Anyone else feel weird about wear the hat in public?

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:15 pm

Well, if your grandma follows you around with her hands over your ears to keep them warm, then I suppose babushkas would be correct!

Russian Raider · Post by **Russian Raider** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:26 pm

binkmeisterRick wrote:Well, if your grandma follows you around with her hands over your ears to keep them warm, then I suppose babushkas would be correct!

Hey, great idea, i got to patent Dedushkas (granpa) hats.

IndyGeek78 · Post by **IndyGeek78** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:35 pm

Ive been really nervous about wearing my Hat in public ever since I purchased it about 5 months ago. Ive ventured out in it a couple of times under the cover of darkness.

Today I decided to be brave and watched KOTCS (i'm sure it gets better the more it's watched) anyway I digress.

After spending much of the film just looking at Indy's hat I realised my main worry about my Fed. The pinch was completley wrong. This made my hat look big on my head. So I copied (the best I could) the pinch from KOTCS. As soon as I did this the hat took on a whole new look.

So I decided to be brave and go to the pub in it. Obviously had to wear my Todd's boots and my Wested Jacket. No one even took any notice of me or said a word.

My tips to nervous gear heads. DO IT. GO OUT IN YOUR HAT. It actually felt kind of liberating

raider 57 · Post by **raider 57** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:31 pm

I've been meaning to pop in on this topic for a while. It seems to be thriving!

Well, I've been wearing my AB daily all winter.(just got it last spring) I got over the weirdness feeling after about a week. Mostly get no reaction. A few "nice hat!" , although they have no clue what I'm wearing. Interesting though, when older guys check it out closely! (Guys old enough to recall when Fedoras were on every man's head) And it is true, some younger girls will give you a big smile!(I guess it's the hat!?

) I don't wear it to public places that I know I'd have to remove it and leave it laying around. Afraid it might "walk away!" Also shows, sporting events,etc where it might interfere with someone's view.
My friends comment when I DON'T wear the fedora! Oh ,and on older lady called me John Wayne once!

Wow, the Amercan Icon!

~raider 57

enigmata_wood · Post by **enigmata_wood** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:11 pm

IndyGeek78 wrote:My tips to nervous gear heads. DO IT. GO OUT IN YOUR HAT. It actually felt kind of liberating

I concur. I have experienced so many people making positive comments about the hat, or my 'courage' for being my own man. Those few who say something sassy are the sort of people who dress in flourescent shell suits or think they are New York rappers [in cambridge UK!] so that only confirms I'm tastefully dressed.

rebelgtp · Post by **rebelgtp** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:33 pm

You know its funny I have only ever once had anyone make an Indy reference while I was wearing my feds. I have had more Indy references when I wore my old oil skin wide brimmed hat.

I wore my fed to school the other day and a rather cute girl gave me a nice smile and said "Nice hat". She is coming over this weekend

Right now I feel kinda goofy wearing my new Dr Grant style hat but that is mostly because it is still to shiny and new. I need to dirty it up but heck the thing seems to repel dirt

gsolideogloria · Post by **gsolideogloria** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:49 pm

I've only had mine about a week but I have been wearing it about every day. I am getting less and less self-conscious. Mostly it seems like people don't pay any attention to the hat. I've had a few "Indiana Jones" remarks but not too many. I just think it's a great hat to wear around, and I want to break it in some more. I'm considering getting another fedora in a different color, and maybe style, just to be able to mix and match a bit. I like wearing something "classy" when everyone else is wearing a mere ball cap.

Ryan

IndyFrench · Post by **IndyFrench** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:25 pm

Been wearing a fedora for 20 years now. No, it never feels weird. It's everyone who stares that has the problem.

enigmata_wood · Post by **enigmata_wood** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 4:40 am

Remember, paranoia is really the mental dillusion that one is important enough to be the centre of a conspiracy!

