Seasonal hats are very much a mixed bag for many of us. They keep us warm and cozy but when the wool comes off, make us look … anything but.

The key to success with hats is to work with the style rather than against it. Hats can be super hot, and if we wear our hair in ways that complement the hats on our head, we will amp up the heat, in more ways than one!

We consulted celebrity hairstylist, Philip Pelusi and he shared some tips on how to make the hottest hat styles of the season work.

Fedora
This is a fairly “manly” style of hat, so it works best with the contrast of a softer style, like loose feminine waves.
Create the Look: This type of hair style works best on medium to longer length hair.  If hair has a natural wave, try curl enhancing products to boost waves and a texturizer, and then let hair dry or dry with a diffuser attachment on your blow dyer.  If hair is straight, use a big barrel curling iron to add curls, some facing towards and some facing away from the face.
 
Newsboy cap
Newsboy caps are another menswear-inspired look; so again, it’s a great idea to achieve sexy contrast by going very feminine. For this style, Philip recommends a ballerina-esque bun at the nape of your neck. Remember that the cap is usually worn low on the forehead and this tends to cover most of the entire forehead.  Wearing a ballerina bun pulls the hair back off the face opening to face up! Hot.
Create the Look:  Part hair in the center and smooth hair back into a low ponytail at the middle of the nape.  Use a hair-smoothing bore bristle brush and a hair smoothing product.  Apply product to the ponytail also and brush smooth.  Twist ponytail in one direction and wind around ponytail and secure with a few hair pins.  Put on Newsboy and you are ready to go!

Beret
A sideswept pony is super hot with a bohemian beret. A beret has a French romantic look and this feminine ponytail really compliments that.  Tuck the hair back into a side pony so that soft strands peek out to make the look extra sexy.
Create the Look: Phillip says this look works best with straight or smooth hair.  Create a side part and use a bore bristle paddle brush and a hair smoothing product and brush into a low side ponytail at the nape on the opposite side of the part.  Secure ponytail and put on Beret.  Remember, the back of the beret should slouch to the opposite side of the ponytail!

By Aly Walansky

When asked to name a hat style, three out of every four people asked can come up with “fedora” — not homburg or trilby, not bowler or even top hat. (For caps, it’s nearly almost always “baseball caps” with newsboy caps a distant second).

According to Wikipedia, the term fedora was in use as early as 1891 when the hat came into being as women’s (not men’s) headwear. In fact, it took some twenty years for the fedora to really take as a men’s middle-class clothing accessory. but when it did, the fedora’s popularity soared, and eventually eclipsed the similar-looking homburg.

Fedoras are still predominantly worn by men; however, women do wear them especially in lighter materials and brighter colors. Now you know!

Thanks for reading,
Fedora Fan, Steve Singer
(also CEO Hartford York)

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The opening paragraph of Caitlin Donnelly’s article in LJ World (Hats add endless variations to wardrobe), reads in part that

hats are often overlooked as an accessory. The endless shapes, colors and fabrics are a fun way to add variety to your wardrobe, especially during fall and winter months when your wardrobe is always covered, bundled underneath a warm coat.

This is quite true. Picking out gloves and scarfs, after agonizing over the perfect winter coat and pair of boots, is usually as far as most people go. But why stop there? You need a hat in most northern climes, so why not make it a complimentary and integral part of the whole?

Then she delves into those classic hats: the trilby; the fedora; and the homburg, providing a nice distinction between the styles (and uses).

A trilby hat is frequently made from tweed or wool; its shape often holds an indent at the crown and a distinctly narrow brim, upturning in the back. A fedora is a version of the trilby, distinguished by its wider brim. Unlike a fedora or trilby, the homburg hat is not mold-able. The indented crown and upturned brim of a homburg is fixed.

These qualities are important to keep in mind — if you travel frequently, the compressible shape of a trilby or fedora might be easier to fit in a crowded suitcase.

If you’re looking for a good travel hat, wool felt is often better than fur felt (in structured hats, not necessarily in shapes like bucket hats and cloches), because it tends to take the abuse and revert to its shape better after its been rolled up for packing.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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INDI Designs released a classy and cute women’s outfit called Winona today!

Winona includes 35 pieces:

• 4 shirts (white and purple)
• 2 sculpted shirt bottoms with belt
• 1 sculpted belt
• 8 jackets (brown and purple, with and without shirts underneath)
• 2 sculpted collars
• 8 sculpted cuffs
• 2 long pants (on pants- and underpants layers)
• 1 short pants
• 2 tights (black and purple)
• 1 gloves

All sculpted parts come with and without resize script!

