Posted on 08/11/2010 11:46:39 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Old Rules Flummox Young Hipsters; 'I'm Wearing an $80 Fedora!'
Hector Ramirez sort of knows, from watching old movies, that men are supposed to take off their hats when indoors. But the 19-year-old Brown University student wears fedoras in class—with jeans—anyway.
"If I'm wearing a hat and it's part of my look, I don't think I should have to take it off," he says. On a recent trip to New York, an usher at a church had to remind him to take off his fedora. "I was wearing it all day and I guess I kind of just forgot I had it on."
Inspired by designer runway shows, celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and even, in some cases, old pictures of Frank Sinatra, more young men are going mad for hats. But the hat renaissance is creating a quandary for a generation of men and boys who grew up without learning hat-wearing etiquette from their fathers. Many are making up their own rules about when and where to take them off.
The trend may be old hat to hipsters in areas like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who started wearing fedoras, rounded derby hats and, in warmer weather, straw hats, more than two years ago. But now hats are starting to catch on among some men in suburbs, the Midwest and beyond. Gap and J. Crew say they have witnessed strong hat sales this spring and summer while department stores like Barneys New York have been expanding their assortments after years of general indifference to hats. Sales of designer-brand "blocked" hats such as fedoras and straw hats in particular "are definitely robust," says Jay Bell, a ...
It's a bittersweet turn of events for hatmakers, who witnessed their business fall off a cliff in the 1960s, when legions of men abandoned wearing hats.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
One of the worst things JFK did was kill off the men’s hat as a fashion accessory.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the return of grace and elegance in the form of Audrey Hepburn (especially after Emma Thompson railed against her recently).
I own a couple of panamas custom-made by Optimo in Chicago. One has a 4” brim and shades my eyes nicely in the bright Florida and Bahamas sunshine.
My grandfather wore hats. I like them.
Perfectly reasonable, and I wasn't raised in a barn. Hats help with glare and shading, and some men who are balding prefer to wear them indoors sometimes.
After all, in Japan it's customary to remove one's shoes when entering a house. In America, not so. Why should hats be any different?
Nothing shouts "I have premature male pattern baldness" as loudly as a 19 year old college student whining about having to take his hat off.
Only two of us wore hats - I was one the piper was the other.
My mother would not leave the house without wearing hat and gloves.
Changing times....
I love a good fedora, something straight out of a 1940s film. Sad to say, I look strange wearing it. I can’t put my finger on it, but either the hat or my head looks like it’s the wrong size. And yes, I’ve tried many different sizes with different size brims.
As a general rule, I don’t wear a hat.
I hate ballcaps, which is the only common hat out there.
I like the look of “real” hats - a tasteful narrow-brimmed fedora is something I’ve considered.
Finding a place to purchase one (other than online) is a real challenge.
But every time I think about buying one, I think about when I would actually wear it. Good hats aren’t cheap - it doesn’t make sense to buy one and not use it.
For my daily commute - about 10 feet walking from the house to the car, and then maybe 50 feet walking from my car to the office - it seldom makes sense to bother and if it’s raining enough for a hat, an umbrella (which I generally always have stashed in the car) is a better choice and takes up less space when not in use (and can shelter another person).
Of course, people who stand outside waiting for a train or bus, or those who are outside a lot during the course of their day probably have a real use for a hat. I’m seldom outside when not working on the house/yard/car and then a ballcap or other utilitarian hat makes more sense.
So I’m still hatless.
Unless they are in the military, gentlemen do not wear their hats indoors. But whatever floats your boat. Nothing wrong with balding men.
From biography of Bum Phillips
“...Although the cowboy hat is Phillips’ trademark, he never wore one when coaching a game indoors (such as when he coach the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome or the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome). When asked about this, Phillips replied he’d been taught that it was disrespectful to wear a hat indoors....”
Good enough for me....
As to the persons pictured on this thread, I must para-phrase a line from the movie footloose;
“
The sore where you bought that-do they sell them to straight guys ?”
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
You are absolutely right about that--for at least the next five years.
I would argue, however, that the current mainstream culture is unsustainable. The death of manners leads to a death of people caring about each other. A lot of people don't want to live that way.
At some point, enough people will start seeking out subgroups where some manners and respect are followed that the subgroups will start influencing mainstream culture.
Right now, the mainstream culture will beat up any subgroup that tried that. If a school told young men to wear suits and girls to wear dresses for graduation ceremonies, for example, it would bring a round of bad publicity and lawsuits. Even a clergy member who told people to dress and behave properly in his or her house of worship would probably get a lot of criticism.
But if enough people get sick of the death of manners, the subgroups might start standing up for one another. At that point, mainstream culture will change somewhat.
To begin, hat check stations have all but disappeared along with hat racks or even clothing hooks in restaurants and other semi-public places.
Second, you never want to sit anywhere your hat is out of immediate view. I know not why, but "things happen" to hats, especially expensive hats.
Three, the etiquette is all over the map. Watch old clips of Candid Camera and you will see, for example, men did NOT take off their hats in the Automat. (Remember the Automat?)
I have been admonished to remove my brimmed hat in a room filled with men wearing baseball caps. Apparently brimmed hat wearers are held to a higher standard of courtesy.
If a man aspires to wear a brimmed or fedora style hat in modern society he will need to be prepared to brave the slings and arrows of outrageous approbation of one sort or other everywhere he goes.
Overall, public opinion has never really bothered me.
Best regards,
“”If I’m wearing a hat and it’s part of my look, I don’t think I should have to take it off, . . . “
If it’s part of your look? What a narcissistic jerk.
That doesn't apply to veterans of course.
And nothing smarts worse than a sun burn to the top of the bare head where hair is no more or real thin :>} I started loosing the top of mine about 20 years ago. I wear one {cowboy style} and have for several years. I'm 53. It's functional in many ways including protecting a $5000 investment handing on the top of my ears from the elements.
I'll take it off in a church, court room, funeral, or and other such events of serious nature like the National Anthem etc. That's about it. I walk with a cane a lot of times so taking it off would tie up use of both hands. I don't see the fuss about when and where to wear a hat except in places like church, court, funeral. and a movie house for obvious common sense reasons that's about it.
On the other hand unless I go into stores I shop regular and know the clerks or whoever I'm doing business with I'll say yes mam and no mam in answering them. It's not how you look that matters so much in public as to how you treat others.
ugghhh... I’ve thought the same about folks I work with who are 40+ year olds wearing backwards baseball caps, in the office.
in a nutshell: dweebs.
“BTW, don’t salute unless you are covered: wearing a hat.
That doesn’t apply to veterans of course.”
It does if you are a Veteran Marine. Soldier, airman and sailor, not so much.
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