I was thinking about this posting on the bus the other day so I took note of some of the headgear I did see. I saw some really outlandish or badly chosen lids:
Lots of cheap, shapeless baseball caps including a very old man in a smart suit but purple cammo patterned baseball cap.
Lots of tea cosys of course - erm... I mean knitted wool caps. Some had ridiculously long tassles, one had sequins. One was clearly meant to contain rastafarian dreadlocks, but on its semi bald anglo-saxon wearer it looked like a stripey oversize sock.
A felt jester's hat on a sombre man who did not look like he was off to a fancy dress party OR a footy match.
A spangly green 'pixie' hood.
A top hat [fine on an undertaker or Cambridge don but not with T-shirt and fleece jacket]
A few bowlers [one pink one on a girl]
Patterned colourful Trilbys on girls and tweedy ones on old men.
A ladies stocking with a knot in it? - on a young man.
A few flat caps [some worn backwards to make make the wearer look 'dangerous'

]
A couple of 40's style fedoras
and 3 deerstalkers [all of which clearly suited the maturer gentlemen wearing them]
Generally the classic hats suited the wearer best regardless of age or gender - there's the reason they are classics. Even the badly made broad-brimmed hats I saw looked OK on the wearer's head.
All in all I felt that the Fedora I wear blended in very well compared to some of these really wierd hats.

laughograms · Post by **laughograms** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:50 pm

I wear my hat everywhere, all the time. If anyone doesn't like it they haven't had the guts to tell me. Nothing but compliments.

I do feel weird about the fact that nobody can edit this dang thread to read "wearing the hat in public" because the error in grammar has been driving me nuts for months and months. But that's just me.

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:26 pm

Don't worry about it.

p.s. As soon as you hear the Indy Theme; that is the moment you bow your head towards them, slowly look up and run your thumb and pointer finger along the brimmed of your fedora and give them the biggest cheesy Indy grin you can.
The women love it and it gets a great laugh.

Vegeta · Post by **Vegeta** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:08 am

You gotta give em the stank eye when wearing it...LIKE THIS!!!

I'm just kiddin'.....be confident when wearing your american icon and you will feel like one...I'm so proud when I wear my Fed.......I get nothing but compliments.

darthbish · Post by **darthbish** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:27 am

an "american icon"?...
I just think it's a cool lookin' hat from a bygone era.
I believe they were just as popular with us Aussies and the Poms as well.

IMHO there's no point in owning one if you don't wear it.
A hat is made to be worn, not sit on a stand as part of a display.

Indy or not, put it on, and be proud.

Russian Raider · Post by **Russian Raider** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:18 am

Vegeta wrote:be confident when wearing your american icon and you will feel like one...

Can i feel like Russian icon?

Seriously, hats was very popular thing in USSR.

darthbish · Post by **darthbish** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:44 am

NIIIIIICE!!!...

Vegeta · Post by **Vegeta** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 3:18 pm

I guess it's because it's been used in so many american movies and I relate it with so many american stars that feel its an american icon.

alphared6 · Post by **alphared6** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:42 pm

Vegeta wrote:I guess it's because it's been used in so many American movies and I relate it with so many American stars that feel its an American icon.

Harrison Ford made an Icon of the fedora, no doubt about that. However "Gorbi" was never known for his hats. Rather he was known for the other item atop his head.

jacksdad · Post by **jacksdad** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:50 pm

[quote="laughograms"]I wear my hat everywhere, all the time. If anyone doesn't like it they haven't had the guts to tell me. Nothing but compliments.

I do feel weird about the fact that nobody can edit this dang thread to read "wearing the hat in public" because the error in grammar has been driving me nuts for months and months. But that's just me.

[/quote

I never noticed that unitll you pointed it out, I think my mind jsut filled in the missing letters, that's funny.

Jr. Jones · Post by **Jr. Jones** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:32 am

Man, I hadn't checked this page in so long! Thanks for the support! I have to say that ever since I started posting on this site I don't feel wierd about my Indy obsession.
THANK YOU!!!!

WhiteBull · Post by **WhiteBull** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:08 am

This is a good thread...I recently ordered a Raiders hat from John Penman. I had similar concerns about wearing it, but I'll confidently venture out with the hat!

