Although the male celebrities of Hollywood like Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, and the likes immortalized the fedora hats, the credit for inventing the hat and making it popular goes to women only. The hat made its first appearance in 1882 while staging a Broadway play named Fedora published by the French author Victorien Sardou. The famed actress Sarah Bernhardt donned the hat for the first time while portraying the role of Princess Fedora Romanov, a fictional character. People saw for the first time that the princess wore a hat with a center crease and soft brim, a hat that was one of its kinds that is still a favorite among men and women. The chic headgear is the fedora that we see all around even today and is a topper among womens hat styles.
The fedora basics
The fedoras that we see today retain most of the design and style elements of the original fedora. Still, the material of the present-day fedoras is far different from the traditional felt and wool. Various synthetic and natural materials, including straw, are now the favorite of hat lovers that cut across the gender lines. Despite multiple twists to the style of fedoras as fashion keeps evolving, the hallmarks of the quintessential fedora worn by Sarah Bernhardt are still very much evident. All fedoras you come across have something in common – an indented crown with a center crease pinched on the sides and flexible brim.
Distinguishing fedoras from trilbys
The design and size of fedora and trilby have many similarities that people often confuse with one. Many people bemoan the evolution of the fedora style, which they feel further blurs the line of distinction with the trilbys. The urge to improvise and improve the fedora hat style has given birth to the trilby hats many consider as fedora’s cousin. The most glaring difference between fedoras and trilbys is the brim size, as fedoras have wider brims that offer better sun protection than the narrow brim of the trilbys. The difference in the fashion quotient of the two types of hats is also quite visible as fedora hats are much more fashionable than the trilby hats.
Fedoras for every season
Fedora hats are timeless fashion accessories that create irresistible attraction for both men and women and are also meant for wearing in all seasons. You can wear fedora hats round the year, whether it is summer, fall, winter, or spring. Choose between fedoras made from natural materials or man-made materials. For the chilly winter nights and the cool autumn days, the wool fedoras are still unbeatable as it creates a cozy feeling by providing the warmth that lends complete comfort. During the spring and summer season, straw fedoras are most appropriate for providing cool comfort and sun protection when venturing outdoors while making you look most attractive.
When choosing straw fedoras, be careful about the type of straw used for making the hat. There are many different types of straws, like traditional Panama to shantung and from hemp to raffia, toyo, and many other styles. Each offers varying levels of comfort and resilience. Check the hat label carefully to understand that you are making the right choice. Moreover, you should know how to maintain the type of hat according to the construction.
Here are some favorite fedora styles for women.
Short-brim fedora
For the sake of styling, you can alter the brim width and choose a narrow brim fedora to wear during the cool seasons when sun protection is not a priority. To maintain the distinct style of fedoras, the minimum width of the brim should be at least an inch and a half, or else it would no more be a fedora but turn into trilby.
Wide-brim fedora
At a glance, it might not be easy to differentiate between short-brim fedora and wide-brim fedora because the difference is just too little. Wide-brim fedoras have minimal brim width of 2 inches or a little larger, which means that it is only about 6 inches more than short-brim fedoras. However, the width provides sufficient protection against sun and rain, and by using the brim width, it is possible to alter the shape by snapping it up or down, which helps match the hat with the face size and shape.
Floppy Fedora
Those searching for stylish sun hats would find anything more attractive than the floppy fedoras that seem to be the epitome of fashion in any season. Moving away from the structured design elements of fedoras, the floppy fedora is an easy going style that suits all kinds of faces, provided the hat size is appropriate. A too-big hat might look funny for people with short stature or a small face.
The relaxed style of the vast brim hats can go well with any dressing.