The Rakish Angle

[Wild Root]

So you wear your hat like a G-Man eh? Well, you may be surprised but, some of the photos I've seen from the 30's and 40's of G-Men they've got they're lids to one side a little for that touch of personality. Try it out, take a few photos and see what you think... couldn't hurt! I find I scare people if I wear my hats straight on... puts fear into people for some reasonlol I'm just a happy go lucky guy with a song in his heart from the 40's. I walk on the sunny side of the street!

=WR=

PS. Marc has 10 now but, just give him a few weeks, he'll have 3 soon.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Hey! I just BOUGHT a new one! (Even if it is an extreme "fixer-upper".)

 

[Wild Root]

Hahaha... I knew I'd get a rise out of ya buddy!lol

=WR=

 

[Hemingway Jones]

So you wear your hat like a G-Man eh? Well, you may be surprised but, some of the photos I've seen from the 30's and 40's of G-Men they've got they're lids to one side a little for that touch of personality...
=WR=

Have you ever seen G-Men wearing boaters as in "The Sting?"

Perhaps, I will try that.
You see, I am very level headed. Level head; level hat!

Is there a post somewhere about "How you wear your hat?" If not, there should be.

 

[jake_fink]

You see, I am very level headed. Level head; level hat!

lol

What does that say about people who wear high crowns, or wide brims?
Stingy brim is self explanatory.

 

[Wild Root]

Have you ever seen G-Men wearing boaters as in "The Sting?"

Perhaps, I will try that.
You see, I am very level headed. Level head; level hat!

Is there a post somewhere about "How you wear your hat?" If not, there should be.

Are you insinuating that I'm not level headed? I don't use "The Sting" as a reference for head wear... a film from 1975-6... yeah, wasn't period correct in many ways. All about original photos for reference; can't beat it!

Give it a shot; I can totally see you rocking it! You seem like a guy who could pull it off if you try, you may just like it as well! A rakish tilt in a hat says the man has Moxy! ... you want Moxy... Moxy... good!

=WR=

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Have you ever seen G-Men wearing boaters as in "The Sting?"

Perhaps, I will try that.
You see, I am very level headed. Level head; level hat!

Is there a post somewhere about "How you wear your hat?" If not, there should be.

Melvin Purvis wore them.

Scroll down to the photo of him and J. Edgar Hoover. (Even Hoover tilted his hat)

http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/floyd/8.html

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Wearing a hat straight across seems very American to me, and can work as a vintage look I bet. I personally prefer the jaunty look of a hat worn at a tilt though. In WW2 you could pretty clearly see each country's hat preferences, however. Americans seemed to prefer the hat worn more straigh across, Europeans prefered it more angled. For instance, look at these two photos.

 

[John in Covina]

One thing that is striking is that the arrogant confidance seen in the Nazi military often seem to capture a sense of true gangsterism.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Maybe that is more that one guy than a general trend. This guy for instance looks more like a schoolboy than a gangster.

 

[Viola]

I never realized until just now how many Hollywood adaptations of the Nazi uniform I've seen on villains. They did ruin the cool evil look for everyone, didn't they?:eusa_doh:

I just had a visceral reaction to a picture of a guy.

I wonder how long they spent developing the look. Does that make me weird?

 

[John in Covina]

Maybe that is more that one guy than a general trend. This guy for instance looks more like a schoolboy than a gangster.

As a member of the SS, he was no school boy. To bad we can't see his cuff titles, he has a tankers badge.

No it is a general trend with the arrogant ones, and while they were winning they all were very arrogant.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Nope.

I never realized until just now how many Hollywood adaptations of the Nazi uniform I've seen on villains. They did ruin the cool evil look for everyone, didn't they?:eusa_doh:

I just had a visceral reaction to a picture of a guy.

I wonder how long they spent developing the look. Does that make me weird?

You're not weird. Hitler knew instinctively and even made mention of it at least once that the uniform made the soldier. The German people in the 1930's were very succeptable to such a psychological trick. A cool looking uniform would garner respect, and conversely, an ill-fitting, dorky looking uniform would have the opposite effect.

( I think my hat's on straight,....I hope.)

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

As a member of the SS, he was no school boy. To bad we can't see his cuff titles, he has a tankers badge.

