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Matching hats with suits?

metropd

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I usually try to keep things simple and try to harmonize every part of the ensemble to complement each other and most of all my personality. BTW the hat is now Edward's hat.

31433_1378247929875_1042195995_1150.jpg
 

metropd

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Also given the right outfit, and right individual, I don't see how more formal hats are "costumey". Top hats and homburgs I think are the height of Elegance in terms of headgear, specifically top hats. Here is my homburg.
18056_341149210925_741585925_525854-1.jpg
 

Torpedo

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metropd said:
Also given the right outfit, and right individual, I don't see how more formal hats are "costumey". Top hats and homburgs I think are the height of Elegance in terms of headgear, specifically top hats. Here is my homburg.

Agreed. It is very much a question of attitude - confidence, essentially. And assembling the right outfit does no harm, neither! ;)

You have a nice homburg there - it looks taller than normally seen. Is that so?
 

BanjoMerlin

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New Hampshire, USA
metropd said:
Also given the right outfit, and right individual, I don't see how more formal hats are "costumey". Top hats and homburgs I think are the height of Elegance in terms of headgear, specifically top hats. Here is my homburg.

The basic difference between an outfit and a costume is the wearer. If your outfit is intended to make you look like someone you are not then it is a costume. Wear clothes that make you look like you. Most relatively intelligent people can sense the difference, even it they are not aware of the difference.

(The above excludes those who are attempting to make themselves memorable by dressing in some particularly outrageous manner intended to create an "image" from which they can earn a large income even though they cannot act, sing or play a musical instrument better than your average marmoset.)
 

metropd

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BanjoMerlin said:
The basic difference between an outfit and a costume is the wearer. If your outfit is intended to make you look like someone you are not then it is a costume. Wear clothes that make you look like you. Most relatively intelligent people can sense the difference, even it they are not aware of the difference.

I completely agree. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
 

metropd

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Back on topic , I find if you are going to wear a wider lapel, it usually helps to have a fuller crown in your hat.

Also if you have along neck, and a narrow face, and like wide brims, wearing a high widespread or cutaway collar helps balance the brim width with ones facial and body dimensions.
 

metropd

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Torpedo said:
Agreed. It is very much a question of attitude - confidence, essentially. And assembling the right outfit does no harm, neither! ;)

You have a nice homburg there - it looks taller than normally seen. Is that so?

Thank you. Maybe just a tad. The view is looking upward, I think that is mostly it. Its a Dunn and Co. from the 1920's.
 

metropd

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Also for those who have narrower faces, if your face is longer and/or have high cheekbones this allows you to wear wider brims and fuller, non tapered crowns than people with narrow faces that do not have those characteristics.

When you have a very full crown and a wider brim make sure the shoulders on your suit are not to narrow and angular that it offsets the fullness and width of ones hat.
 

metropd

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Raw edges tend to look wider in the same brim width than brims with a finished edge.(Bound, Cav, Welt) So if you are wearing a very wide lapel, a 2 1/2 or 2 3/8 raw edge will usually looks much better than a finished edge in that brim width. Also If you are wearing a meduim lapel on the skinner side a brim width of 2 5/8- 2 3/4 will many times look more balanced with the lapels if the brim width is bound or finished.
 

Mr Vim

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I'm looking at a blue grey fedora online right now, good price, good fit, I'm just not sure if I can mix that with anything I own, which is a few vintage sport coats in blue, one in a light tan. The light tan will work. But the blue?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained I suppose, but I'd like some folks opinion on it first.
 

Undertow

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Des Moines, IA, US
Mr Vim said:
I'm looking at a blue grey fedora online right now, good price, good fit, I'm just not sure if I can mix that with anything I own, which is a few vintage sport coats in blue, one in a light tan. The light tan will work. But the blue?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained I suppose, but I'd like some folks opinion on it first.

I think a blue gray fedora would be fine with a blue jacket. Pictures would help, but keep in mind that gray is a simple color that goes with nearly everything. It's like the Eggshell of living room paint. lol
 

danofarlington

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Mr Vim said:
I'm looking at a blue grey fedora online right now, good price, good fit, I'm just not sure if I can mix that with anything I own, which is a few vintage sport coats in blue, one in a light tan. The light tan will work. But the blue?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained I suppose, but I'd like some folks opinion on it first.
My experience with my charcoal gray Borsalino fedora is that it just does not go with a brown leather jacket, no way, the colors clash. The gray hat with a blue anything is fine. But I consider my gray hat the least versatile one I own, color-wise. It probably depends on the shade of gray. Maybe a light gray would match better with browns, but I personally am not convinced of it. I don't necessary endorse what others might select for themselves.
 

Torpedo

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Hi Vim,

Of course I am doing the combinations with my mental images of the colours you mention, which is not the same than looking at them side by side, but here is my opinion:

By blue grey I understand a medium, not too dark bluish grey. If so, it will go well with dark blues - navy, midnight. With lighter shades of blue, it may well not work.

On the contrary, I do not think it will combine well with tan. A blue grey is a cold colour, so not a good friend with tan.

You have more blue jackets than tan, so I say go for it. ;)
 

Mr Vim

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Torpedo, I was digging up that information when you posted, the sport coats I have are a royal blue and a greenish blue, not navy. So it looks like I'll be holding out for something else. Maybe brown? Or a lighter gray? What a shame.
 

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