Hi All, When I wear my Western and am out and about, I have touched my brim when greeting a lady. So I have a few questions ....... I recently started wearing my first fedora. Does one generally touch their brim in greeting a Lady (or gentleman for that matter) with a fedora, or is that just a Western hat thing? Do you ladies even like that? OK, ladies, do you touch your brim to the gentlemen when you are wearing a hat?
I've never read about it being a thing ladies did. For men, it relates to the military salute (I have a half-remembered memory that the salute developed aping the tipping of the hat rather than the other way around, but I' sure someone better versed can correct me here). I will occasionally do it as a greeting myself, though a considered bow of the head as a sideways angle comes more naturally to me.
I always forget and just give the dorky nod I always have. We have a whole thread on hat etiquette around here somewhere. That might be it over there under that table...
It wasn't customary for women to tip hats -- they were usually pinned in place anyway -- so there was no need to touch the brim in any kind of salute, assuming the hat being worn even had a brim. Women also weren't expected to remove their hats in church or when saluting the flag or even when eating in a restaurant. You better take it off at the movies though, or some jerk behind you will start kicking your seat. .
Ditto at baseball games. In 1942's "Woman of the Year," an oblivious large-hat-wearing Katherine Hepburn is called out several times by the men sitting behind her.