What is a fedora?

‘How a hat makes you feel is what the hat is about’ Philip Treacy

There’s no hiding our love of fedoras. We sell five different colours, in four different sizes… and we sell a lot of feather brooches with our fedoras too! We feel that a fedora is a key part of any outdoor outfit, making them great for events, the races… or just time out and about in the countryside.

So – what is a fedora? In simple terms, it’s a hat, but it also has a few features that make it a fedora. Fedoras have soft brims of at least six centimetres, and they also have a dent that runs along the crown, which also gives the v shaping at the front of the hat. Smaller brimmed hats in the same style are called tribys.

 As for what they’re made of, fedoras can be made from wool felt (like ours), but they can be made of different kind of felts too. The kind of felt used may have a bearing on the other ‘features’ the fedora has – so ours is crushable and showerproof, and is also easy to clean (you just brush it!) and hardwearing.

Where does the term fedora come from?

This is quite interesting (well, if you’re into this kind of thing!). The fedora first appeared in 1882 as a ladies hat. This was the same year that a play of the same name came out, featuring a princess of the same name. And the actress playing her wore a hat in the same style as a fedora.

Although it initially became popular as a hat for women (and we do sell a lot of fedoras to ladies), it became a hat choice for men too after 1924 when the then Prince of Wales started wearing one. We’ve seen many men looking super stylish in fedoras – they’re so adaptable.

Since then, fedoras have been linked to various different people, films and more, depending on the trends and styles of the time. For us, we see the fedoras as a country must have. Not only can a fedora add a pop of colour to an outfit or finish a look, but it’s also a great way to keep your hair in order when you’re out and about!