The fedora hat shown on the pics is not included but sold separately as well as matching boots:

INDI Designs Blog

INDI Designs mainstore

Another day around town with miss RiRi.  Loving the whole outfit.  Awesome tattoo on right hand.

Do you remember the time? by onlinefashionstylist.com featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

The michael Look! We were all shocked to hear that Michael Jackson died but the legend will live on and not only through his music! But also with his unique fashion sense, his look was already spotted back earlier this year on the catwalk at Balmain, especially the militairy jackets with sculptured shoulders made us think of Michael. We wanted to give you our favorite Michael look, Lots of glitter in the Christian Louboutins black glitter slingback killer heels, white simple tank top, jeans ripped mini skirt, MJ statement sequin glove and black fedora hat….. we will miss you!

Lady M looks great here.  I think it’s because she put on a few pounds, her face looks fuller.  Loving the jacket, hat, and pants.

Johnny Depp looks great in a fedora as bank-robbing legend John Dillinger in Public Enemies.

And, as Parade.com’s Jeanne Wolf found, Depp admires the famous crook, saying:

Back then the banks were the enemies. We’re learning today that they’ve been the enemies yet again. So when it comes to Dillinger, isn’t it somehow nice to see the underdog kind of take control, even if it was another time?

And now for Johnny Depp’s guide to life:

“Remember that you make your own reality. You don’t have to stay in a little shell that was hammered out for you from childhood. At a certain point you have to come out and live your life the way you want to live it. I had to fight to retain my individuality. It’s just a question of standing straight and saying, ‘No. I’m not going to be what you want me to be. I’m going to be what I want to be.’”

Here’s to straight shooting,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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categories: straw hats summer hats panama hats straw fedora hats straw fedoras winter hats fedoras cowboy hats leather hats Kangol hats Borsalino hats Scala hats Stetson hats Wigens hats fur hats fall hats autumn hats hats for winter wool caps hats women’s hats men’s hats fashion humor

Fedoras are the hat of choice this summer, if celebrity trends are anything to go by. Hugh Jackman and his son were spotted wearing the classic style as were Jeremy Piven, Robert Downey Jr., Benji Madden among others.

Even in summer, these young men still tend to wear darker colors (only Jack Osborne had a natural straw), but the majority tend to make a further style statement with funky hat bands.

Hollywood heads in fedoras aren’t only men either: Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, and Kylie Minogue were also shown in the must-have headwear recently.

What was nice about seeing all these stars in hats was how natural they looked. Sun protection, style and attention-getting is a pretty potent package: what’s not to like?

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
Head Fedora and CEO Hartford York

If you read this post whilst wearing a fedora, go to the head of the class and get free updates by email or RSS.

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Megan looks cute and stylish in that orange fedora hat.  I’ve been on the fence about getting one for the summer.  I may just get one now.

INDI Designs has some new releases for men! First, a new men’s outfit called Aaron (available in brown, black and blue):

Second, a sculpted fedora hat, which is available in 9 different colours and textures. Hair in 5 different shades is included as well as a hat version without hair. You can change the hat – and hair size via resize script, which guarantees an easy and quick way of fitting.

And last but not least my contribution to the MHO hunt:

read more about… Aaron, Fedora Hat and the MHO gift.

INDI Designs Blog

INDI Designs mainstore

INDI Designs has some new releases for men today! First, a new men’s outfit called Aaron (available in brown, black and blue):

Second, a sculpted fedora hat, which is available in 9 different colours and textures. Hair in 5 different shades is included as well as a hat version without hair. You can change the hat - and hair size via resize script, which guarantees an easy and quick way of fitting.

And last but not least my contribution to the MHO hunt:

read more about… Aaron, Fedora Hat and the MHO gift.

INDI Designs Blog 

INDI Designs mainstore 

Second post today and again I’ve something for men, a new outfit called Aaron, which is available in 3 different colours: brown, black and blue.

The outfit includes:  

• 2 cloth pants with crease (waist cut and normal cut) 
• 12 shirts (2 different colours, on shirt and jacket layers, with and without painted collars)
• 2 shirt bottoms (on underpants layer for waist cut pants)
• 1 vest (jacket layer)
• 2 suspenders (for waist cut pants and for normal cut pants on jacket layer)
• 4 sculpted collars (with and without sculpted/flexi tie, 2 different colours)
• 4 sculpted armcuffs (2 different colours)
• 1 sculpted belt
• underwear

The fedora hats shown on the pics are not included but available for sale separately at INDI Design’s mainstore.