I think if anyone says any smart comments to me about it, I might go, "Really? You think so? I never really thought about it."

(But I'm in Texas and a lot of people wear ridiculous-looking, large cowboy hats, so chances are they won't say anything about mine or I will absolutely tear them up about theirs. I think fast on my feet and my mouth tends to get me in trouble like that, but I generally make them look like a jerk in the end...

) I have a couple of cowboy hats too because I used to show horses and it was required, but I rarely wear them because they're just...well, huge.

I had another funny thought the other day...have you all ever thought about doing an Indy flashmob? That would be really funny. I mean, a hundred folks all dressed up like Indy, showing up somewhere strange (like Starbucks or Walmart or something) at the same time...that would be great!

I think the more of us that feel comfortable wearing the hats in public, the easier it will be for everyone else as it may become more commonplace.

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:19 am

had another funny thought the other day...have you all ever thought about doing an Indy flashmob? That would be really funny. I mean, a hundred folks all dressed up like Indy, showing up somewhere strange (like Starbucks or Walmart or something) at the same time...that would be great!

You just described a QM Indy summit.

Regards! Michaelson

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:29 am

Yes, indeed! Or even a Finger lakes Summit at this point!

theinterchange · Post by **theinterchange** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:45 am

The ONLY time I DO get a little self conscious about wearing my hat is when I'm also wearing an Indy shirt. So, when I wear my Todd's shirt, the hat stays home that day.

Randy

Barcelona Jones · Post by **Barcelona Jones** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:18 pm

theinterchange wrote:The ONLY time I DO get a little self conscious about wearing my hat is when I'm also wearing an Indy shirt. So, when I wear my Todd's shirt, the hat stays home that day.

Randy

We're in the same wave there. If I couple my Indy hat with my Indy jacket, I purposefully avoid wearing anything else resembling the Indy outfit: hence, I wear jeans and variously coloured (i. e. not khaki nor safari-style) and/or patterned shirts. In my book, that would be too costumeish. Adequate for an Indy fans summit, but not for everyday.

theinterchange · Post by **theinterchange** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:35 pm

I like to mix and match when I wear things. That's the beauty of Indy gear vs. say Star Trek uniforms.

Randy

WhiteBull · Post by **WhiteBull** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:37 pm

Michaelson wrote:You just described a QM Indy summit.

Oh, that sounds like fun. Where is the video???

I mean really...that would be great to see everyone's reaction to a ton of you all showing up somewhere like that.

Russian Raider · Post by **Russian Raider** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:32 pm

Great thing about Indy clothes it is very stylish. As theinterchange said it is good in mix and match with modern things. And i think if you wearing a hat with a hoody or sweatshirt you will get a lot of "sheesh" comments. But if you choose your dressing wisely the crowd will think - "oh, now thats a stylish fellow"

indy89 · Post by **indy89** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:32 pm

Russian Raider wrote:Great thing about Indy clothes it is very stylish. As theinterchange said it is good in mix and match with modern things. And i think if you wearing a hat with a hoody or sweatshirt you will get a lot of "sheesh" comments. But if you choose your dressing wisely the crowd will think - "oh, now thats a stylish fellow"

I've worn my fedora with a solid brown hoodie and it doesn't look too bad at all.

theinterchange · Post by **theinterchange** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:35 pm

I've seen pics of guys around here in sweatshirts and it looked good, too. Recently, I've begun wearing my fedora with tshirts, makes it casual enough to just run errands

Randy

Russian Raider · Post by **Russian Raider** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:57 am

Dunno fellas, it is for different tastes, to me fedora with hoody is like formal suit with baseball cap.
But if it suits you then go with it.

indy89 · Post by **indy89** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:37 am

I think an Indy style fedora can be a casual hat aswell as a dressy hat. It works both ways for me, but to each his own... I guess.

gsolideogloria · Post by **gsolideogloria** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:57 pm

