Meet the Fuzzies

'Fuzzy' hats, also known as "long hairs", "velvours" and "kitten finish hats" were quite popular during the Golden Era, particularly during the 'teens, '20s and into the '30s. They even soldiered on through to the 1950s, though the form and style had changed significantly.

Check out these two scans from a 1922 Mont. Ward catalog (click photos to enlarge):




Notice that the crowns were very tall, over 5" while the brims remained medium to narrow width. This was fairly common during this period and into the 1930s.


The Turgis fedora below is from the late 1920s or early 1930s. Note that is has the same tall crown (5") and narrow brim (2 1/8") as the hats pictured above. The fuzziness of this hat is on the long end of the fur length spectrum, thus making it very soft and fluffy. The fur of this hat could easily be combed.


Long haired hats are made a little differently from regular fedoras. While the fur used in regular fedoras is cut short and densely compacted, the fur used in long hair fedoras is cut longer and allowed to stand up, making for the fluffy appearance and soft feel.





Next is a 1940s Royal Stetson long hair with a rather crazy ribbon. Note that this hat falls into the medium area of hair length on the fuzziness spectrum: not as long as the Turgis above but still fairly long.


Interestingly this hat is meant for warmer weather, as the lack of a liner and the company tag attached to the inside top of the crown indicates:


Last but not least, this 1950s Stevens hat is on the very short end of the fuzziness spectrum. It is still a very soft fur hat and fuzzier than regular fedoras of the time but not as soft or fuzzy as either of the two previous hats.



As a side note, Adolf Hitler favored very long haired hats similar to the Turgis pictured above. That being said, long haired hats were a very popular style in Germany during the 1930s, especially in the Bavarian region so to associate the fuzzy fedora primarily with Hitler would be a great disservice to millinery history.






And while the fuzzy fedora is thankfully not usually associated with Hitler, the 1970s turned it into something for pimps and gansters.

What a shame.

The Duke, Take Two

On December 8th two of the Duke of Windsor's suits as well as some of his shirts will be up for auction. Now is your chance to own a piece of style history.

Click to enlarge:





An Audrey Hepburn collection is also up for auction the same day.

Start saving up your pennies!

Hat tip to Will.

Knapp-Felt

Beginning in 1929 and ending in 1930, the Crofut and Knapp hat company published a year-long series of ads, one new ad each month. Below are three original ads from the Saturday Evening Post.

Study the artwork and style wisdom of yesteryear and enjoy.

WIW: Oddly Warm

I've been absent from posting for a while. My job and an important test kept me away. And sometimes we all need a short break. But now we're back.

What goofy weather we've had. The temperature has been in the 70s this weekend so I busted out the linen and gabardine one last time for the year.

I tried a look that Ive seen in old Apparel Arts and Esquire illustrations and enjoyed immensely but had never tried for myself even though I've possessed the ingredients to create it for some time now. It is the quintessential 1930s American warm weather look.





I didn't wear a hat because it looks sleeker without one.
Other than the sunglasses, there is only one vintage piece in this look. Can you guess what it is?

Put This On- Denim

Visit Put This On and watch the interesting video about denim, both vintage and modern.

WIW Sunday

Went late '40s/early '50s again. The air was cool again but the sky was blue.

I wore a show-stealing "leisure coat" from the mid- to late 1950s. Unfortunately the 1970s pretty much ruined that name so whenever 'leisure' is used we most often picture this polyester abomination:

click to enlarge

Fortunately my jacket is 100% wool.

The leisure jacket shown is a later 'backwoods' cousin of the two-tone Hollywood Jacket of the late 1930s-early 1950s.

And my use of green was purposeful since it is a much under appreciated color when it comes to men's style.

Back to the Basics: Fit and Silhouette

If Fabric is the soul of the suit, then Fit and Silhouette are most assuredly a suit's mind and body, respectively. For without a mind a body is useless and without a body the mind is unable to express itself.

What does all that mumbo jumbo mean?
Fit and silhouette, while seemingly the same thing are two completely different ideas.

Fit describes the way a suit (or any garment for that matter) has been tailored, molded to the wearer's body. Simply put, Fit is the way a suit fits. A suit should ideally fit or wear like a second skin; if it doesn't then the suit has a poor Fit. One major thing that affects Fit are those pesky armholes, for if the armholes are not shaped and sized correctly to the specific customer then no amount of tailoring will help the rest of the suit fit right. A suit should fit the wearer in the shoulders, armholes, waist and hips.

Below is an example of a poorly fitted suit, courtesy of Thom Browne:

click to enlarge

Silhouette describes the outward appearance of a suit. This, unlike Fit, can vary from suit to suit according to the wearer's preferences. We see great variance of Silhouette throughout the Golden Era: from the slim and trim of the 1920s, the natural and trim of the 1930s and the big and bulky of the 1940s and early 1950s to the slim and trim of the 1960s, full circle.

Silhouette is affected by the amount of padding in the shoulders, the amount of waist suppression (or lack thereof) and the length of the jacket just to name a few. And, while a suit can be made to fit nearly any body shape, certain silhouettes can only go with certain body shapes.

For example, a heavy man cannot have a well fitted suit with the same amount of waist suppression as a skinny tall man can. The physics of it just will not allow it to happen.

click to enlarge

So, which is more important? Fit or Silhouette? I would have to say Fit. A well fitted suit with poor silhouette is still well fitted and will be comfortable for the owner to wear, even if it makes him look like a blimp. A poorly fitted suit with great silhouette will be too uncomfortable for a man to wear and it will become a hated thing, a uniform. That is the problem with suits today: they are poorly fitted and so uncomfortable that most men hate them and wear them only when they must.

Suits shouldn't be uniforms. They should have both Fit and Silhouette.