The brown Leon Drexler lord's hat that Stephen Temkin has had in the works arrived the other day. A lord's hat of course is a homburg, the most formal felt after the top hat, made less formal in brown felt with bashes and an unbound brim. The proportions are perfect. Richard Merkin would approve.
I took the hat for a ride in the country yesterday and will be wearing it out and about San Francisco today. If you are in the City and see a man wearing a brown homburg-shaped hat, it is most likely me. Say hello and I will tip or doff my hat to you.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Lord's Hat Arrives
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11 comments:
Congratulations! It looks like a very nice head indeed. Regarding formality, I would rate the bowler at tad higher than the homburg.
Regards,
Gentleman's Gazette
I disagree with the bowler being higher than the homburg - after all, the bowler was worn for decades as a day-to-day hat in the city, whilst the homburg (especially in black/dark blue) was really only appropriate with black tie. You see a lot more bowler hats in older photos than homburgs, that's for sure.
As for the original post - I love the hat. The brown homburg (/lord's hat) is severely under-used today.
Dear Will,
I think all of us, your devoted readers, would appreciate some hat etiquette advices, but I'm afraid you're in need to recycle your knowledge on the subject too.
As I understand it, a gentleman should tip his hat only to women and, therefore, tipping the hat to a gentleman is somewhat offensive, in the way he might feel is masculinity is being questioned.
Gustavo, according to the experts a man tips his hat to acknowledge male strangers but not to friends.
Great-looking hat, top-notch day-wear hat when your you need a finishing touch. I'd be absolutely minted walking about town in something like that.
Wading in on the homburg/bowler question. It's true the bowler/coke was a day-to-day hat; especially its American cousin the Derby (slightly taller crown, often with extreme side brim curling). Though in the U.K. the cap represented everyday wear much more than the bowler, which is now more closely identified to middle-class city wear (of the recent past).
So yes the Homburg is officially more formal, but in our largely hatless cities it looks to the untrained eye like a sort of stylish fedora; whereas the bowler looks anachronistic and more formal than it actually was historically.
Sorry for the long-winded comment.
I wear a black homburg from time to time when travelling to work in London - I agree it is a little formal and archaic, but I like it as an alternative to a trilby / fedora. I often am asked if I am Jewish (which I am not), as people mistakenly associate it with what Orthodox Jews tend to wear.
Well done on getting such a fine hat.
Congratulatons! Love the hat. I'm seriously considering ordering not just a dark blue Homburg, but also one just like yours. Salud!
A very beautiful Lord's hat. I was not aware of any reliable maker of Lord's hats any more, but I am changing my mind. As far as the bowler-homburg debate is concerned, I personally prefer to wear a bowler mainly in the evening, whilst I am regularly wearing my black and also my navy homburg during the day during the colder months. I admit, however, that bowlers are originally daytime as well as equestrian wear, with some of the examination officers during my Oxford examinations being good examples.
Hey Will,
so u live in the BAy?
Damn, i lived there for 2 years. And was so disapointed by the style of the men there. Even if i found a few shops with great stuff.
Guillaume (Will in English).
Stylee yours.
Pure, reckless, self indulgence Will. Admit it. But a very nice hat.
Dear Alex M,
The homburg hat is a German invention after all and originally, it was a hunting hat, worn in green. Edward VII popularized it in grey. While many Americans wore a bowler/derby/coke on a day to day basis it was certainly more formal in England and continental Europe and hence the prefered choice for a stroller.
However, the black homburg hat was also seen with formal day wear.
I have a number of sources about the Homburg, among them a little book about the hat history of Bad Homburg, the hometown of the homburg hat and I shall write an article about it in the near future.
Regards, Gentleman's Gazette
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