I like wearing my fedora with a hoodie,

but I have also found that I tend to think about dressing up a bit more when I wear it. (And for me, "dressing up a bit more" means wearing a button-down shirt or polo with my jeans or casual pants)

If I have to wait to "really" dress up then I'll end up never wearing the darn thing.

kiltie · Post by **kiltie** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:50 pm

You can do ( read: get away with ) virtually ANYTHING, as long as you act like you know what you're doing and do it with confidence. So too with hats. People are like dogs: they can smell fear. I wear hats just about everywhere I go. The only time I've ever had a bona fide problem with wearing a hat has been after last call at a joint loaded with meathead, MTV party-to-go types ( yeah, I don't know what that means exactly either, but it paints a vivid picture...) who were spoiling for a fight. Everyone's filing out of the joint and milling about the parking lot in an orderly fashion, but I keep hearing, "Dr. Jones! Dr. Jones!" and, of course, I'm wearing a really light tan Open Road and a red plaid vest. Don't change your stride, don't even acknowledge that you have any idea who they're talking to. Pretty quickly, all anyone sees is a buncha guys yelling out some sort of non-sequitor, clearly drunk.
In a more typical setting, dude, it's just a hat, for Pete's sake. A lot less impressive or disruptive that seeing half of somebody's butt crack, as you're likely to at any given time these days, with low rise jeans, etc... You think those dopes are self-conscious about that? But the instant your veneer cracks, people can see it, and it is very not cool. Think of your hat as "Cool" or "Confidence" training wheels. If you can do the hat, you can do anything.

gsolideogloria · Post by **gsolideogloria** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:48 pm

Think of your hat as "Cool" or "Confidence" training wheels. If you can do the hat, you can do anything.

Great quote - I love it!

Indy35 · Post by **Indy35** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:11 pm

I always tell people that you've gotta have big ones to wear a man's hat. If you can wear a genuine 20s-30s full crown fedora or a cowboy hat, you can wear anything.

Its not like the little 4 inch things that most people wear, nor is a baseball cap, so its always going to get peoples attention, good and bad. It builds character, like naming your son "Sue."

beaverlid · Post by **beaverlid** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:46 pm

Have you looked around at what everybody else is wearing these days?

Walk with pride! You can dress like in the era when hats were cool and all men wore them or you can dress like our current generation and have a ball cap half cocked turned to the side on your head while your pants are half way hanging of your backside. I'll take a fedora and any comment that comes with it everytime!

cheers,
Chris

enigmata_wood · Post by **enigmata_wood** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:50 pm

My fedora is actually musical with full surround sound. Every time I put it on I hear the Indy March.
Amazingly it seems to be coming from INSIDE my head!

The felt must be wired with neural-induction nanofilaments. I suspect there's a microtransponder hidden behind the ribbon bow, that's tuned to a secret Lucasarts satelite.

Has anyone else experienced this spooky phenomenon?

enigmata_wood · Post by **enigmata_wood** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:02 pm

beaverlid wrote:Have you looked around at what everybody else is wearing these days? Walk with pride! You can dress like in the era when hats were cool and all men wore them or you can dress like our current generation and have a ball cap half cocked turned to the side on your head while your pants are half way hanging of your backside. I'll take a fedora and any comment that comes with it everytime!

cheers,
Chris

I usually wear a shirt, blazer and good leather shoes with the fedora - I just like that 30s-40s elegance. Recently a chav criticised my 'uncool' look. I took one look at what he was wearing, - multicoloured nylon 'jogger-suit', flourescent trainers and a baggy woolen skull cap - and said, "And I'm going to take fashion advice from a man in a giant romper-suit, rubber safety shoes and a tea-cozy?"-- His mates thought it was hilarious!

enigmata_wood · Post by **enigmata_wood** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:06 pm

Indy35 wrote:I always tell people that you've gotta have big ones to wear a man's hat. If you can wear a genuine 20s-30s full crown fedora or a cowboy hat, you can wear anything.