Yours, Jamie Holmer

What a great beginning of the month for men! First the MHO hunt and second: I released a new men’s hat collection !

It’s a sculpted fedora hat which comes in 9 different colours and textures: black, black leather, brown plaid, dark brown, grey checked, houndstooth brown, light blue plaid, white and white leather. Hair in 5 different shades is included as well as a hat version without hair. You can change the hat - and hair size via resize script, which guarantees an easy and quick way of fitting.

my favourites:

Yours, Jamie Holmer

OAK NYC Straw Fedora

A fedora is a hat with a short brim and a pinch in the front of the crown. It has been popularized by gangster types, but can also be seen on people like Malcolm X, Indiana Jones, and the Blues Brothers

Why you want it- The fedora is the coolest hat on the market. It is sleek and has history. This is what you where when you want to throw on a hat and look fashionable. For a how to, just look at Malcolm X.

As part of our 3 part series in talking about hats, we wrote briefly about the different parts of hats (i.e. hat nomenclature) in our last post. This week, we are going to talk about the different types of hats there are. The following are some of the more common hats:

Baseball Cap:

Starting at the top of the list is the casual baseball cap. Most people are already familiar with this type of hat and so we won’t spend much time on it. The unique identifying characteristic here is the long, stiff, and sometimes slightly rounded peak. The following is a picture of Ashton Kutcher wearing a baseball cap.

Beret:

The beret usually has a soft round cap made of felt wool. The hat in itself is a french phenomenon and comes with a flat crown. One of the most common questions asked about a beret is which side it should be pushed to when wearing it. The answer is that it depends on local custom. For this reason, for the casual wear, which side you tip it towards does not matter. The beret in itself is interesting in terms of societal suggestions. It is worn as part of military uniform in many countries across the world. At the same time, it is also somewhat of revolutionary symbol. One of Che Guevara’s most famous pictures was taken while wearing a beret.

Boater:

This type of hat is also known as a basher, katie, skimmer, and even sennit. The hat was commonly worn by sailors and those who, as the name dictates, went boating. The hat itself is usually made of sennit straw and is known to be a summer hat. The expression, “It’s a straw hat day” exemplifies the context in which the hat would become appropriate accessory in earlier years. Nowadays the hat is still part of school uniforms (sometimes officially and other times not) in places like New Zealand and Australia. In modern day, in North America, the hat is still mostly worn while going sailing on a summer day. The following are some boater hats from a Marc Jacob’s collection:

Bowler Hat:

Also known as a coke hat, a name that comes from its inventor – Edward Coke, the bowler hat is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown (some also call it a billycock). The hat in itself peaked in popularity towards the ends of the 19th century. It was essentially a compromise between a top hat (worn by the wealthy) and flat caps worn by the working class. The following is a picture of Fergie wearing a bowler hat.

Bucket Hat:

Worn by men and women, the bucket hat has a downward sloping brim and is usually made of cotton. In the UK, it is also known as a fishing hat. In American Popular culture, the hat is famous for being exemplified in Gilligan’s Island and Indiana Jones (worn by Professor Henry Jones, Sr). In modern day, some famous rappers such as LL Cool J have also been known to tout this accessory.

Cowboy Hat:

More commonly Worn in the Western United States, the hat is a common wear for a ranch worker. It is not uncommon for folks from the Western United States to wear the hat even with a suit when they are not in the West. The hat itself brings with it the connotation of the cowboy culture and attitude. Former President George W. Bush was often seen wearing a cowboy hat.

Fedora:

A more popular hat, it has a length wise crease and it is made of soft felt. There was a period in the 70’s and 80’s where the hat fell out of fashion amongst the young crowd; however, Hollywood is definitely bringing it back into style. The following is a picture of Hugh Jackman wearing a Fedora:

Panama:

A Panama is a straw hat originally made in Ecuador. This hat was made popular in movies such as Casablanca and works quite well with white linen suits.

Top Hat:

The top hat is a tall flat crowned hat with a broad brim that was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In modern North American culture, this type of hat is commonly worn by doormen at Hotels. With that said, the hat in itself is also much of a symbol in Rock Culture. The following picture shows Angus Stone wearing a top hat:

Haven’t you noticed that men are becoming increasingly more aware of their style choices? It’s not just jeans and a t-shirt anymore. Men are piling on the bling and buying snazzy shoes and clothes, too. They’re starting to dress to impress, and quite frankly, I’m taking notice! You know, the “metrosexual” trend came around quite a few years ago, and even though we don’t necessarily throw the word around as often, it’s still just as prevelant today.

