Club Obi Wan

Hi, I was wondering how the folks here take their Fedoras off, and put them on. MANY years ago I used the crown. After all, that’s how they did it in the movies, and that can’t be wrong, right? Later in life I was led to understand that doing that was bad for the hat, and that holding the brim at 3/9 o’clock, or 6/12 o’clock was the way to do it. Also picking up and putting down a hat, crown or brim?

I have to say the brim is more of a ‘faff’, but I’ve been doing it and will continue to do so, pending and thought provoking comments here. The only Fedora I’ve ever bought has shrunk over the years, so I can’t wear it anymore. However I often wear a Homberg, and I use brim.

I was also wondering wether the material of the hat made a difference to your choice. So the options I went for are rabbit and beaver, for the crown / brim, and an extra one for pick up / put down. You can vote three times, in case you have hats of both material, and treat them differently. If you do I’d really appreciate your reasoning.

Looking around the internet there seems now to be more of a split of opinion, between brim and crown, so I was wondering what people’s views were here.

Thank you.

I never, ever, use the crown.

Regards! Michaelson

Indeed, regardless of material (including straw) I always use the brim.

Interestingly (to me) I first learned this from a The Cosby Show episode when Grandpa shows Theo the proper way to handle and wear a fedora.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

I used to use the Crown with my first hat, Fed III, may she rest in peace.

I really regret it now because I’ve sent some Fed IVs that look great with age when well cared for.

Always with the brim.

Cheers

Gerry

Yeah, always try to use the brim and when you set it down, lay it down upsidedown on the top of the hat, not flat on the brim. Correct?

Correct.

Regards! M

Pretty much always the brim, but sometimes when I look in the mirror I use the crown to make adjustments.

Charybdis wrote:Yeah, always try to use the brim and when you set it down, lay it down upsidedown on the top of the hat, not flat on the brim. Correct?

I used to do that, but then stopped per this Instagram post from Matt Deckard: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6iI5iGA9TT ... _copy_link" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Soft hats you should sit on the brim with the brim turned up as they predominantly have a snap brim and are soft. To sit one on the crown would cause a flat top. Western hats are made using a lot more shellac and the felt is often thicker. The brim shapes today are a lot of the reason why cowboys set them on the crown to protect the curated looks. The romance of the soft felt hat is the jaunty look, so avoid the flat top effect and feel free to set your soft felt hats on the brim in a pinch

jlee562 wrote:

Charybdis wrote:Yeah, always try to use the brim and when you set it down, lay it down upsidedown on the top of the hat, not flat on the brim. Correct?

I used to do that, but then stopped per this Instagram post from Matt Deckard: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6iI5iGA9TT ... _copy_link" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Soft hats you should sit on the brim with the brim turned up as they predominantly have a snap brim and are soft. To sit one on the crown would cause a flat top. Western hats are made using a lot more shellac and the felt is often thicker. The brim shapes today are a lot of the reason why cowboys set them on the crown to protect the curated looks. The romance of the sort felt hat is the jaunty look, so avoid the flat top effect and feel free to set your soft felt hats on the brim in a pinch

This was my understanding too.

I would never argue with Matt, but he is also the guru of knowledge regarding vintage felt hats.

I’ve placed my soft fedoras crown down for decades and never experienced what he suggests, but then we’re not talking about long term storage here. If we were, I’d agree to a point, but short term? No.

So, what, exactly, are we talking about here?

Overnight storage? Hall tree. Long term? Box. Short term? Upside down on crown.

That’s how I’ve done it for 50 years. Those practices work fine for me.

Regards! Michaelson

I'm trying to get a number of hat stands for places where I remove my hat... at home on the shelf, at work on the desk.

I store my hats in boxes at home and have a hat stand on my desk at work for my hat during the day. Otherwise, I will place my hat on it's crown if I'm out with a hat (in a meeting, out to eat, etc.).


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

I’m in the category of by the pinch, but not grabbing it tightly.

But I’m going to try and correct my bad way.

Croft

Croft

As a rule, I handle hats by the brim most of the time. The friction and pressure needed to lift and hold a hat by the crown will decrease the life of the felt.
If I do handle the crown, I do so gently. I sometimes cup the crown to put it on, but that's it.

In terms of material making a difference, I find it possible to lift a stiff straw hat by the crown without causing damage pretty easy. Not much pressure is needed.

Agreed totally on straw hats. I do the same!

Regards! Michaelson

Indiana Croft wrote: I’m in the category of by the pinch, but not grabbing it tightly.

But I’m going to try and correct my bad way.

Croft

Me too, and I’m not correcting my ways. I like the aging it produces and am pretty sure the hats will outlive me

Chewbacca Jones wrote:As a rule, I handle hats by the brim most of the time. The friction and pressure needed to lift and hold a hat by the crown will decrease the life of the felt.
If I do handle the crown, I do so gently. I sometimes cup the crown to put it on, but that's it.

