Club Obi Wan

I was watching Vertigo the other night and Jimmy Stewart is wearing a pretty cool fedora that he always tilts to the side. I wonder if there's a "right way" to tilt a fedora. I believe his was always bow side up.

Justin

I think this was preferential to the actor. I believe Stewart always wore his fedoras cocked, but not his cowboy lids. Bogart had a tendancy to wear his back on his forehead, I believe.

I wonder if it was a deliberate measure by the actors to make sure their face was seen.

I believe the correct way to tilt one's hat is however it looks best on you. A hat should take on the character of the wearer. Just as some folks part their hair on the left, others part it on the right, while still others have the "butt cut" and part straight down the middle. After putting my hat on, I find I naturally tilt my hat bow side up, though I had to think about it. I tilt my hat how it feels and looks right on me. Oh, and I tilt it back now and again, too.

bink

It seems to vary from one hat to the other in my collection.
My dark gray AB has a slight cant to one side...while my black JPDesign sits slightly to the rear and to one side. Each of my fedora's tend to take the direction of how I decide to tug them on in the morning, so I really don't pay much attention to them...but those two mentioned definitely have their own 'mind' about where to sit on my head, no matter what I do to correct them.

Regards! Michaelson

Have you tried the "bat" method of correction, Michaelson? Just remember to take your hat off your head next time.

Nah. The old cranium is so thick on top, the 'bat method' just doesn't work.

Regards! Michaelson

I've read about this. It was just a style thing, so I understand. Wearing your fedora tilted to the side a bit was fashionable then. The exact same way that turning a baseball cap to the side is now, and a lot of people rag on those who do it for doing it. Now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

Could be.

Like I said, in my case, it just happens, and no intent on my part to set any 'style' or statement.

As to the 'current' style, I saw a kid in our local town not only wearing his hat sideways, but was wearing a pair of Hawaiian print boxer shorts on the OUTSIDE of his baggy blue jeans. Now, talk a fashion statement that should have been left unsaid! Not sure what THAT was all about. Kids HIS age were even pointing him out.

Regards! Michaelson

Well, I've always been a fan of the hat tilt. The stupidest use of this I have ever seen was Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbor. I don't think I've ever seen a hat tilted so far over. I swear if he looked in the mirror he would have known how dumb he looked.

Mike

Tilted hats were an expression of style. Sometimes it was intentional and sometimes not. A tilted hat was a bit rakish and certainly debonair. Others wore their hats perfectly level, like Indy did most of the time. I always thought this was very tough and levelheaded. Pushing the hat back on your head was a bit boyish, laid back.

Of course, a man could be all of these things in one day.

Some examples:











And Cary Grant, bucking the trend; the most debonaire man there ever was with his perfectly level hat.


This is something all most all modern films get wrong; nearly every hat is perfectly level on people's heads.