I do not mean those awful pseudo pork pie jobs favoured by junkie muscicians. More, the fedora and trilby. Could we see a resurgance of men in suits donning a dandy, jauntily positioned titfer? Or is just for the racetrack?
One sees a lot of younger fellows with skinny brim hats these days. Unfortunately, most of the hats look very cheap, but it's a step in the right direction, I suppose. I don't know if these are the hats you mean by "pseudo pork pie jobs." They're not really pork pies.
Last edited by Hard Bop Hank (2009-12-22 20:23:19)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUdr1LdCsq0
Gene Hackman in The French Connection is wearing a pork pie hat....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJSkkBLPGKg
Robert De Niroin Mean Streets isn't...
and for the music lovers, here's that brilliant Mingus composition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXcRFAJDF0c
written for the Prez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z10gZTxdHhQ
Lester Young - Blues for Greasy (1950)
here again with Lady Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I2a5AJUk7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W30DJbHjhE
Lester Young Centennial Celebration
Last edited by Hard Bop Hank (2009-12-22 20:52:37)
some nice hats:
http://www.newyorkhatco.com/
http://jpressonline.com/accessories_hats.php
Get rid of the feather!
I have to admit though, that I usually go hatless, and sometimes I just wear Tweed/ flat caps, wool hats or maybe a beret.
Gave my last pork pie to my baldy brother....
I think they might have been out of circulation for so long that they no longer look like something a stiff old fogey would wear and have become nostalgic. Probably easier to wear them now than in the nineties.
I see at least a couple a day in Paris, on some well dress men. Nowhere like the popularity of the scarf, but I did notice a small come back.
Last edited by JDelage (2009-12-22 23:08:02)
Both Stateside and here in the UK, up until the 60s and the rising popularity of the motor car, no man would be seen dead outside without a hat. It was an essential part of everyday clothing. It would be nice to see a comeback.
Agree with the definition of a 'pork pie', although my understanding has always been that they had little or no brim.
I was thinking of one of these for me
http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/Bailey-Hats-Crushable-Wynn-Trilby-P138899/
or possibly
http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/Jaxon-Hats-Crushable-C-Crown-Fedora-P135003/
Going by the prices hats bring on eBay now compared to a few years ago you would have to say "there is movement at the station" in the words of The Man from Snowy River.
No Borsalino of any quality sells for less than USD250 and up to USD350.
Classic hats like the Stratoliner favoured by Bing Crosby and the Whippet always bring around USD300.
Top line Stetsons are also creeping up.
The most interesting thing is that in the 1950s for instance they sold like 2 million hats a year in the USA.
Where are all those hats and why are 2nd hand hats so expensive?
One of the best traditional vintage fedora style hats to buy is the Federation IV from Akubra sold by Hatsdirect.com and in the deluxe felt which is similar to beaver but is actually top rabbit. http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?group=Federation
I have one in Moonstone (a light grey) that is beautiful. Sizing is one size over your normal hat size due to the vintage block they use.
Last edited by meister (2009-12-23 01:07:26)
Last edited by Hard Bop Hank (2009-12-23 06:06:05)
Sloooly making a comeback IMO. Which reminds me, I need a couple of new ones.
FWIW 2 1/2" is a "skinny" brim for me.
Last edited by yachtie (2009-12-23 09:29:03)
My father sold mens clothes at Ware Pratt Co. Worcester Ma. in the 50s and 60s. They carried Dobbs and Stetson hats. My father wore a Dobbs gray hat with a black band and small feather. He would alternate with a brown beaver fur Stetson. During those years most businessmen wore hats.
To each his own. Some like them, some don't.
Just spent a couple of days in NYC, staying in the Linclon Center area. Cold as could be, and some kind of a hat was needed.
A traditional grey Dodds fedora,sans feather, keeps your head warm, and when you are in stores, and people seem to take you a lot more seriously than you deserve.
A traditional Melton Mowbray pork pie should contain meat that is grey coloured, rather than the pink colour shown in the illustration. http://www.mmppa.co.uk/howtotell.html
I am unable to comment on the pork pie hat.
Last edited by Kingstonian (2010-03-19 17:48:14)
Hats with a specific purpose never went away. Those worn purely for style or fashion have become rather rarer. On the whole they seem to have mostly lost their status associations in western culture.
Unfortunately, asshats are forever.