Snap Brim Definition?

[jh225]

When talking about Fedora's, what exactly is meant by the term "snap brim"?

 

[scomce]

As someone else who is new here, I'd like to know this too.....

 

[J.T.Marcus]

My understanding of "snap brim" is that the brim can be worn either turned up or down, and when you go from one to the other it "snaps" into place.

 

[Andykev]

I give this two snaps and a twist!

Snap brim. Well ...it is when those who look at your nice hat "snap" their fingers in appreciation!

No..it is a term where the front brim of the hat is "snapped" down to shade the eyes. Like the upturned brim in the back, the front is "snapped" down upon donning the hat. The hat is usually stored or placed with the brim upturned. When you don your lid, you "snap" the brim down in front.

Think BOGART in the Big Sleep. Snap. Cool.

 

[HamletJSD]

The hat is usually stored or placed with the brim upturned. When you don your lid, you "snap" the brim down in front.

Really? Do you snap it back up even to hang it at the end of each day?

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

But really, doesn't a snap brim limit the looks to either up in a fixed position or down in a fixed position? I think the common 30s look of a heavily turned-down brim isn't actually possible with that, is it? Even less so if you want it more to one side. You'd have to either draw it down there every time you put your hat on, or steam it into that.

 

[Andykev]

Yes

Really? Do you snap it back up even to hang it at the end of each day?

Yes. My hats, and yours too, should be stored properly with the brim "un-snapped" if you will. In the hat box, they are upside down, in the cardboard ring, with tissue and the piloform protector, lid on box, keep the moth away!

If you set your hat down on a table, then either set it upside down on the crown, or brim side down with the brim upturned all around. If not, and you set the hat down on a table with the brim snapped, it will pucker the shape of the brim. Some leave the hat snapped, but set the brim over the edge of a table so the weight of the hat doesn't spoil the shape of the hat brim.

I don't use hat racks or pegs, but I suppose this way you don't have to unsnap the brim. I worry about "peg marks" in the hat though.

 

[Doh!]

Andy, if one snaps their brim up and down often enough, isn't there the risk of wear-and-tear at the point where the brim meets the crown?

I only have one "high end" hat that's kept in a box, brim up. My others are lightly stacked, brim down so I don't have to worry about snapping them every time.

Inquiring minds...

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

the point where the brim meets the crown?

For a split second I thought why would you snap it up that extremely, but then I realised you might not mean the outer end of the brim touching the crown's upper half, after all.

 

[jh225]

Andy, if one snaps their brim up and down often enough, isn't there the risk of wear-and-tear at the point where the brim meets the crown?

I would think that the brim would wear at the pivot points where it snaps up and down, no?

Is there wire in the brim that allows for the snap? If so, wouldn't it eventually break if snapped too much?

 

[Feraud]

A brim being snapped up or down is seeing very little flex.
Compare that to the creased areas of a crown and you can picture how handling and pinching a crown can wear out the felt over time.

 

[Doh!]

For a split second I thought why would you snap it up that extremely, but then I realised you might not mean the outer end of the brim touching the crown's upper half, after all.

Now THAT would be a major snap -- and might require some sort of mechanical device!

 

[HamletJSD]

Thanks Andy ...
Believe it or not, this actually helped a lot with a problem I was having with my Panama. Central Florida summer afternoons tend to follow this daily pattern: 1) get up to 90-something degrees, then 2) have a rainstorm. It is so humid when I am out and about after one of those storms (streets and sidewalks literally steaming) that it becomes no different than wearing my panama in the rain, a no-no I am told.
I discovered that by the time I get home the brim is all flawampy ... hard to describe without a pic, but from the base of the crown the brim went down at a 45 angle all around (for about an inch) rather than straight out at a 90 ... this was beginning to bug me. After reading your post I thought I would try snapping the front up (being essentially wet by the time I get home, it was no problem). I let it dry like that and then snap it down ... and it looks new again!
I thought it was a little odd, but thanks again