Thursday, August 14, 2008

LA FEDORA SWINGS








AS YOU KNOW THE 'OLD RANCERE' wears an old fedora hat when making his public appearances. I adopted the fedora hat and the 'sciavola' as the symbols of the 'bagnatori' ( irrigators) who irrigated the crops 'su per la costa' of old. The fedora that the 'Old Rancere' wears is actually the last hat my father, Bronco, wore. (It is over thirty years old now. ) Of late, I have notice that the only people who wear fedoras any more are the young ladies. (Brittney Spears is often photographed with a fedora hat.) Imagine my surprise when I received the above pamphlet in the mail from Gavilan College in Gilroy. The handsome young man in the photo may start a new trend........... don't you think?












Posted below is an article 'borrowed from "wikipedia' the free on line dictionary,


http://www.wikipedia.org/ . It tells you all you want to know about the famous fedora hat.


Fedora
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For the Linux distribution, see Fedora (operating system). For other uses, see Fedora (disambiguation).

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A fedora that 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.
A fedora is a soft felt hat that is creased lengthwise down the crown and pinched in the front on both sides. Similar hats with a C-crown (with an indentation for the head in the top of the crown) are occasionally called fedoras. The brim goes all the way around, and often there will be a hat band as well. A trilby hat is somewhat similar to a fedora, but typically has a shorter brim, and the back of the brim is distinctively more sharply upturned as a result.
The term fedora was in use as early as 1891. Beginning in the 20th century, the fedora came into use as an upper-class clothing accessory. Hats that resemble the soft felt version are often called fedoras even if they are made of straw or twill. Fedoras did not start to become widespread until the late 1910s. Its popularity soared, and eventually it eclipsed the similar-looking Homburg by the 1930s. Fedoras can be found in nearly any color imaginable, but black, grey, and tan/brown are the most popular.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Etiquette
3 Fedoras in popular culture
4 References
5 External links
//

[edit] History

A fedora made by Borsalino
The word fedora comes from the title of an 1882 play by Victorien Sardou. Princess Fédora, the heroine of the play, wore a hat similar to a fedora. In the early part of the twentieth century, the fedora was popular in cities for its stylishness, ability to protect the wearer's head from the wind and weather, and the fact that it could be rolled up when not in use. Since the early part of the 20th century, many Haredi and other Orthodox Jews have worn black fedoras and continue to this day.
The hat is sometimes associated with Prohibition-era gangsters and the detectives who sought to bring them to justice. In Hollywood movies of the 1940s, characters 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 widely recognized with the characters of The Blues Brothers, Indiana Jones, and Freddy Krueger. The fedora is closely associated with film noir characters. In the case of action/adventure films, such as old "B"-movies, and the Indiana Jones series they inspired, the fedora served the practical purpose of hiding the face sufficiently to allow doubles to perform the more dangerous stunts seamlessly.
Like the bowler hat, the fedora fell out of usage and popularity during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The hat began to lose favor even earlier on the west coast of the United States, which is known for its more casual clothing. The early 1950s switch from large lapels and ties to thin ones, resulted in shorter-brimmed hats, and this likely played a role in the fedora eventually being deemed a non-essential item. Also playing a part was the shrinking automobiles of the mid-1950s, which often made it difficult to wear a hat while driving. By the early 1970s, the fedora was seen as a dead fashion, typically only worn by older and/or more traditional men.
The demise of hat use by American men was quite abrupt. One hypothesis explaining the sudden shift places the date for the change as January 20, 1961, when John F. Kennedy supposedly chose not to wear a hat to his inauguration. However, There is ample photographic and journalistic evidence that President Kennedy indeed wore a top hat to his inauguration ceremony, only removing it when he gave his speech.[1][2]
Fedoras have staged something of a comeback as of the 2000s.[citation needed] This trend seems to be expanding particularly fast in the rock and indie communities, where artists such as Pete Doherty have been seen donning a trilby (a fedora variant) at concerts and live performances.

[edit] Etiquette
Traditionally, when a man doffs this hat, he grasps a fedora by the crown (though it can and does do damage over time). If there is a strong wind it is acceptable to anchor a fedora using the "wind trolley" found on some fedoras. This elastic band can be taken off the crown and wound through the button hole of a suit lapel. Hats, including the fedora, are typically doffed indoors, except in public areas such as lobbies or elevators. If a man wearing a fedora enters into a conversation with a lady, custom dictates that he doff his hat.

