Fedora (hat)
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The fedora is a soft felt hat that is creased lengthwise down the crown and pinched in the front on both sides. It was invented in the mid-1910s. Any hat that resembles the soft felt version is also usually called a fedora, including straw and twill ones. Similar hats with a C-crown (with an indentation for the head in the top of the crown) are occasionally called fedoras. It is usually worn by men, but ladies' versions can also be found.
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[edit] Background
The word comes from the title of an 1882 play by Victorien Sardou, Fédora, the heroine of which, Princess Fedora Romazova, wore a similar style of hat.
The fedora was worn mostly in the early part of the twentieth century within urban industrialized settings as a stylish way to protect from the wind and weather while being compact enough to deal with the newer technologies such as the automobile. It is often associated with Prohibition-era mafia and private detectives and tops off most zoot suits.
The popularity of the fedora has resulted in a large variety of styles being available. Fedoras can be found in nearly any color imaginable, but black, grey, and tan/brown are the most popular and universal.
In the USA fedoras were considered an essential part of the suit and of business and formal attire. Most men did not go outside without wearing one.
In Hollywood movies of the 1940s, actors often wore a fedora, particularly when playing private detectives, gangsters, or other "tough guy" roles. A trench coat was frequently part of the costume, a notable example being Humphrey Bogart's character in Casablanca. The fedora is closely associated with film noir characters.
Like the bowler hat, the fedora fell out of usage and popularity during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fedoras have staged something of a comeback as of the 2000s. Since the early part of the 20th century, many Hasidic and Haredi ("Ultra-Orthodox") Jews have worn black fedoras and continue to this day.
[edit] Etiquette
In traditional courtesy, when a man doffs this hat, he often grasps a fedora by placing his thumb in one of the pinched indentations at top front and at least two fingers on the other side.
[edit] Variations
- In Europe a fedora is also called a trilby. They typically have a shorter brim and the back of the brim is distinctively more sharply upturned as a result. It was invented in Tirol.
- The Porkpie is also a variant on the fedora.
- Another variant is the 'bogart,' being identical to the fedora but having a larger 2" wide brim.
[edit] Notable wearers
[edit] Pop Culture
- Jack Abramoff, the infamous Washington lobbyist, wore a Borsalino fedora to the federal courthouse where he pled guilty.
- Legendary Z-boy skater Jay Adams often wore a fedora.
- Malcolm Allison, the flamboyant soccer manager from the 1970's, was a famous fedora wearer.
- Tim Armstrong of Rancid
- North-Carolina based band, Bombadil
- Former San Francisco mayor Wille Brown.
- Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of the University of Alabama wore a fedora made of a fabric woven in a houndstooth check pattern.
- Mark Calaway as WWE Superstar Undertaker wears a black Fedora as part of his ring attire
- Larry Campbell, the former mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, is known to be quite fond of wearing a fedora.
- Johnny Depp, actor
- Matt Drudge of Drudge Report fame.
- Bob Dylan, songwriter, musician, and poet has been wearing a fedora when performing live as of late.
- Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates.
- Professor Gunther von Hagens; scientist, inventor and sculptor/artist is never seen in public without his fedora, even while performing anatomical dissections.
- Larry Harvey founder of the Burning Man project.
- Michael Jackson dons the hat as one of his trademarks.
- Kid Rock; the rocker-rapper from Detroit is often seen wearing various colored fedoras.
- Journalist and author Jim Knipfel
- Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys NFL coach
- Student and young author Charles William Lawless.
- American Football coach Vince Lombardi
- Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat is now often caught wearing a fedora.
- Mustache Commander of StreetWars.
- Ne-Yo,singer-songwriter.
- The Notorious B.I.G., rap artist.
- Investigative journalist Greg Palast.
- Spider-Man and Evil Dead film director Sam Raimi can often be seen wearing a fedora on set.
- Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, the trombonist from Late Night with Conan O'Brien's house band, The Max Weinberg 7, nearly always dons a white fedora. This hat sometimes makes its way into Conan's comedy routine.
- Run-DMC, the rap crew, wore black fedoras.
- Anthony Salerno, usually seen wearing a fedora hat
- Adam Savage of the television show MythBusters has worn one in some appearances
- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Chabad Hasidim made this hat especially popular among his followers.
- Paul Simon wears a fedora on the cover his Negotiations and Love Songs album.
- Ashlee Simpson the singer/actress is often seen wearing a fedora.
- Frank Sinatra, performer of the mid twentieth century and member of the Rat Pack, was often depicted wearing a fedora.