Stella & Dot has even created new pieces of jewelry FOR MEN. Yep, that’s right. Men are snatching up their Stella & Dot just as quickly as their wives and girlfriends! Makai Pfiefer from E.R. fame has even been photographed wearing his sterling silver Fleur De Lis Necklace on a genuine leather cord (right). The sterling silver Lion Stamp Cuff Links are also a bestseller from Stella & Dot (left).

With the rise of style among the male demographic, what does this mean? Well, it means that the coolness factor definitely just went  up a notch. Our men seem to be hearing our pleas and they’re changing out of their wrinkled shirts and putting on the Axe and that Banana Republic button-up. Ahhh, it looks (and smells) pretty good, doesn’t it?

So the androgynous trend has been around since, like, the seventies. But it’s not just for clothes anymore. Women are also using men’s deodorants, colognes, belts, hats and jewelry. And it works. Remember that razor blade commercial when the girl kept stealing her man’s razor to shave her legs? It’s kind of like that. Take a look at these items from Shop.com that are manly enough for him, and just sweet enough for you:
 

Find some inspiration for your own boy-meets-girl look from these women who did it right…. Starting with Mandy Moore on the April cover of Marie Claire. She paired a rugged belt and a boyish vest with a statement necklace and awesome heels. She followed the ratio rule. And, you see, it looks fabulous, right?

Katherine Hepburn, the queen of the androgynous suit, is the style inspiration behind it all…. Pairing the look with smokin’ hot makeup and beautifully coiffed hair.

From the runway to the streets… The look is everywhere! Various designers have featured boyish styles for years. And it’s pouring over into the street scene. Rachel Bilson rocks a cute boyish hat, and Katie Holmes takes the trend up a notch by wearing boyfriend jeans and oversized sweaters. She keeps the look from looking too frumpy and plain, though, by choosing lively, fun colors and topping it off with a fabulous handbag.

For my previous birthday my parents promised me a fedora. Ever since, it’s been my elusive goal to acquire one.

Maybe my lack of initiative in this endeavor played a (minor) role in my current state of fedora bereavement, but I like to place the blame on the Fates(/calendar). After hearing of a quaint haberdashery on 3rd and Union in Seattle, I have made more than five journeys to the Emerald City and more than five times have returned empty-handed.

My last trip was my first encounter with the “Open” sign on the door (my previous attempts were mostly on Sundays, when the store takes an ever so convenient day of rest), but I realized my nearly three months without a haircut would alter what hat size I needed. And so, alas, I again donned my invisible hood of shame and left, promising to return after a future tonsorial appointment.

***

My interest in the fedora stemmed not from its prominence in the “Indiana Jones” series (or “Mad Men,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Chinatown,” etc.) but rather from a viewing of Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samouraï.”

The story follows Jef Costello (Alain Delon), a laconic hit man with strict code of conduct and whose only friend is a caged bird. His philosophy mirrors Bushido, the way of the samurai (also referenced in the opening quote—”There’s no solitude greater than the samurai’s, unless perhaps it be that of a tiger in the jungle”—written by Mr. Melville but attributed to a fictional source, “The Book of Bushido”). But instead of armor and a katana, he uses a trench coat, a pistol, ample cigarettes and a fedora.

Ceremony is an integral part of Jef’s philosophy. His ritural before leaving his spartan apartment (starting at about the three minute mark in the clip below) involves walking up to a mirror, putting on his coat, straightening his coat, putting on his fedora, straightening his fedora, then making three swipes of the brim before exiting. The coat and fedora were his armor of anonymity, each being essential to his ability to keep an immaculate arrest record. More so, each take on the extra weight of the stringent honor code he lives by, up to his last breath.

***

Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” also makes a convincing argument for the fedora (and against the bowler). In this film, Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a schmuck who lends out his bachelor pad to married upper management who need a place to take their mistresses. He tries to convince himself he’s the primary benefactor of this arrangement, when really he’s the one most taken advantage of. He can only stand to the side as the woman he’s smitten with, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), is taken for a joyride by one of his superiors, Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), which ends in her consumption of half a bottle of sleeping pills. (He arrives just in time to her rescue. The attending doctor, thinking Baxter was the cause of her state—she was found in his apartment—gave him the memorable advice, “Be a mensch!”)

