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Fedora

Fedoras in Early American Society

A large crowd of people wearing hat styles ranging from the fedora to the bowler.

During the early twentieth century, a hat was a staple of men’s fashion and would be worn in almost all public places. However, as a social custom and common courtesy, men would remove their hats when at home or when engaged in conversation with women. In addition, the ability to own a hat was culturally considered a sign of wealth due to fashion being recognized as a “status symbol.” Only those with few economic resources would venture the streets without a hat. The introduction of a new line of felt hats made from nutria, which is an animal similar to the beaver, helped establish the fedora as a durable product. Prices, in the first decade of the twentieth century, for a nutria fedora ranged from ninety-eight cents to two dollars and twenty-five cents.Starting in the 1920s, fedoras began to rise in popularity after the Prince of Wales adopted the felt hat as his favored headwear. As a result, “the soft felt hat replaced the stiff hat as the best seller in the decade.” The fedora soon took its place as a choice hat and joined other popular styles that included the derby, homburg, and panama.

In America during the 1940s, the brims of fedoras started to increase in width, while the British maintained a slightly smaller brim size. The colors of fedoras traditionally included shades of black, brown, and gray. However, this palette would grow at the onset of the second world war to include military themed colors such as khaki, blue, and green. One of the most prominent companies to sell fedoras was the department store, Sears, Roebuck and Company. In addition, famous hat manufactures which still exist today include Bailey, Borsalino, and Stetson.

Women and the Fedora

In the 1880s, French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt popularized the fedora for the female audience. It soon became a common fashion accessory for many women, especially among activists fighting for gender equality during the late nineteenth century. The fedora was eventually adopted as a defining symbol of the women’s rights movement. It would not be until 1924 when, in Britain, the fashion minded Prince Edward started wearing the felt hat. This event shifted the popularity of the fedora over to men’s fashion, making the hat one of the few androgynous clothing pieces.

To this day, fedoras continue to be worn by women, however, not quite to the same extent as they once were in the early twentieth century. Women’s fedoras vary in form, texture, and color. In addition, these fedoras come in almost every color from basic black to bright red and even in the occasional animal print. Along with men’s felt hats, women’s fedoras are making a comeback in current fashion trends. Baseball caps, which have in recent years been the staple of headwear, are currently experiencing a decline in popularity amidst this “fedora renaissance.”

In Film Noir

Humphrey Bogart wearing a fedora in the film Casablanca.

The fedora has become a defining characteristic of film noir when examined from a fashion standpoint. Film noir which is often defined by its innovative camera techniques, gritty stories, and femme fatales has also come to include fashion as a part of the genre. The fedora has been the chosen accessory of movie detectives and criminals alike. One of the most notable actors to wear a wide-brimmed fedora hat was Humphrey Bogart in his portrayal of Sam Spade in “The Maltese Falcon.” In this film, the character Sam Spade owns and wears several fedoras. Ula Lukszo states that audiences can gain insight into, “main characters via their clothing.” Therefore, modern films have a tendency to focus on fedoras in order to create a connection to this specific genre. Further, it has gained an association with Hollywood's image of the 1940s and is a prominent clothing accessory in modern films set within this historical time period.

In the late 1970s, Billy Wilder wrote the screenplay for and directed the film, "Fedora." The title of the film takes its name from the female lead played by Marthe Keller. In addition, fedoras are a strong theme throughout the picture. The title also pays homage to the iconic accessory commonly worn in Noir films from the 1940s and ’50s. Billy Wilder also participated in directing films such as “Sunset Boulevard” and “Some Like it Hot” in the era of Hollywood’s golden age. As a result, most of Wilder’s work features fedoras prominently in promotional materials as well as in the finished films.

Gangsters and Jazz

Fedoras were an important accessory in the zoot suit ensemble which emerged onto the American fashion scene during the 1940s. Zoot suits were mainly associated with Mexican and African Americans and were largely worn in segregated minority communities. As a result, this style soon spread to local jazz musician who adopted this look and brought it their audiences. In addition, well-known gangsters such as Al Capone, Charles Luciano, and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel used the fedora to create a “tough guy” image. The association of the fedora with the zoot suit and gangster culture has caused the general public to view it according to this limited connotation.

Making a Comeback

Johnny Depp wearing a rustic fedora.

Michael Jackson wearing a white fedora on stage.

In recent years, the fedora has made a reappearance in the fashion world along with other types of classic hats such as the porkpie and the homburg. According to H. Lee Murphy, fedoras are a bold new fashion statement, but still maintain a certain amount of nostalgia. Murphy credits celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Justin Timberlake for the new wave of fedoras. "Blacklist", television show character, Raymond Reddington often sports fedoras. In addition, the fedora has appeared in recent portrayals of movies and television shows, set in the past, such as "Shutter Island" (2010), "Boardwalk Empire" (2010), and "Mad Men" (2007). Michael Jackson also frequently wore a fedora while performing on stage and Harrison Ford used a wide-brimmed brown fedora in the Indiana Jones series.

Make and Form

A hat making factory in the 1940s.

Fedoras are usually made by pressing a piece of felt over a mold, and using some kind of heat or sealant to help the felt keep its shape. In the past, molds were created by using a series of wooden blocks to create the shape of the hat, and the felt was pressed on with an iron. The current method is to use metal molds and machinery to create enough pressure to form the shape of the hat. After the general shape of the hat has been achieved, the hat maker's attach some sort of decoration, usually a ribbon, between the brim and the crown of the hat. The brim is either left raw, or hemmed. The fedora is considered a “soft hat,” which means that it is usually constructed from felt, fur, or animal hides. There are variations from hat to hat, but the standard design includes a creased crown, angled brim, a pinch at the top of the hat, and some sort of decoration above the brim of the hat. Men’s fedoras especially tend to have stylized brims with edges that are turned up in the front and down in the back. As mentioned earlier, the width of the brim, overall size and color of the hats are  subject to change with fashion trends. Women’s hats also tend to have more elaborate decorations and slimmer designs.

Stetson Hat Company.

Because of the soft nature of the hat, many variations are possible with Fedoras. One variation of the hat includes the Stetson playboy hat which was popular in the 1940’s. The Stetson playboy hat involved a marketing success story, with a simple variation on the general form of the fedora becoming a huge hat trend in America. Al Capone was very fond of the playboy style. Many famous pictures of Capone depict him sporting a Stetson playboy hat.

Contemporary takes on the Fedora include a-symmetrical brims, bright colors, eccentric patterns, and flashy decorations. Some fedoras are now made from straw, and other unconventional materials. However, despite the increase of artistic hats, the most commonly worn fedoras are still neutral colored, with simple shape and design.

How to Wear a Fedora

Fedoras are worn by both men and women. Fedoras are considered a classy accessory, and as such, they are generally worn with a suit, or professional attire. Because the fedora is so tied into historic fashion trends, many choose to wear it with other classic clothing such as oxfords and tailored suits. Others choose to use the fedora to create a new look. The hipster fad in 2014 embraced the fedora, and the hat once again became a common accessory associated with the look. Because the hat has lost its status as a symbol of class standing, many decide to swap out the warm felt of the fedora for something cooler, like a straw hat during the summer months. Fedoras are not generally worn indoors, as they are considered an outdoor accessory.