A fedora () is a
hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
with a soft brim and indented crown.
[Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company.] It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides. Fedoras can also be creased with teardrop crowns, diamond crowns, center dents, and others, and the positioning of pinches can vary. The typical crown height is . The term ''fedora'' was in use as early as 1891. Its popularity soared, and eventually it eclipsed the similar-looking
homburg.
Despite falling out of fashion with other formal mens hats during the 1960s, the hat has seen some resurgence during the 21st century amongst men and women alike, through its current use is generally less associated with formal dress.
The fedora hat's brim is usually around wide, but can be wider,
can be left raw-edged (left as cut), finished with a sewn overwelt or underwelt, or bound with a trim-ribbon. ''Stitched edge'' means that there is one or more rows of stitching radiating inward toward the crown. The
Cavanagh edge is a welted edge with invisible stitching to hold it in place and is a very expensive treatment that requires a highly-skilled craftsman.
[''The Hatted Professor: the Cavanagh Edge''](_blank)
Retrieved 10.16.2024. Fedora hats are not to be confused with small brimmed hats called
trilbies.
[''When a Fedora That Isn't a Fedora Is a Fedora''](_blank)
Retrieved 03-09-2017.
Fedoras can be made of
wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
,
cashmere,
rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
or
beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
felt
Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...
. These felts can also be blended to each other with
mink
Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
or
chinchilla
Chinchilla refers to either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "her ...
and rarely with
vicuña
The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...
,
guanaco
The guanaco ( ; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations.
Etymology
The gua ...
, cervelt, or
mohair
Mohair (pronounced ) originated from the Arabic word �هيرand it is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat (not Angora wool from the fur of the Angora rabbit). Both durable and resilient, mohair is lustrous with high shee ...
. They can also be made of
straw
Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...
, cotton, waxed or oiled
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
,
hemp
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...
,
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...
, or leather.
A special variation is the rollable, foldaway or crushable fedora (rollable and crushable are not the same) with a certain or open crown (open-crown fedoras can be bashed and shaped in many variations). Special fedoras have a ventilated crown with
grommet
Curtain grommets, used among others in shower curtains
A grommet is a ring or edge strip inserted into a hole through thin material, typically a sheet of textile fabric, sheet metal or composite of carbon fiber, wood or honeycomb. Grommets are ...
s,
mesh
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a comprehensive controlled vocabulary for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. It serves as a thesaurus of index terms that facilitates searching. Created and updated by th ...
inlets, or other penetrations for a better air circulation. Fedoras can be lined or unlined and have a leather, cloth, or
ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...
sweatband. Small feathers are sometimes added as decoration. Fedoras can be equipped with a chinstrap, but this is uncommon.
History
The term ''fedora'' was in use as early as 1891. Its popularity soared, and eventually it eclipsed the similar-looking
homburg.
The word ''fedora'' comes from the title of an 1882 play by dramatist
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-c ...
, ''
Fédora
''Fédora'' is a play by the French author Victorien Sardou. It opened at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on 11 December 1882,Noël, Edouard and Philippe StoulligLes Annales du théâtre et de la musique, 1882 p. 245 and ran for 135 perfor ...
,'' which was written for
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...
. The play was first performed in the United States in 1889. Bernhardt played Princess Fédora Romazoff, the heroine of the play. During the play, Bernhardta noted
cross-dresser
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...
wore a center-creased, soft brimmed hat. The hat was fashionable for women, and the women's rights movement adopted it as a symbol.
After
Edward, Prince of Wales (later the Duke of Windsor) started to wear them in 1924, it became popular among men for its stylishness and its ability to protect the wearer's head from the wind and weather.
Since the early part of the 20th century, many
Haredi
Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...
and other
Orthodox Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s have made black fedoras normal to their daily wear.
Fedoras in early American society
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 out without a hat.
The introduction of a new line of felt hats made from
nutria
The nutria () or coypu () (''Myocastor coypus'') is a herbivore, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America.
Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' has since been included within Echimy ...
, 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
Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
and the
homburg.
A notable trend that emerged during the rise in popularity of the fedora was to invert the lid of the hat itself and cut jagged edges across the brim. This style of hat would eventually be called a
whoopee cap
A whoopee cap is a style of headwear popular among youths in the mid-20th century in the United States. It was often made from a man's felt fedora hat with the brim trimmed with a scalloped cut and turned up. Often, children wearing the cap would ...
, and became a popular alternative to the more formal fedora for mechanics and children of the era.

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
Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
. In addition, famous hat manufacturers which still exist today include Bailey,
Borsalino, and
Stetson
Stetson is an American brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, particularly in Scouting.
John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous ...
.
Women and fedoras
In the 1880s, long before the fedora became popular for men, French stage actress
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...
popularized the fedora for a female wearer.
