Saturday, September 20, 2014

Trilby verses Fedora - Wonderous Words Wednesday 26

Usually this would be the sort of thing I would save until Wednesdays Wondrous Words post, but I already know this week is going to be a mess, so I will do this now ...

(and as expected today I am quietly going mad trying to do three things at once so this is going to sub in as my Wednesdays Wondrous Words post. Sorry Kathy and everyone - I will try not to be this lame next week.)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at the Bermuda Onion where you "can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative!" 

There is a difference between a fedora, the favored fashion accessory of hardboiled detectives and adventurous archaeologists, and a trilby preferred by blues men and ersatz rich man's hat.

So ... A fedora is a hat that typically has a crease lengthwise down an ovalish or tear-drop shaped crown. The crown has two "pinched" areas near the front - one on each side that are usually just dimples but can be fancier shapes. There is often a ribbon or leather band around the base of the crown. The other distinctive thing about a fedora is that the brim is wide - at least 2 to 2.5 inches though usually more - and pretty flat.

Indiana Jones and the Amazing Fedora

A trilby is very similar to a fedora, but the brim is much narrower, the front of the brim is angled down and the back is curled up. The crown of a trilby is also usually shorter than that of a fedora.

The Blues Brothers wore trilby hats

So why did this come up ?  Stores are selling Hello Kitty "fedoras" that are actually trilby hats...


and my daughter knows the difference, so she was very irritated about this.

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for the helpful descriptions and photos - I've actually always wondered what the difference was. (For real; I'm not being sarcastic.) But the Hello Kitty hat doesn't even have the crown creases - is it still a trilby?

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    1. Actually it does, it just isn't very much of a crease. More of a dimple given the small size of the hat and the heads it is intended to fit. It just doesn't show up in the picture. My daughter's approach to wearing the hat is to kinda cram it on her head so that the crease pops out anyhow.

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  2. I love your source for your new word this week. I also love the pictures you used to help us understand the definition.

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  3. I like both hats. The trilby is certainly fashionable with the youngsters here.

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  4. I've noticed trilby hats are in fashion the past few years but I didn't know the name!

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  5. I'm familiar with fedora but not the other.

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  6. I've never heard of a trilby but I love that your daughter knew what one is! Thanks for educating us!

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  7. Thanks for straightening out the mix up.

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