I know what you’re thinking. Is this week´s column really about the most annoying celebrity/hipster trend ever to appear in the pages of magazines and on ¨Entertainment Tonight¨ circa 2007? The answer is, kind of. In actuality, this week´s column is about the used-to-be trend we love to hate, but secretly love. And you know you do…
In 2007, the fedora trend was nothing short of a phenomenon. To call it excessive would be a major understatement. Every celebrity was photographed lolling around L.A. in one, and every girl I knew who was somewhat in tune with fashion was sporting one everywhere from bars and restaurants to cloudy days on which a hat is far from necessary.
On the other hand, I despised them. Not because they didn’t look good, but precisely because they did! I loved them and always had. But the fact that so many girls I encountered had made it her “new thing” kept me from giving in. And I swore I never would.
Then something amazing happened. The fedora trend disappeared (for a short while anyway). And when it returned, it was because classic brands like J.Crew were bringing it back as the lasting, tomboy-chic accessory it is. The current mindset behind a fedora evokes the image of the one Humphrey Bogart wore in Casablanca, and the ones worn by movie stars Warren Beatty and Robert De Niro when they portrayed infamous gangsters like Bugsy Siegel and Al Capone, and you rooted for them (even though you knew you shouldn’t). The fedora was original known as the gangster hat, and that’s exactly what it is. No matter how girly, classic, or conservative your style is, it makes every woman feel like she is taking a little bit of a risk.
So, I gave in. And I haven’t regretted it since. It seems others feel similarly. My sister, no lover of fedoras, called me just the other day saying she bought one. Like all fashionable items it has its good years and bad years, but a hat is the ultimate statement piece, and the fedora is just enough to make you feel like a gangster (but not the kind that robs a bank).
GET THE LOOK
SPLURGE Rag & Bone, $115
SAVE J. CREW, $40
STEAL Forever 21, $7.80
[Photography by Seth Elliot]
Published on July 27, 2010
While there are many sites today dedicated to the pursuit of fashion and style, here at MRK Style we approach these subjects through a collector’s lens. Through exploring how people relate to Art, Family, Fashion, Food, Film and Travel—essentially life’s various, everyday obsessions—we reflect on how we all live with the things we love. 
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