In the play ''
Fédora
''Fédora'' is a play by the French author Victorien Sardou. It opened at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on 11 December 1882,Noël, Edouard and Philippe StoulligLes Annales du théâtre et de la musique, 1882 p. 245 and ran for 135 perfor ...
'' by the French author
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-c ...
, Bernhardt played Princess Fédora Romazoff. It soon became a common
fashion accessory
In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individua ...
for many women, particularly among activists campaigning for
gender equality during the late nineteenth century. The fedora was eventually adopted as a defining symbol of the women's rights movement.
Fedoras continue to be worn by women, but not quite to the same extent as 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 were described as making a comeback in an article about 2007 fashion trends. Baseball caps, which had been the staple of headwear, were experiencing a decline in popularity amidst this "fedora renaissance".
Make and form

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 makers 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 down in the front and up 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.
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 common in the 1940s. The Stetson playboy hat involved a marketing success story, with a simple variation on the general form of the fedora becoming a significant trend in America.
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
was fond of the playboy style. Many pictures of Capone depict him sporting a Stetson playboy hat.
Contemporary takes on the fedora include asymmetrical 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.
In popular culture
Coach
Tom Landry
Thomas Wade Landry ( ; September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football coach, player, and World War II veteran. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he was the first head coach of the Dallas ...
wore the hat while he was the head coach of the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
(1960 to 1988). It would later become his trademark image. A
cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...
dedicated to Landry with a depiction of his fedora was placed in the official
Texas State Cemetery
The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, downtown Austin, Texas, Austin, the Capital (political), capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revo ...
in
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
at the family's request. In addition the Cowboys wore a patch on their uniforms during the 2000 season depicting Landry's fedora. His panel in the Cowboys "Ring of Honor" features a depiction of a fedora where a uniform number is shown for players.
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
re-popularized the fedora in the ''
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
'' franchise. The backstory of how he obtains the hat is told in the prologue of ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...
'', the third film of the series, and the character who gives him the hat is credited as "Fedora".
The character
Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a ...
, from the
''Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise, also wears a brown fedora.
The fedora hat of the ninth president of Turkey,
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...
, was a famous part of the president's image.
Ice hockey coaches often wore one, most notably coaches
Punch Imlach
George "Punch" Imlach (March 15, 1918 – December 1, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager best known for his association with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and t ...
,
Toe Blake
Joseph Hector "Toe" Blake (August 21, 1912 – May 17, 1995) was a Canadian ice hockey Player (game), player and Coach (ice hockey), coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Blake played in the NHL from 1935 to 1948 with the Montreal Maroons a ...
,
Billy Reay
William Tulip Reay (August 21, 1918 – September 23, 2004) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Reay played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1943 to 1953, winning two Stanley Cups. He then coached from 19 ...
, and
Murray Armstrong.
In the 21st century, the fedora has made a reappearance in the fashion world along with other types of classic hats such as the porkpie and the homburg. In addition, the fedora has appeared in recent portrayals of movies and television shows that are set in the past, such as ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
'' (2007–15), ''
Shutter Island'' (2010), and ''
Boardwalk Empire
''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...
'' (2010–14).
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
also frequently wore a fedora while performing on stage.
By the early 21st century, the fedora had become a symbol of
hipsters.
''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' has referred to the early 2000s as a "fedora
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
", with celebrities like
Johnny Depp
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...
and
Peter Doherty wearing the hat. By 2016, the term "fedora" became derisively associated with
neckbeard and
incel
Incel ( ; a portmanteau of "involuntary celibate") is a term associated with an online subculture of mostly male and heterosexual people who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. They ofte ...
stereotypes in online culture, with Vice stating "fedoras may be the single most-hated fashion accessory money can buy", despite the fact that the hat in question is nearly always a
trilby
A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in UK, BritainBernhard Roetzel, Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. B ...
rather than a fedora. A popular meme featuring actor
Jerry Messing
Jerry Messing is an American actor. He is known for a recurring role in the TV program ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000).
Career
Messing played Pugsley Addams in the 1998 film ''Addams Family Reunion'', and had a reoccurring role on the shor ...
tipping a trilby with the dialogue of "M'lady" is often associated with such spoofs of incel culture. A 2016 issue of ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' depicts
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
villain
Mole Man
The Mole Man (Harvey Rupert Elder) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is depicted as a recurring foe of the Fantastic Four and was the first villain they ever faced. His schemes usually consist of ...
reenacting the "M'lady" meme on the cover.
In film noir

The fedora was worn by film actors such as
Edward G. Robinson,
George Raft
George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...
and
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...
. The fedora was a characteristic of
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
and has been the chosen accessory of movie detectives and criminals alike. It was worn by Bogart as Sam Spade in ''
The Maltese Falcon'' (1941) and Philip Marlowe in ''
The Big Sleep'' (1946). Peter Eliopoulos wrote in ''The 1930s: The Reality and the Promise'': "The popular Bogart-styled fedora was worn slightly cocked, it was pulled down just above the eye line, so that the wearer peeked beneath the brim and through the cigarette smoke that gathered momentarily before curling itself around the top of the hat."
