Fedora
A fedora (/fəˈdɔːrə/)[1] is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.[1][2] It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides.[3] Fedoras can also be creased with teardrop crowns, diamond crowns, center dents, and others, and the positioning of pinches can vary. The typical crown height is 4.5 inches (11 cm). The term fedora was in use as early as 1891. Its popularity soared, and eventually it eclipsed the similar-looking homburg.[2]
This article is about a hat. For the operating system, see Fedora Linux. For other uses, see Fedora (disambiguation).
The fedora hat's brim is usually around 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) wide, but can be wider,[2] can be left raw-edged (left as cut), finished with a sewn overwelt or underwelt, or bound with a trim-ribbon. Stitched edge means that there is one or more rows of stitching radiating inward toward the crown. The Cavanagh edge is a welted edge with invisible stitching to hold it in place and is a very expensive treatment that can no longer be performed by modern hat factories.[4] Fedora hats are not to be confused with small brimmed hats called trilbies.[2][5]
Fedoras can be made of wool, cashmere, rabbit or beaver felt. These felts can also be blended to each other with mink or chinchilla[4][6] and rarely with vicuña, guanaco, cervelt,[7] or mohair. They can also be made of straw, cotton, waxed or oiled cotton, hemp, linen or leather.
A special variation is the rollable, foldaway or crushable fedora (rollable and crushable are not the same) with a certain or open crown (open-crown fedoras can be bashed and shaped in many variations). Special fedoras have a ventilated crown with grommets, mesh inlets or penetrations for a better air circulation. Fedoras can be lined or unlined and have a leather[8] or cloth[9] or ribbon sweatband. Small feathers are sometimes added as decoration. Fedoras can be equipped with a chinstrap, but this is uncommon.
In Orthodox Judaism[edit]
In Orthodox Judaism, fedoras have been an important addition to a man's wardrobe. Lithuanian yeshiva students in the first half of 20th century wore light hats during prayer and sometimes even while studying, as evident in a rare footage of the Ponevezh Yeshiva and a photo of the Lomza Yeshiva, both in Eastern Europe. Both the footage and the photo show students studying in their hats. Hasidic Jews wore black hats, albeit not fedoras, and in the later half of the 20th century, non-Hasidic (Lithuanian style) yeshiva students began to wear black fedoras (or dark blue or gray). Today, many yeshiva students and Orthodox men wear black fedoras for prayer and many even while walking outside. In recent years, Sephardic Jews have begun to wear black fedoras too.[43]