No it is a general trend with the arrogant ones, and while they were winning they all were very arrogant.

You can tell by his collar insignia that he was a member of 3rd SS division "Totenkopf," so I bet that is what his cuff title would say. From the looks of it he must have been a pretty heroic fighter (probably on the eastern front) since he has won the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class plus the Knight's Cross, a close combat clasp, a silver wound badge and a tank assault badge in bronze.

The Germans certainly best understood the psychology of military uniforms better than pretty much any other nation (except perhaps the USSR.) For example, that soldier in the picture is wearing a field uniform, not a dress uniform. German soldiers wore all those decorations in the field, whereas US soldiers did not. The sight of your sergeant wearing a Knight's Cross probably instilled a lot of confidence in you and your comrades. The United States really never has gotten military uniforms right, except for a brief period around WW1.

But to get this thread back on track, I agree we need to see Hemingway in a picture with his hat at an angle. I swear, once you start wearing hats that way you never go back!

 

[Wild Root]

Wearing a hat straight across seems very American to me, and can work as a vintage look I bet. I personally prefer the jaunty look of a hat worn at a tilt though. In WW2 you could pretty clearly see each country's hat preferences, however. Americans seemed to prefer the hat worn more straigh across, Europeans prefered it more angled. For instance, look at these two photos.

Aaaaaah Baloney! Vlad ol' friend,obviously you're not thinking tonight! Every man's fedora is cocked to the side in all the 30's American movies you love! And the ladies hats are too! One photo of an American Airman and you think every American wore his hat straight. That's a riot! If you've seen half the old American photos of Sailors and other service men as I have... what you said would make you laugh too! Do a little more research bud!

Vlad, I love ya man, I really do but, I can't believe it, I just can't! That made me laugh SO HARD!!!

=WR=

Now, See why? The German's copied the US! So did the rest of Europe!

Now, see..... wouldn't you agree that any hat should be worn like that? It just looks cool!

 

[Wild Root]

Oh, and by the way.... We're WAY fftopic: I know, I kind of started it but, soon as the German WWII stuff came up I had to put on the brakes! Not because of the German WWII but, this thread is so not about it! Talk about a royal side track!!!lol lol lol

Back to the main line we go kids! WWII Photos are grand but, we have a room for them.

=WR=

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Wow! This went in a weird direction! But there is a lot of interesting information in here.
I have learned a few things:
1. G-Men did indeed wear skimmers and not just in "The Sting," as I had thought.
2. Wearing your hat tilted is rakishly handsome, but may also hint at gangsterism and thuggery.
3. The Nazis had cooler uniforms. Thanks to Hugo Boss. How they are still in business, I will never know.
4.Sometimes the guys with the cooler uniforms still loose, see "Star Wars."

 

[BellyTank]

Hugo Boss, not really...

Still fftopic: but now I want to see HJ in an HJ uniform, after seeing all these SS boys...


It wasn't quite the Hugo Boss that we know today, who was responsible for the german uniforms... not quite, although there is a connection.

The WW2 German uniforms were a pretty logical progression in style and tradition from earlier incarnations of German military dress.

B
T

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Still fftopic: but now I want to see HJ in an HJ uniform, after seeing all these SS boys...

It wasn't quite the Hugo Boss that we know today, who was responsible for the german uniforms... not quite, although there is a connection.

The WW2 German uniforms were a pretty logical progression in style and tradition from earlier incarnations of German military dress.

B
T

It must be said that the Germans had the snazziest uniforms, though you will never see this fellow wearing one.
If we were to hold a grudge against every German company we would be without a whole range of German brands from Mercedes to Volkswagen to Krupp. But clothes are a bit more intimate. So it surprises me how few people know about Boss' involvement in designing Nazi wear.

 

[Briscoeteque]

It must be said that the Germans had the snazziest uniforms, though you will never see this fellow wearing one.
If we were to hold a grudge against every German company we would be without a whole range of German brands from Mercedes to Volkswagen to Krupp. But clothes are a bit more intimate. So it surprises me how few people know about Boss' involvement in designing Nazi wear.

Well, I don't buy German cars or guns in addition to suits. Something I do, but something I don't expect others to do.

I think the Soviets had the nicest army uniforms by far, still wouldn't be wearing one.
http://www.sovietarmy.com/uniforms/index.html