull off, I mean without necessarily seeming as though he's trying too hard. I think it fits him.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

I understand but would you order some Montecristi Panama's from PB so that I can wear them FOR YOU this summer ? My favorites really are Panamas

LOL. Wish I could help you out, there!!! My wife is already getting mad as a wet hen with the hats I've gotten in the last few months and there are 3 more coming that she doesn't know about yet!

At this point I'll be wearing a frying pan as much as my fedoras.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Also, in some circles and certain materials / colors / styles of fedoras, wider-brimmed hats would/could be considered more flashy. For example, my wife's BFF's husband authentically pulled off a nice Panama when we vacationed in Cancun last year. .

I was in Cancun a few weeks ago and I took my 4X silverbelly Stetson Open Road that I had Option put a black ribbon on. It worked fine for me (I hope).

 

[monbla256]

Make sure it's an aluminum one as opposed to a cast iron one. They conform to your head better

 

[Michaelshane]

I was in Cancun a few weeks ago and I took my 4X silverbelly Stetson Open Road that I had Option put a black ribbon on. It worked fine for me (I hope).

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[Mobile Vulgus]

Well, I think it worked...

 

[Widebrim]

Well, I think it worked...

I would agree, MV...

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Thank you, sir.

 

[danofarlington]

Well, I think it worked...

Very nice. I'll have to try that configuation myself sometime with a vintage OR to be bought for the purpose.

 

[DRB]

Scottyrocks and TheGood, I have to agree with you.

Alex, that hat looks great on you. You have the more vintage styled brim with a more contemporary crown.

2 1/8 inches works for me. I consider stingy 2 inches or below.

D'guy has a wonderful collection of stingy hats from Art and he wears them well. I doubt he (as well as I) are trying to convey a "Vintage" look, but rather, have found a brim width that we feel comfortable wearing. As some have pointed out, stingys have been around for a very long time and the current trend among the younger generation seems to be shorter brims. When I have a hat built, it is what makes me feel like I look best in, not because it's got to have that Vintage look.

If I wear a wide brimmed hat, I stand out in a crowd like a sore thumb. When I dress I attempt to dress with a little flare/style but not stand out too conspicuously. I have only one wide brimmed hat that is 2 1/2 inches on the sides and 2 3/4 inches on the front and back. That is my hiking hat.

For the street, blending in, but showing flare really works best for me. I love walking in a crowd and see people look at me wearing a nice fedora. I get more smiles and politeness shown toward me than when I wore no hat at all.

As someone here said: "It's a personal thing" (meaning choice).