- Stephen Thanabalan, Asian Singaporean Model, Journalist regularly sports a Fedora
- Tom Waits, the distinct singer-songwriter, is often photographed wearing a fedora.
- On NBA Draft night, 1996, Samaki Walker was noticed for wearing an all-white suit with matching fedora
- Billy Zane, Actor
[edit] Fictional
- In the anime series Hellsing, Alucard is usually seen wearing a red fedora hat.
- Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, and Cab Calloway wore fedora hats as Jake and Elwood Blues and Curtis in the film The Blues Brothers
- James Bond actors Sean Connery and George Lazenby wore a fedora when portraying the secret agent. When Roger Moore took over the role, he didn't wear a fedora, although he threw one on the coat rack on several occasions.
- Chip from Disney's 1989 children's cartoon Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, wore a fedora as a trademark.
- In popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas by Rockstar Games, the player (as CJ) obtains the ability to shop at "Didier Sachs" after beating all the missions, which is the most expensive clothing shop where Trilbys, Bowler Derbys, and Fedora-esque Booters may be purchased.
- The original DC Comics superhero known as the Crimson Avenger wore a fedora as part of his first costume.
- Inspector Gadget wears the standard detective trenchcoat and fedora combination.
- New Zealander Sam Neill, an actor, often wore a fedora when portraying fictional paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III.
- Fictional detective Mike Hammer always wears one, with a trench coat.
- Fictional detective Dixon Hill (on Star Trek: The Next Generation) always wears one, with a trench coat.
- Characters in the television show Remington Steele often wear Fedora hats. Most notably, Stephanie Zimbalist's character Laura Holt wore one throughout much of the first season.
- Joey Jeremiah, from the original Degrassi series, always wore a fedora to school. That is, until his teacher yanked it off.
- Daisuke Jigen, Lupin's marksman in the Lupin III manga and animé, wears a fedora, supposedly as an aid for aiming his gun.
- Indiana Jones, the fictional archaeologist and adventurer, is known for his brown fedora and leather jacket.
- Clark Kent was often seen wearing one (including in the 1978 feature movie of Superman), though in more recent incarnations it has been absent.
- Freddy Krueger, the fictional dream mass-murderer is noted for wearing this hat, along with a red and green striped sweater
- In the Bowery Boys movies, Slip Mahoney always wore a fedora with the brim folded up.
- The Mask, wore a yellow one in the Animated Series.
- Jack McCoy has recently started wearing a fedora in episodes of Law & Order.
- DC Comics superhero Midnight, a character made in homage to the Will Eisner creation known as The Spirit, wore a fedora.
- Tex Murphy, the fictional gumshoe of the 2040s.
- Charles "Fat Charlie" Nancy in Neil Gaiman's Novel Anansi Boys also wear a green fedora hat which he acquired from his dad "Mr. Nancy".
- The first costumed comic strip crime-fighter The Phantom (aka Mr Walker) wears a signature trench coat and fedora when walking in town as an ordinary man.
- In Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, The Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom sometimes wears a black fedora.
- Pipboy from the Fallout series sometimes wears a fedora Hat.
- The comic book superhero/vigilante The Question always wears a fedora (usually blue) with a matching trench coat and suit, and a mask that makes it appear that he has a blank, featureless face.
- The class Red Mage in the Final Fantasy series is characterized by wearing a red fedora with a white feather on it.
- Carmen Sandiego almost always appears in a red fedora with matching trench coat.
- Sharky from the underwater crimefighting duo Sharky and George always wore a fedora, despite wearing no other clothes.
- The Sandman wore a green business suit, a gasmask, and a fedora for his crime-fighting costume.
- In The Spirit created by Will Eisner, Denny Colt began a life of fighting crime wearing only a small domino mask, blue business suit, fedora hat and gloves for a costume.
- Edward "Stubbs" Stubblefield, as well as several male civilians from Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse wear fedoras.
- In the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, the turtles would often wear fedoras and trenchcoats as disguises when going undercover.
- The comic strip hero Dick Tracy wears a yellow one.
- Marvel Comics superhero Wolverine often wore a fedora when dressed in civilian clothes in the X-Men Animated Series. The character also wore one in the New X-Men Here Comes Tomorrow storyline.
- Also, Inspector Zenigata, ICPO agent sworn to capture Lupin, of the same anime and manga wears the typical detective set of trench coat and fedora
[edit] Logos/Signage
- The Red Hat logo features a red fedora on its Shadow Man logo. In addition, the Red Hat community-oriented distribution of Linux is called Fedora.
- The newsreader Forté Agent uses a person wearing a fedora as logo and icon.
