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Tuxedo with a fedora?

Glitterbox

New in Town
Messages
5
Location
canada
Hi all, new to the board and blown away by all the sharp and swanky looking members on here....this might be a silly question to some of you but I am totally clueless about it but here goes...

Is wearing a tuxedo with a fedora acceptable or is it a fashion faux pas?

I saw a gentlemen wearing this combination on a old movie recently and thought it was kinda odd looking at first but soon warmed up to it..was this quite common back in the day?
 

Mulceber

Practically Family
Messages
753
Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan
I would tend to say no. If you're wearing a tux, the only hat that goes with it is a top hat or possibly a black bowler. Fedora's just don't go with tux's IMHO. But what do I know. -Mulceber
 

Hemingway Jones

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
6,099
Location
Acton, Massachusetts
I think it's OK and I have done it (as evidenced below), but generally a top hat or a homburg compliments a tuxedo better, though a nice black fedora can do the trick as well. Frank Sinatra wore a small black fedora with his tux in the 50s and 60s.


This was the only hat I had with me.
 

Zach R.

Practically Family
I think its okay if you are out and about in the weather or travelling, with a topcoat if you prefer, but I personally think that NO hat should be worn with a tuxedo when you are at your destination, whether it be an outdoor party or not.

Tails, however, are a different story.
 

epic610

One of the Regulars
Messages
299
Location
suburban philadelphia
standards have fallen so low....

today, that the fact you are wearing a tuxedo at all will validate any accessories you happen to be wearing with it. i agree, though, a black fedora would not exactly be classic, but perfectly acceptable in these contemporary times
 

ortega76

Practically Family
Messages
804
Location
South Suburbs, Chicago
epic610 said:
today, that the fact you are wearing a tuxedo at all will validate any accessories you happen to be wearing with it. i agree, though, a black fedora would not exactly be classic, but perfectly acceptable in these contemporary times

How about a tuxedo for a daytime wedding? That always kills me. Ah, well.

As for the hat question. I think we fedora wearers are all idiosyncratic enough) in relation to "modern" dress to be a little independent. I think a black fedora worn with a tuxedo (especially while out and about before/after the event) is acceptable. A homburg is preferable. A bowler? Could be good but I'm not a huge fan of them myself.
 

PADDY

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
7,425
Location
METROPOLIS OF EUROPA
Fedora & Tux photo

This was the Xmas one guys! Yep, that ol Devil May Care Cary Grant look!! Just doing it Irish style!

FedoraLoungeXmas005.jpg
 

Shaul-Ike Cohen

One Too Many
Messages
1,176
Location
.
Indoors, you could always wear a smoking cap, in the case of black or white tie, I'd recommend a solid black coloured velvet or raw silk one without a tassle.
 

Wolfmanjack

Practically Family
Messages
547
I do it

I wear a fedora with a tux in the cooler months, but the hat comes off immediately when I enter a home, restaurant, office, etc. Here is a photo from last winter (Please excuse the geeky pose):
JMSasHolden.jpg

This is my vain attempt at the William Holden look in Sunset Boulevard.
 

J. M. Stovall

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,152
Location
Historic Heights Houston, Tejas
This has been discussed before, and since then I've seen at least a half a dozen movies from the 40's showing a fedora with a tux. The hats usually look black, but it's a little hard to tell when the movie is black and white. There doesn't seem to be a historical problem wearing one.
 

Joseph Ciotti

New in Town
Messages
37
Location
Roanoke, VA
Nay.

I'm one not to wear a fedora with a tux... If you read through one of my posts, I'd only wear it with a necktie. But that's just me. But I pretty much wear my top hat with a or without a bowtie.
 

Bargepole

New in Town
Messages
42
English etiquette

In England a dinner jacket (tuxedo, or just "black tie" as it's usually called) is informal evening wear -- in theory at any rate. A bowler is inappropriate as it's a daytime (and originally a sporting) hat. A top hat is inappropriate since it's a formal hat. A black fedora, preferably with a reasonably wide brim, or a Homburg, are the only two choice really.

The "rules" as I see them (though there aren't any rule any more, of course) are:

TOP HAT: With morning or evening dress (white tie & tails).
BOWLER: With a dark lounge suit or with black coat and spongebag trousers during the daytime.
FEDORA, BLACK: With a dinner jacket unless you are an Orthodox Jew or wish to be mistaken for one, e.g. for shouting at teenagers in the street ("You should be ashamed" etc.)
FEDORA, OTHER: All other circumstances, plus also acceptable with a dark lounge suit.
HOMBURG: With a dark lounge suit.

This is not prescriptive but descriptive. It's what seems to happen, in other words. My favoured headgear, personally, is a guardsman's busby, worn with a whalebone leg and parachute. One must keep up standards.
 
Messages
73
Location
London, UK
I would tend to say no. If you're wearing a tux, the only hat that goes with it is a top hat or possibly a black bowler. Fedora's just don't go with tux's IMHO. But what do I know. -Mulceber
I don't know why people on this forum (with exception of bargepole and gentleman farmer) continue to say that a dinner jacket should go with a top hat. This is a faux pas! Top hats only go with tails (white-tie and morning coat). A black Fedora is perfectly acceptable for the occasion.
 

LeBois46

One of the Regulars
Messages
102
Location
Southern California
I don't know why people on this forum (with exception of bargepole and gentleman farmer) continue to say that a dinner jacket should go with a top hat. This is a faux pas! Top hats only go with tails (white-tie and morning coat). A black Fedora is perfectly acceptable for the occasion.
A black fedora would be okay. A dark homburg would be more formal I would think. I agree that the top hat would be out with a tuxedo.
 

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