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...
wrote and directed the film ''
Fedora
A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...
'' (1978), which takes its title from the female lead character played by
Marthe Keller. In addition, fedoras are a strong theme throughout the picture. Most of Wilder's films feature fedoras prominently in promotional materials as well as in the finished films.
Gangsters and jazz

Fedoras were much associated with
gangster
A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...
s during
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
era in the United States, a connection coinciding with the height of the hat's popularity between the 1920s and the early 1950s.
In the second half of the 1950s, the fedora fell out of favor in a shift towards more informal clothing styles.
In addition, well-known gangsters such as
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
,
Charles Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...
, and
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (; February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was influential within the Jewish Mob, along with his childhood friend and fel ...
used the fedora to create a "tough guy" image.
Fedoras were an important accessory to the
zoot suit
A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit) is a men's Suit (clothing), suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, wikt:pegged pants, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its ...
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 musicians who adopted this look and brought it to their audiences.
In the
movie of the same name, the Blues Brothers (who are
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
musicians rather than jazzmen) wear black scant-brim fedoras as part of their black suit "uniform".
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.
Michael Jackson
American singer-songwriter
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
wore fedoras during his iconic performances including
Billie Jean
"Billie Jean" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 3, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produ ...
, "
Smooth Criminal",
"
Dangerous" and "
You Rock My World
"You Rock My World" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his tenth and final studio album, '' Invincible'' (2001). It was released as the lead single from the album on August 22, 2001, by Epic Records.
"You Rock My World" peaked at ...
". Moreover, he wore fedoras during his public appearances for
fashion
Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
aesthetics
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...
and covering of his
scalded head as a result of combined effects of
lupus
Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...
and the
Pepsi incident in 1984. The fedora quickly became his style in the global outreach and people still attribute the hat to him worldwide.
TV
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
wore records when playing the
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from ...
in the
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
''.
In religious communities
Orthodox Jews
Devout
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
men fulfil their
religious obligation of head-covering with the hats similar to the fedora, a
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
-invented headgear.
Lithuanian students in the first half of 20th century wore light hats during prayer and sometimes even while studying, as evident in a rare footage of the
Ponevezh Yeshiva and a photo of the
Lomza Yeshiva
The Lomza Yeshiva () was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Łomża, Poland, founded by Rabbi Eliezer Bentzion Shulevitz in 1883. Rabbi Yechiel Mordechai Gordon served as the yeshiva's rosh yeshiva for many years, and Rabbi Moshe Rosenstain served as t ...
, both in Eastern Europe. Both the footage and the photo show students studying in their hats. Hasidic Jews wore black hats, albeit not fedoras, and in the later half of the 20th century, non-Hasidic (Lithuanian style) students began to wear black fedoras (or dark blue or gray). Today, many students and Orthodox men wear black fedoras for prayer and many even while walking outside.
See also
*
Boss of the Plains
The Boss of the Plains was a lightweight all-weather hat designed in 1865 by John Batterson Stetson, John B. Stetson for the demands of the American West. It was intended to be durable, waterproof and elegant. The term "Stetson" eventually becam ...
*
Cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
*
Herbert Johnson
*
Homburg hat
A homburg is a semi-formal hat of fur felt, characterized by a single dent running down the centre of the crown (called a "gutter crown"), a wide silk grosgrain hatband ribbon, a flat brim shaped in a "pencil curl", and a ribbon-bound trim abo ...
*
List of hat styles
Hats have been common throughout the history of humanity, present on some of the very earliest preserved human bodies and art. Below is a list of various kinds of contemporary or traditional hat.
List
See also
*List of headgear
References
...
*
List of headgear
Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for religious or cultural reasons, including social conventions. This is a list of headgear, both modern and historical.
Hats
File:Akubra-style hat.j ...
*
Pork pie hat
A pork pie hat is one of several different styles of hat that have been worn since the mid-19th century. The pork pie hat gained further popularity in the 20th century, being worn by famous actors and musicians. This style of hat features a flat ...
*
Trilby
A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in UK, BritainBernhard Roetzel, Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. B ...
*
Tyrolean hat
*
Whoopee cap
A whoopee cap is a style of headwear popular among youths in the mid-20th century in the United States. It was often made from a man's felt fedora hat with the brim trimmed with a scalloped cut and turned up. Often, children wearing the cap would ...
References
External links
*
{{Clothing
1910s fashion
1920s fashion
1930s fashion
1940s fashion
1950s fashion
1960s fashion
1970s fashion
1980s fashion
1990s fashion
2000s fashion
2010s fashion
Hats
1890s neologisms