The fedora is so common that it serves as a collective name for just about any hat with a brim that is not a stetson or a bowler.
Image: Optimo Hats (Proff’s favourite)
The hat in the picture is an Optimo fedora, with a 2.25 inch brim (a fairly standard shape). It is a “soft” hat, meaning that the crown and brim are flexible, and can be shaped (the pinch can be made more pronounced, the dent can be a crease or a diamond, and the brim can be raised or lowered. The brim is stitched (welted), not left “raw”.
Why is it called a fedora? The name is a corruption of the Russian “Theodora”. The hat was worn famously by Sara Bernhardt in a play by Victorien Sardou, “Fedora”. Bernhardt played the title role.
Initially, the fedora was a casual ladies’ hat, and was popular with members of the nascent women’s suffragette movement. Quite when men started wearing it is a mystery, but the future king Edward VIII wore one with a suit in 1924 – needless to say, the fedora caught on with men. It was more convenient to wear than a homburg, which up to that time was common for men when not at work (as opposed to the bowler, which was for work). The fedora could be worn with the back snapped down, as opposed to snapped up, as in the photo above.
Fedoras can be made of wool or fur felt (rabbit or beaver), sometimes blended with mink or chinchilla. Strictly speaking, fedoras are not made of straw, canvas or other materials. In the United States, the fur of the nutria was used during the first half of the 20th century to produce an inexpensive fedora.
The name became eponymous – applied to virtually any soft hat with a snap brim. But the fedora is unique, distinct from the trilby, for example. So, today people will use “fedora” to mean any hat, in this generally hatless world. Another common name for what is, essentially a fedora, is the “Boraslino”, the name of an Italian firm that produced fedoras (and still does).
Should you wear one? Definitely. How much should you spend on one? Prices vary, from a couple of hundred dollars to over USD 1,500. Spend as much as you can, when you can. Start with a dark grey fedora, which will do in most circumstances and go with most suits and coats. Brim width should be proportionate to your shoulder width. If you have wide shoulders, ask for a 2.5 inch brim, so that the hat balances the rest of you.
Whatever else you do, do not wear your fedora straight on. Give it a bit of a slant, like uncle George in the picture.
