Fedora (hat)
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A fedora, which in this case has been pinched at the front and being worn pushed back on the head, with the front of the brim bent down over the eyes. |
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.
The popularity of the fedora has resulted in being able to purchase one in nearly any style. Fedoras can be found in nearly any color imaginable, but black, grey, and tan/brown are the most popular and universal.
In
Europe a fedora is also called a
trilby. They typically have a shorter, "stingy" brim and the back of the brim is distinctively more sharply upturned as a result.
The word comes from the title of a 1882 play by
Victorien Sardou,
Fédora, the heroine of which, Princess Fedora Romazova, wore this or a similar style of hat.
The fedora was worn mostly in the early part of the twentienth 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.
Red Hat Linux uses it in their logo and named their free
Linux distribution Fedora Core.
A variation of the fedora, the
pork pie hat, is also often associated with
ska music and its "
rudeboy" culture.
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.
Historical
*
Synyster Gates of the metal band
Avenged Sevenfold usually sports a black fedora
*Journalist and author
Jim Knipfel*
Jack Abramoff, the infamous Washington lobbyist, wore a
Borsalino fedora to the federal courthouse where he pled guilty.
Spider-Man and
Evil Dead film director
Sam Raimi can often be seen wearing a fedora on set.
*
Run-DMC, the rap crew, wore black fedoras.
*Many
Haredi ("Ultra-Orthodox") Jews wear black fedoras.
*
Larry Campbell, the former mayor of
Vancouver,
British Columbia, is known to be quite fond of wearing a fedora.
*
Frank Sinatra, performer of the mid twentieth century and member of the
Rat Pack, was often depicted wearing a fedora.
*
Bob Dylan, legendary American songwriter, musician, and poet has been wearing a fedora when performing live in the new century.
*
Tom Landry,
Dallas Cowboys NFL coach
*
Michael Jackson dons the hat as one of his trademarks.
*
Matt Drudge of
Drudge Report fame.
*
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the
Chabad Hasidim made this hat especially popular among his followers.
*
Adam Savage of the television show
MythBusters has worn one in some appearances
*
Stephen Thanabalan,
Asian Singaporean Model, Journalist regularly sports a Fedora
*
Malcolm Allison, the flamboyant soccer manager from the 1970's, was a famous fedora wearer.
*
Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of the
University of Alabama wore a fedora made of a fabric woven in a
houndstooth check pattern.
*Legendary
American Football coach
Vince Lombardi*On
NBA Draft night, 1996,
Samaki Walker was noticed for wearing an all-white suit with matching fedora
*
Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, the trombonist from
Late Night with Conan O'Brien's house band, the
Max Weinberg Seven, nearly always dons a white fedora. This hat sometimes makes its way into Conan's comedy routine.
*Members of the Punk bank
Rancid are often seen wearing a fedora.
*Legendary Z-boy skater
Jay Adams often wore a fedora.
*
Larry Harvey*Professor
Gunther von Hagens; scientist,inventor and sculptor/artist is never seen in public without his fedora, even while performing anatomical dissections.
*
Tom Waits, the distinct singer-songwriter, is almost always photographed wearing a fedora.
*
Johnny DeppFictional
*
Indiana Jones, the fictional archaeologist and adventurer, is known for his brown fedora and leather jacket.
*
The Blues Brothers wore fedoras in both movies.
*
Carmen Sandiego almost always appears in a red fedora with matching
trench coat.
*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.
*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, such as Bogart in
The Big Sleep and
The Maltese Falcon or
Robert Mitchum in
Out of the Past.
*
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
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical,
The Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom sometimes wears a black fedora.
*The
comic strip hero
Dick Tracy wears a yellow one.
*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.
*
Clark Kent was often seen wearing one (including in the
1978 feature movie of
Superman), though in more recent incarnations it has been absent.
*In the
Bowery Boys movies, Slip Mahoney always wore a fedora with the brim folded up.
*
New Zealander Sam Neill, an actor, often wore a fedora when portraying fictional paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in
Jurassic Park and
Jurassic Park III.
*In the anime series
Hellsing, Alucard is usually seen wearing a red fedora hat.
*
Freddy Krueger, the fictional dream mass-murderer is noted for wearing this hat, along with a
Christmas-colored striped sweater
*
Daisuke Jigen, Lupin's
marksman in the
Lupin III manga and animé, wears a fedora, supposedly as an aid for aiming his gun.
*
Tex Murphy, the fictional gumshoe of the 2040s.
*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.
*
Joey Jeremiah, from the original
Degrassi series, always wore a fedora to school. That is, until his teacher yanked it off.
*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. This is referenced in the
Watchmen graphic novel, where the character of
Rorschach (who was loosely based on The Question) often wears brown fedora along with a brown trenchcoat and his signature ink-blot mask.
*Bill McGovern had his fedora stolen, leading to his untimely demise in Stephen King's
Insomnia (novel).
*In the original
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, the turtles would often wear fedoras and trenchcoats as disguises when going undercover.
*
Jack McCoy has recently started wearing a fedora in episodes of
Law & Order.
*
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".
*Pipboy from the
Fallout series, some times wears a fedora Hat.
*The original DC Comics superhero known as the
Crimson Avenger wore a fedora as part of his first costume.
*DC Comics superhero
Midnight, a character made in homage to the Will Eisner creation known as
The Spirit, wore a fedora.
*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.
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.
*
The Fedora*
The Fedora Lounge - forum for fedora and
vintage fashion enthusiasts
