Fedora (Hats)

Three creases define a fedora: a long dent down the center of the crown and a pinch on each side of the front. The brim sits at two to three inches and snaps, which means you can wear it turned down at the front and up at the back rather than flat all the way around.

Felt makes that shape possible. Fur felt, matted from rabbit or beaver hair, is steamed over a wooden block and then creased by hand, and the fibers lock into the new shape as they cool. Straw cannot hold a crease that way. That means a straw version carries a fine wire in the brim edge and gets its crown shape from sewing instead. That difference is why a straw fedora loses its line in rain while a good felt one can be reshaped over a kettle.

The nearest cousin is the cloche, which drops a smooth bell crown down to the brows with no crease at all and grips the skull. A sun hat runs a brim of four inches or more and exists for shade, where this at three inches leaves your neck exposed by mid afternoon. A bucket hat is the casual answer to a similar outline: soft, flat topped, sewn rather than blocked. A beret gives you neither brim nor crown height, so it changes nothing about your proportions.

Height is the deciding factor. A creased crown adds four to five inches above the head, which flatters taller wearers and can overwhelm someone small. Round faces read better with the brim tilted rather than level. Wet weather is its enemy, because water spots wool felt and the marks stay in the surface.

Crush a corner of the brim in your fist. Fur felt springs back with no mark, while wool felt keeps the dent and eventually cracks along it. A leather sweatband absorbs and dries where a synthetic tape traps sweat against your forehead. Rest the hat upside down on its crown or on a stand so the brim keeps its line, and brush felt in one direction with a soft brush to lift dust.