Jack Lemmon and evil bowler in "The Apartment"

Promotion does eventually come Baxter’s way, and he celebrates this occasion by purchasing a bowler hat.

When he was a meager accountant, he participated in the perfunctory world of the late 50s and wore a fedora everyday to work (“The Apartment” was released in 1960). He purchased the bowler hat, which he called the “Junior Executive Model,” as a way of distinguishing himself from his peers; but for him the hat also had the role of being the justification for the disreputable methods of attaining his promotion. After Fran recovered from her attempted suicide (spending a few days recovering at Baxter’s apartment), Sheldrake resumed his non-serious relationship with her. But when Sheldrake asks for the key to his apartment once again to entertain Fran there, Baxter tells him no and then quits, giving up his 27th floor office with three windows. And the last thing he did before getting on the elevator: gave his bowler to the janitor.

Without the bowler, a happy ending to the story is inevitable. Fran realizes Sheldrake is a douche and that Baxter is the man to live happily ever after with. “The Apartment” is the story of how Baxter went from being a schmuck to a mensch. While the bowler represented Baxter at the nadir of his schmuck-dom, the fedora symbolized his rise(/return) to humanity, the realm of the mensch.

***

I finally got that haircut I needed, but now I have to find my way back to Seattle somehow. Again, initiative isn’t the stopping factor. (Really!) There’s some higher power just messing with me. (Right?) Maybe when I finally return to the doors of that quaint shop enough time will have passed that I will be in need of a haircut again. Then the cycle will repeat ad nauseam.

I know once I have a fedora that I will be complete, somehow. (Sartorially?) Maybe my body will start to glow with enlightenment as soon I touch the fedora, like Taimak in the final fight scene of “The Last Dragon.” Then, in order to never lose my future hat, I will become Indiana Jones.

In an article called The Inaugural Top Hat Tradition, Kate Michael of The Examiner wonders aloud if Barack Obama will bring back the top hat tradition. The last President to wear a top hat during an inauguration ceremony was John F. Kennedy, back in 1961, and with the nearly inevitable Camelot comparisons between JFK and Obama, a top hat worn by this President-elect would certainly seem full circle.

Speaking of Presidential hats, we’ve got the limited edition Presidential Pinnacle fedora from Stetson on hand. This is the hat that our cohort Josh from HatForObama.Com is trying to give to the President-elect. For every one of these hats sold over the next several weeks and months, $25 will be donated to the Hats Off for Cancer Charity with a goal of selling 2009 numbered, certificated hats for a total of $50,000.

Hopefully Hat No. 1 will go to the First Man himself.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Victoria and David Beckham have apparently discovered the potential of felt hats, arriving at Heathrow for the Christmas holidays in a trimmed trilby (her) and a casual, Indy-type fedora (him).

The Softpedia article called “Hats – Even the Beckhams Are Doing It:
Posh and David don matching hats, may set new trend” wonders what the fashionable duo might do for hats, saying that “Posh and Becks donning them [may] be the push that [hats need] to go mainstream once more.”

On a related note: why is soccer called football in Europe?

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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After visting one of the most extravagantly beautiful cities in the world, writer Barry Ronge of The Times wrote about how Parisians exemplify the sexiness of style in his article, Paris, C’est Chic.

He talks about the simple boot, for example, saying:

Boots in France are not things that protect your feet. They are declarations of wealth, status and power. Unless you are properly shod, you will never get your foot in the door of the haute société.

And then he moves on to hats:

The same goes for hats. French men wear dashing Borsalino hats or chic little Trilbies in wonderfully woven fabrics. The women go for elegantly crumpled little velvet concoctions, usually in black, that hug the head and are adorned with beautifully created flowers, subtle embroidered medallions or plaited ribbon trims that define the shape of the head without shrieking: “Look at the fabulous hat I am wearing.”

From that last bit, I think Mr. Ronge is okay if a man shrieks about his fabulous hat, but he’s not so much a fan of women doing so. That point may call for some discussion, but not before I chew on his next sentence:

They have mastered the art of dressing way, way up, but in a style so discreet and ingeniously engineered that it looks totally effortless.

This last statement makes me wonder if perhaps my heritage doesn’t contain a little more francophone than the folks let on. . .cuz you just know how effortlessly chic I am in my Borsalino hat.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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categories: straw hats summer hats panama hats straw fedora hats straw fedoras winter hats fedoras cowboy hats leather hats Kangol hats Borsalino hats Scala hats Stetson hats Wigens hats fur hats fall hats autumn hats hats for winter wool caps hats women’s hats men’s hats fashion humor