I’m talking about the practice of a man wearing a hat with formal and semi-formal attire. It seemed common from (Abraham Lincoln?) all the way up until the 1960s or so, with a peak around the 1940s or 50s.
Were the hippies widespread enough that they were the downfall of the hat? Surely with their long hair, sunglasses, and ragged clothes they would have thought a dress hat was something only “the man” would wear, but were they capable of ending such a popular and long-lived trend, or was it something else?
This has been done before. The death of hat wearing is attributed to John F. Kennedy who disliked them. Pop culture being was it was (and is), the masses followed suit, and never looked back.
And they ain’t comin back! the reason: men’s felt hats are a very specialized product…and most of them were made in and around Danbury CT. Now, it’s been 40+ years since JFK put the kibosh on men’s hats…so the old hatmakers are now in the graveyard. I seriously doubt that anyone could revive the men’s hat industry. Of course, you can buy an italian hat (a good Borsolino will set you back $250.00 or so).
A these kinds of hats really that specialized a product? The men’s felt hat market is alive and well down here in the Southwest. You can spend a lot of money on a quality cowboy hat, and many people do. I find it hard to believe that the people who make good cowboy hats couldn’t produce other styles if there was a market for something else. I agree that the formal hat market is dead and probably not coming back, but I don’t think lack of supply is the problem. Or is there some fundamental difference between fedoras and cowboy hats that would keep Stetson and other extant companies from producing them?
Hmmmm…a quick bit of Googling “Mens hats” turns up a number of sites dedicated to noggin haberdashery. I was on the hunt a few years back for a hat like the one Sly Stallone wore in Rocky (in fact I posted a cry for help on the boards and was directed to a site that had it). I see quite a few stars rocking the old school hat, Bernie Mac, Cederic The Entertainer, Kid Rock, just to name a few. If you want it to come back, get yourself a hat and be the trendsetter.
I think the fact that men don’t slick down their hair with oil is a factor. If you wear a hat now, when you remove it you have the dreaded ‘hat hair’. (very similar to bedhead not to be confused with the more general bad hair day) Hair styles changed in the 60’s dramatically. Not to mention that old conventions were tossed aside with reckless abandon. If the Beatles wore hats they would have been the fashion but then, they wouldn’t have been the Beatles.
I think the idea that JKF killed hats has about the same level of authenticity that Clark Gable killed undershirts.
The final crushing blow to men’s hats was in 1959 and 1960, when cars became “longer, lower, and sleeker,” so that only a short man could wear a fedora while driving.
Back in the sartorially challenged '60s, my mother once admonished my brother, who was what counted for then as dressed up for a date, to “not get your ascot in your dinner”.
It’s not only the hats. Our outfits are becoming simpler and lighter as time passes. For example, men would wear a shirt, on top of that a wooly sweater and on top of that a vest and on top of that a jacket. Like this fellow here: http://www.lahacal.org/gentleman/photos/frockvestbig.jpg
Nowadays, nobody wears all those items of clothing.
Zebra: *the dreaded ‘hat hair’. (very similar to bedhead *
I thought “hat hair” was all squooshed flat (from the pressure of the hat) whereas “bedhead” was the opposite, all rumpled up (due to not having been groomed since you got out of bed).
'Tis true. You could think of the death of hat-wearing as just a small part of the simplification of fashion. Belts are replaced with suspenders, sock suspenders get replaced with elastic socks, vests become less common, girdles fall out of fashion - all towards the end of the 1950s.
It might be interesting seeing photos of crowds at baseball games through time. Everybody has seen images of spectators at baseball games in the 1950s, wearing wool suits with ties on a hot summer day. What about the 1960s?
And big, warm, winter hats that are cooler than toques.
I thought “hat hair” was all squooshed flat (from the pressure of the hat) whereas “bedhead” was the opposite, all rumpled up (due to not having been groomed since you got out of bed).