In terms of material making a difference, I find it possible to lift a stiff straw hat by the crown without causing damage pretty easy. Not much pressure is needed.

In fact, Chewie takes such good care of his hats, that I'm afraid to touch them.

This begs the question, how does *Indy* put on his hat?
Surely somewhere in four movies there's a clip. Any sharp-eyed sleuths want to find it?

Indy sets a bad example (but let's be real, he sets a lot of bad examples).



Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Nosirrah wrote:This begs the question, how does *Indy* put on his hat?
Surely somewhere in four movies there's a clip. Any sharp-eyed sleuths want to find it?

I can’t do screenshots but he uses the crown to move his hat backwards and forwards on his head. Backwards in Temple of Doom, at the end, just before he’s squirted by the elephant. He also takes it of, and puts it back on, near the start of the film, as he goes to sleep on the plane, then wakes up to check on the pilots. I think there’s a fair amount of moving his hat about, using the crown, on Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

That’s probably the reason I started using the crown in this way myself. I mean, movies don’t lie about stuff / get things wrong do they? Ok, maybe the last Fast and the Furious pushed the truth about what magnets and computers can get cars to do, but not Indy.

Well, then, I'm not sure what the point of this survey is about now.

It asked what do WE do, not what does FORD do as Indiana Jones.

If you want to know what Indy does, he grabs his crown all the time to put on and off, and position it on his head. He also has wardrobe personal standing to the side ready to hand him a replacement fedora at any given time.

I don't, and want my fedoras to last a bit longer than one handled constantly by the crown....function over form.

So, what are we wanting to know here?

Regards! Michaelson

What I wonder is how tight are people wearing their lids that they need really crank it down so hard as to distort the crown?

My main thing about not handling it via the crown is not transferring dirt and oil to the crown. But I also have hands the size of dinner plates and don't really need to grab the crown to hold it, just lightly palm it.

Michaelson wrote:Well, then, I'm not sure what the point of this survey is about now.

It asked what do WE do, not what does FORD do as Indiana Jones.

If you want to know what Indy does, he grabs his crown all the time to put on and off, and position it on his head. He also has wardrobe personal standing to the side ready to hand him a replacement fedora at any given time.

I don't, and want my fedoras to last a bit longer than one handled constantly by the crown....function over form.

So, what are we wanting to know here?

Regards! Michaelson

Also, pretty sure you wear yours a lot more often than I do and the respectful handling becomes that much more important. I’m an occasional wearer, so not to be trusted

Agreed. I do wear mine either daily or definitely seasonally, so they're worn a lot during a years time.

Regards! Michaelson

Illinois_Jones wrote:What I wonder is how tight are people wearing their lids that they need really crank it down so hard as to distort the crown?

My main thing about not handling it via the crown is not transferring dirt and oil to the crown. But I also have hands the size of dinner plates and don't really need to grab the crown to hold it, just lightly palm it.

I gathered that it breaks the fibres, if you grip the pinch to put on / remove your hat. I suppose like folding and unfolding a fold in a piece of paper. Eventually the fibres break and the fold frays / comes apart.

Tibor wrote:

Every time I get my haircut and put on my hat it reminds me of that movie

Gerry

Tibor wrote:

Hum.....Looks like Bogey wasn't as fortunate as Ford....he must not have had a costume person standing by to hand him a new hat every time he pinched the daylights out of it ! Sorry, couldn't resist this opportunity!

Sure you could.

Regards! M

Speaking of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Bogart handles his hat from the crown and brim (in Big Sleep he even slaps it on a table brim down), as do other stars of the time. I noticed Basil Rathbone, Fred McMurray, George Reeves, Robert Mitchum, etc all grabbing it by the pinch.

I'm going to guess since it was fairly easy to grab another hat down the road that picking it up by the crown wasn't as much a concern back in the day?

So is it more realistic for Ford to grab it by the crown versus the brim? Or is this other cases of actors not caring about costume pieces? My assumption is just that they would grab the hat in a way that is natural for them especially being of the era.

I guess you can say familiarity really does breed contempt in that case.

Regards! Michaelson

I take them off by the crown 99% if the time with no issues. Just don't squeeze the pinch hard and you'll be just fine. To set my hats down I just snap up the brim and plop them down brim down.

Brim guy here too. Once I put it on, I always give the front brim the old thumb a finger pinch/swoosh to straighten it out. I can always tell when I need a haircut because my hat gets so snug it hurts. Afterwards it fits like a glove.

15 seconds into the CS trailer, you can see Ford’s silhouette in the side of the vehicle using the crown to put on his hat, followed by using the brim to make adjustments.