Its not like the little 4 inch things that most people wear, nor is a baseball cap, so its always going to get peoples attention, good and bad. It builds character, like naming your son "Sue."

I'm comfortable with my individuality. Wearing the fedora I find I get called 'sir' a lot more in shops, generally get more attention in restaurants, and the pavement seems to be less crowded.

backstagejack · Post by **backstagejack** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:52 pm

Generally, only with a brown fedora will one be called Indy. Heck, I wear my straw Indy around and people call me Indy...or I hear the raiders march.

Its inevitable as ROTLA through LC has made "Brown Fedora=Indy" and as it was slightly going away lately, KOTCS came out and threw it right back into the social consciousness.

Honestly, I prefer to wear a fedora color matching whatever I'm wearing...so grey or brown usually goes with anything. IF I'm wearing a nice outfit and a brown fedora, I'm less likely to get "hey indy" as I am if I'm just wearing a brown fedora with anything else. Now with my Wested.....its definitely going to happen.

Sadly, I too live in a hot region of the US (SouthEast Texas) therefore, felt fedora is mostly null and void until Nov...

WhiteBull wrote: (But I'm in Texas and a lot of people wear ridiculous-looking, large cowboy hats,

I agree....I see so many people wearing huge and sometimes ridiculous looking cowboy hats that I see absolutely nothing wrong with wearing a fedora....

gwyddion · Post by **gwyddion** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:57 pm

Today I got my first Indy remark while wearing my reblocked Henry $\:D/$

Some kids started to argue while I was walking by. When I turned to look I heard one say to the other: "Come on, look at it! that IS the same hat as Indiana Jones wears!" the other kid didn't believe him and said he was crazy. I just had to tell that second kid that his buddy was right

After I told them that it was in fact a hat I bought from the same people who made the hats for Indy 4 they said: "Wow, that's great! great looking hat mister!"

It made my day for two reasons: 1) this was the first time I didn't get the "nice cowboy hat"(

) remark I always tend to get that drives me nuts (people just don't know their hats anymore

) 2) I kept thinking :wow, that kid has good eyes. Probably gearhead material

Regards, Geert

enigmata_wood · Post by **enigmata_wood** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:30 pm

It gives you an air of authority.
I was in a department store. A mother was at her wits end trying to handle a stooopid checkout girl, stop her baby crying, and control her eight-year-old boy.
The kid was tearing around - mad as a sack of wet monkeys. He rounded a display and bounced right off me. As I bent down to pick him up his eyes went to The Hat and got bigger and bigger. His mum was shouting, "I told you not to run around". As I was dusting him off the boy silently mouthed, "ohh! Indiana Jones". so I put on my best Indy voice and whispered, "Better do as ya mom says kid".
He walked back quietly to his mum and just stood there looking stunned.
Half an hour later I saw them from a distance in another store: he was still behaving himself.
The Hat is All Powerful!

Ranger36 · Post by **Ranger36** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:58 pm

Deleted by Ranger36

Lao Feng · Post by **Lao Feng** » Sat May 23, 2009 4:32 pm

I've been wearing hats for so long that people get nervous when I don't wear one and then ask where it is. The only annoying comments I get are when I am in China. They all assume the fedora is a cowboy hat and cannot imaging their urban grandfathers wore fedoras in the 20's 30's and 40s. Which reminds me, Mao did to fedoras in China what JFK did to them in the US.

Kt Templar · Post by **Kt Templar** » Sat May 23, 2009 4:49 pm

They are obviously not Chow Yun Fat fans!

VP · Post by VP » Sat May 23, 2009 4:57 pm

And KT obviously is.

Kt Templar · Post by **Kt Templar** » Sat May 23, 2009 4:59 pm

Oh yes! Ever seen 'A Better Tomorrow'? Fantastic Stuff.

VP · Post by VP » Sat May 23, 2009 5:03 pm

No, but I've seen Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Nice hats in that flick.

Kt Templar · Post by **Kt Templar** » Sat May 23, 2009 5:05 pm

LOL! Touche, his Western films ****.