Topping Off
at the end of the day, it's all about the brim
2007-10-24
By Chico Gibbs
When traveling to Harlem (something that one should do as often as possible) you will come across more than one vendor selling pictures. My favorite cat calls himself Ray and you can find him just as you exit the A Train at St. Nicholas and 125th Street. Among his framed and un-framed stock are original paintings, lithographs, posters, and copies of famous works from everywhere, about just about anything, and in every conceivable style. You will find the made-to-order Nefertiti silhouette, the New York Skyline (these days, almost always, of lower Manhattan --Twin Towers intact), the obligatory Dogs Playing Poker and the ones depicting well-developed black arms pulling on flags, chains, and other black arms.
My favorite pictures, however, are the photographs. Specifically old, black & white, and sepia tinted pictures from the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Especially memorable is Art Kane's 1958 “Great Day In Harlem,” Charles C. Ebbets’ “Lunchtime Atop A Skyscraper," James Van Der Zee’s, “Couple in Raccoon Coats,” Russell Lee’s “Southside Boys Chicago’' (also called “Easter Sunday), Moneta Sleet’s, many pictures of Martin Luther King and others throughout the 1960s, and Gordon Parks’ “Beggar Man In Paris” and “Drugstore Cowboys.” Strikingly, setting them apart from just about every other piece of art and certainly dating each work to particular periods in time is the presence of something so simple and so elegant, so important and so seemingly inconsequential that the casual observer might miss it – it is the presence of hats.
I am a hat guy. I mean, a real hat guy. I am not the sometimes-on Sunday, especially on Easter, maybe on a rainy day, kind of hat guy. I am talking the Samuel L. Jackson, Russell Simmons, Dick Tracey, hat guy. The one who is rarely seen without and will probably wear one in death, hat guy. Hat guys know our hat makers like a mechanic knows engine types: Stetson, Borsalino, Knox, Kangol, 59-50, Cooperstown – all quality toppers. And there seems to be a tiny resurgence of my type.
Customarily, hat guys become so because of one or many reasons. Premature balding has always been a primary motive. Then, there’s the “It sure looks great with this suit” cause to wear one. Perhaps the wearer lived in an era when a hat was de rigueur before even thinking about leaving the house or it was once a required part of a uniform. Some folks just look great in hats or want to keep the sun out of their eyes. My reasoning has a little to do with each of the aforementioned but mostly to do with the fact that my father was my hero, he was a real hat man, and don’t we all secretly want to be as cool as our dads?
While originating as an article of function – primarily to protect the head from the elements, to keep the body warmer, or prevent concussions (or worse) during construction – hats eventually came to signify other things. The material, be it paper, natural fabrics, or animal hide, represents status (in the chef’s kitchen, for example, its height speaks loudly of who was in charge and the pecking order that follows), membership (the graduate’s mortarboard, the Shriner’s Fez, or the Jewish Yarmulke), and my personal favorite, fashion (what matches a dress coat, suit, collar, or face shape).
The entertainment world and the music/jazz arena, in particular, certainly have its proponents of donning the brain protector. True arbiters of style and forward thinking, jazz musicians were among the first to take the wearing of hats to a level beyond stiff reliance on function and status and really make it an unforced declaration of freedom – freedom, at times, to break, bend, and mutilate the hat so that it became an independent statement of style and personality. In fact, I believe, wearing certain styles of hats have become synonymous with specific characters in history, their take on life, and the spirit they brought to wearing them. A particular style hat may have helped define them or at least cause them to be more easily recognized. To wear certain kinds of hats, then, should probably not be attempted by everyone. In fact, when picking out a brim, one might consider how some of these great personalities pulled off wearing them and the wake of being associated with that look. Perhaps, wearing a hat will have more to do with how you view “self” rather than some fad-driven expectations. Here, then, is a brief look at three key styles: the Stingy-Brimmed Dress hat, the Wide-Brimmed Fedora, and the “Porkpie.”
If you are the slim, peg-legged pants, skinny tie type, the Stingy Brimmed, pointed, fedora popularized by Hollywood’s “Rat Pack” (Sammy Davis, Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford) might be the one for you. On the other hand, if you choose to take that same hat, and turn up brim, you are copping a Mel Torme look and only true baritones need apply. Pinch the crown and you are definitely thinking “officer of the law” (Barney Miller, Dragnet, and Gravedigger Jones & Coffin Ed Johnson). Should you decide to chop the brim into a row of sharp points, you had better know a lot of jokes because you are walking down Bowery Boy and Jughead Street – make me laugh!
Bigger men might consider the wide-brimmed fedora as it tends to better frame larger faces. Careful here as it is very easy to move from a classy Laurence Fishburne or Orson Welles affect to a less socially accepted gangster-pimp look. Turn up the front (called “snapping” the brim) on this one and you are talking Kid Creole & The Coconuts/Allen Iverson/Duke Ellington/Walker Evans cool. A very difficult look to pull off without a great deal of confidence but when done successfully – classic. Special note: Add suspenders and two-tone shoes to this look and you screaming to the world that you wanted to be Cab Calloway or Louis Prima when you grew up.
The “Porkpie” hat (straw or felt) is reserved for true hipsters. Unless you are a poet, heavy smoker, or know of the best place to get a bowl of gumbo in New Orleans, please steer clear of this autograph. Also, be aware that wearing the large-brimmed version of this style is strictly forbidden unless you can prove that you are somehow related to Thelonious Monk, “Coati Mundi” Hernandez, or Lester Young. In either case, if the plume in the band doesn’t match your socks, forget it!
Feeling a little intimidated by these styles? There are many others to consider and made popular by cultural icons.
For example, there’s the paper boy or “apple” (rapper, Common and singer, Donny Hathaway); the beret (James Baldwin, Che Guevara, Huey Newton); the bebop or skimmer (Clyde Barrow, Kool Moe Dee); the straw spectator (Sidney Bechet, President Woodrow Wilson, and political party delegates); and the bowler (do NOT put this on your head unless you are a member of the English Parliament or participating in a revival of “Yankee Doodle Dandy”).
Wearing anything besides a baseball cap these days might seem like a brave thing to do but the result might help you stand out from the pack, add a little real style to your life, and surprise others with your sense of imagination. Who knows, in a few years someone might write about you and the bold statement you made in that five gallon Stetson.
“Grab your coat and get your hat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the street.”
Kevin “Chico” Gibbs is a veteran music executive and critic. He covers classic music and throwback culture for Ebonyjet.com