to pinch or not to pinch...

[wheresabner71]

Pretty quiet around here lately! I thought I'd start a thread with a genuine question I have for new fedora wearers and veterans alike. I've been wearing a fedora - crap to custom - since 1981. (Loungers will not have to guess at the significance of that year. heh) and I have a Bad Habit that will probably never be broken.

I pick the hat up by the pinch and I put it on, take it off and straighten it by the pinch.

It's only recently that I've come to understand that it's a bad habit as it stresses the felt in a certain area (roughly two inches up from the point of the pinch on the right side) until EVENTUALLY it will make a hole or a tear there. The thing is: I CAN'T MAKE MYSELF STOP IT!

In every single movie from the Golden Era I've seen and of course the Indy series, the hat gets manhandled by the pinch. There are very likely Notable Exceptions on celluloid but for the most part...

Do you guys do the same? My pure beaver felt Penman seems to say "Do whatever you want - I'm tough as nails!" but with my rabbit felt hats I know it's only a matter of time before I get a hole on that right side at the front top. It's a subject I haven't seen much discussion on.

Any stories, advice, opinions, suggestions are welcome! What do you guys think?

See, even HERE he's probably putting it on by the pinch! haha.

Cheers!
Cody S.

[patchcamel]

Well now that you mention it, I alway put mine on using the pinch, and then I always adjust it with a quick pull on the brim down and to the right, almost like I am tipping my hat. The interesting thing is I do it with fedoras and cowboy hats, and like you said, I can't make myself stop.


And yeah, Bogie, Sinatra, Cagney, Martin, Cary Grant, Gene Kelly, all of the greats from the golden age, even John Wayne in His Private Secretary, they all don their hats, tip their hats, or doff their hats using the pinch.

[wheresabner71]

I wonder how often the average bloke in the 20s, 30s, 40s bought new fedoras?!

Maybe once a year? Every couple of years? Maybe they used the pinch because the hats never got old enough to develop tears or holes. Hmm.

[Stefana Jones]

When I bought my very first fedora in 1982, the gentleman at the hat store specifically told me..."Never put your hat on or take it off by handling the crown, always use the brim !"

It will be 30 years soon that I always handle my hats by the crown... I can't help it...

Only that little Indy figure (at the bottom of this reply) seems to have stuck with the right technique.

[Deleted]

I've worn out a couple of hats over the years by handling the front pinch too much. All of them were rabbit. So far no problems with my Beaver hats though.

Cheers,
John

[Pennsylvania Jones]

I hold my hat by the bash (Since I assumed that's what it's for... ) and I get the hat to fit over my head by the brim. That's because my hat's a tad too tight for me.

Steven

[jnicktem]

I have seen people put holes right through the felt from handling the pinch too often. Some people have put holes in it just by grabbing the pinch everytime they took the hat on and off.

Just because the guys in the movies handled their hats that way doesn't mean you should. It just looks cool in the movies. But in real life it can and if done enough will eventually ruin your hat.

[wheresabner71]

True that, jnicktem, but I imagine they did it in era movies not because it looked cool but because that's they way guys did it in real life. I IMAGINE that it didn't matter to guys back then because they probably bought a new hat once a year or so and they never got to wear one out. Just a guess of course.

It must have been awesome to live in a world where dozens of fur felt fedoras were in every other shop window all the time.

[jnicktem]

Also remember in that era many people couldn't afford to buy as many hats as they pleased. A lot of people had just one or two hats, and they had to last for as long as possible.

In the Indiana Jones movies, Harrison Ford knew how to properly put on and take off a hat. But Steven knew it wouldn't look as cool if Indy carefully placed his fedora on his head. He had a point.

[wheresabner71]

Yes, very true. Then there's the Johnny Depp school of just-wear-the-hat-into-the-ground-and-holes-be-damned, as well. haha! It's a matter of degrees too, I expect. I kind of WANT to get a few holes in my Christy's Adventurer (which should happen next week by the look of it), but I'd probably freak out if I got a hole in my Penman. Hmm.

[fifthchamber]

Entirely agreed with Nick here....They do it in the movies because 1) it looks cooler, and more traditional, and 2) because back then, it WAS the thing to do... Not for the survival of the hat, but simply because hats were so common that buying a new one was the same as buying a tie would be for us now (I'd guess? For those of us whom wear suits...LOL)... A small cost, but not worth paying especial attention to unless it was a treasured item...

For what it's worth, I always lift the hat off by the brim, since usually my sweat and hair makes the hat stick a touch to my head, and I don't need the pull on the bash there...Putting the hat on isn't such a hug issue I think, since as long as you're not gripping the bash heavily or rubbing it, a light touch is no major issue with most decent hats...Just don't be using a heavy-handed pull or twist on the brim, or the bash because that damages the shape...

I reckon it's kind of a common sense thing....I don't yank my nicer shirts either...But the rest? Well....I can buy new cheap white shirts anytime, so I'll rip the things off with a lot less care...

If ya love something, you don't treat it off-hand....If it's common and you have a lot, you can have more room for mistakes...

I reckon..

[wheresabner71]

Thanks for the input, Fifth! Probably a non-issue but it's been interesting hearing people's habits on the subject. After getting my pure beaver Penman I'll probably never buy another rabbit felt hat again. Beaver is so much sturdier.

[Noah]

I always tend to put it on and off by grabbing the crown. It just comes natural to me. But I try to use the brim as much as I can. It looks cooler handling by the crown, but of course it's better to use the brim.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

I wonder if we could make videos of us putting our hats on using our habitual methods, and everyone will see how each of us does it...

Steven