[edit] Fedoras in popular culture

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University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant is noted for wearing a black and white houndstooth fedora cap.
Singer Dean Martin is seen wearing a fedora cap in many photos.
Anatomist Gunther von Hagens always wears a fedora in public, even while performing dissections in front of audiences.
The fictional character, Indiana Jones is known specifically by his iconic brown fedora.
The DC comic book character The Question wears a fedora.
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 logo of newsreader Forté Agent is a person wearing a fedora.
The logo of the production company Flyte Tyme is a pair of walking legs under a fedora.
ZootFly prominently features a yellow fedora in its logo.
The characters Joliet Jake Blues and Elwood Blues, along with other characters, wore black fedoras or trilbies in the 1980 movie "The Blues Brothers.
Synyster Gates of the metal band Avenged Sevenfold often wears a fedora.
The lead singer of Three Days Grace, Adam Gontier, often wears a fedora during their concerts.
In L. Ron Hubbard's fiction, the Marcab Confederacy had a custom of wearing fedoras. It has become a trend among Anonymous to wear fedoras at anti-Scientology protests.
The TV and video game character Carmen Sandiego's trademark costume includes a red fedora with a yellow band.
Singer Michael Jackson has worn fedoras during his concerts.
Musician Roger Cicero is known to wear fedoras, and his fans often wear them to his concerts.
Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman has been known to wear fedoras. It is becoming a trend among Switchfoot fans to wear fedoras to the band's concerts.
Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy has been known to wear fedoras.
Singer David Archuleta was photographed wearing a fedora on the red carpet of the world premiere of the movie WALL-E in Los Angeles on June 21, 2008.
Harry "the Hat" Gittes, a recurring character on Cheers, wore a white and black fedora.
Ben Croshaw of the video review column Zero Punctuation wears a black fedora, and includes a fedora in his logo.
Singer/Songwriter Jason Mraz and Ne-Yo have been known to wear fedoras.
The character Freddy Kruger of the horror movie series A Nightmare on Elm Street wears a fedora.
Sylvester Stallone wears a fedora in the movie Rocky Balboa.
In the stage production The Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom wears a fedora in three scenes.
Pro wrester The Miz fedora during his entrances and interviews.

[edit] References
^ Kennedy and Eisenhower at Inauguration, 1961, Viewimages. Retrieved on January 4, 2008.
^ http://www.snopes.com/history/american/jfkhat.asp

[edit] External links
Hat etiquette






!


NOW THATSA FEDORA!














10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Forget the guy! Put the hat on the blond..........

Anonymous said...

Hey Ivano: Referring to the photo at the bottom of article, I thought the Phantom of the Opera was dead. SS

Ivano Franco Comelli said...

Sam: And I thought you were my friend.

According to the "La Fedora Swings"
article, Hollywood favored the Fedoras because they could be pulled down to hide the actor's face. This made using a double for the actor easier. The guy in the photo is actually my double doing an impersonation of the "Phantom". (The act of book signing is sometimes dangerous.)
ivno

Anonymous said...

Che bello giovanne. Un ragazzo Furlano?

Anonymous said...

Hei anonymous furlana: I don't know if the young man in the photo is Friulano, however, the miner panning for gold sure looks Friulano. ivano

Anonymous said...

To Saratoga Sam: I think that you are mistaken. That looks more like Freddie Kruger. Johnny C.

Anonymous said...

Hey! You two guys lay off my Bello Ivano. Ivano, you look so handsome in your fedora. And the ranchere holding that shovel, just sends chills up and down my spine. What a picture of strength and fortitude. My father was just like that.

Of course, my favorite photo is the one with you and your grandsons. Those boys surely will grow up to be very handsome young men.

Speaking of handsome young men, the top photo reminds me of my bello and me dancing at our Senior Prom. He wasn't wearing a hat but he sure could dance. I was a brunette (I did try going blond a few times, but I didn't have more fun) and I could dance pretty good too. Yes indeed. Let the Fedora Swing. Carrie

Anonymous said...

Carrie: The reason you didn't have more fun as a blond was because you forgot to bleach your upper lip. P/P

Anonymous said...

If you don't know what Mal Occhio is you'ld better order Mr. Distasi's book, because that's what I'm giving you, POLENTAHEAD!!!

Anonymous said...

Now now Carrie. It was just a joke. You don't really believe in that mall ochio thing, do you?? P/P