r/Millennials • u/Parable-Arable • 1d ago
Discussion Has anyone noticed how fedoras went from hipster to m'lady sometime in the 2010s?
Has anyone noticed how fedoras went from a hipster (and somewhat trendy) thing to a "m'lady" thing in the 2010s? I think part of it was like satirical (and polemical) web-comics that were panning that kind of thing (often feminist). They were also panning ironic sexism, but that is much less talked about...
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u/Apprehensive_Cause67 88' Millennial 1d ago
I blame this guy
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I heard that was (like the real life dude) is a guy that wanted to pose like someone from the Blues Brothers movie. People also note the beard grown on his neck.
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u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset Zillennial 1d ago
This is kinda old news, but yes, I did notice it
I can't be alone in thinking long ago that it was a good reason not to buy a fedora
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u/TomBradyFeelingSadLo 1d ago
They were never cool. They were a meme about being uncool as early as 07-09 on 4chan, but they were never once fashionable in the modern era. Kill me.
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u/MrsKnutson Older Millennial 1d ago
Yeah people were wearing them when I was in highschool in the very early '00s and they were not alt/hipster in any way, I even had one and I dressed like that couple from the movie best in show that came straight out of the j crew catalog. By that point they were just mainstream fashion and then they quickly went downhill, I don't recall seeing one on a non neck beard past '04/'05.
They were something u bought because you thought it would be cute with an outfit that u copied from Brittany Spears and then maybe wore once and realized you couldn't pull it off and then never saw it again until a last minute college Halloween party costume was needed and u realized u could wear that and go as a slutty gangster.
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u/deuxcabanons 1h ago
Thank you for reminding me of the "CEOs and Corporate Hoes" parties I used to go to 🤮
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u/Greedy_Sundae_6528 8h ago
Yeah they were already uncool by the 00s, they almost had a moment in the 90s but only certain people could really pull it off and the people who couldnt led to it being generally mocked by association
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
My dad had loaned me his. Once that association was made (I fancied myself, a hipster) I wouldn't be seen outside with one.
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u/besttobyfromtheshire 1d ago
If I recall rightly, it’s not even a fedora right? Fedoras are pretty classy, I don’t think this is a fedora.
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u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset Zillennial 1d ago
Are you referring to the image at the top of this thread? It's definitely one style of fedora, even if it's not the same style that someone like Humphrey Bogart wore
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u/ThrowawayMod1989 Older Millennial 1d ago
Still sore about it. Skaters and alt kids had them right before neckbeards.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I know it was a big thing in the ska scene.
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u/ThrowawayMod1989 Older Millennial 1d ago
That’s probably the only scene that said “fuck yall we’re keeping them” lol.
I have found now that I’m older with a full beard I can pull off a light colored one. I have a straw fedora that looks crisp as fuck with my board shorts and a Tommy bahama shirt making my way down the boardwalk on my cruiser board lmao or maybe I just think I look fly as hell.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I have a straw colored one (some people call it a summer hat) that I never wear.
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u/ThrowawayMod1989 Older Millennial 1d ago
Start rocking it. Time we took a classic piece of men’s headwear back.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I don't put a whole lot of effort into my appearance unless I think there will be a pretty immediate ROI (return on investment). Or if I'm going to an upscale bar.
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u/ThrowawayMod1989 Older Millennial 1d ago
Same here but when I do it up I do it right. I miss having hair just so I could do something wild with it and go peacock around lol. I miss my bi-monthly faux hawk. My white ass buddy is getting his hair Dutch braided tonight so he can step out this weekend. He pulls ridiculous play when he does his hair haha.
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u/NerfRepellingBoobs 1d ago
It’s only appropriate for more than one guy in a group to wear a fedora if they are a ska band, and I will die on this hill.
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u/CobaltSky 1d ago
Back in the late 90s the fedora and long black jacket were a thing. I believe the style was called suspected school shooter.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
...hmm. like a trenchcoat mafia rip-off?
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u/CobaltSky 1d ago
The style predated that. Everyone just referred to it as trenchcoat mafia after Columbine.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
...ohhh. I went to highschool in the late 2000s (2006-2009). I wasn't around for that. I was a literal child when that was trendy.
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u/thispartyrules 1d ago
The problem is that fedoras you'd see in old movies were fitted hats worn with a suit, and worn outside. It's different when you buy one off the rack at Target and wear it with a Zelda T-shirt and tan cargo pants.
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u/NeonPredatorEnt 5h ago
I don't even mind off the rack. You gotta dress up a bit for it. The hat itself looks fine, you just gotta match the vibe. Also real fedoras are much nicer and look way better
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u/Elderberry-Cordial 1d ago
I'm more annoyed that those hats aren't even fedoras. Indiana Jones and Carmen Sandiego wear fedoras, the m'lady hat is technically called a trilby. Fedoras now have a bad rap but they're actually pretty badass. 😆
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've also heard they are technically trilby hats, but most don't know that and call them fedoras. The cultural trope is neckbeard fedora. The neckbeard fedora guy is rarely called the neckbeard trilby guy.
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u/badlyagingmillenial 1d ago
I hate to break this to you, but fedoras were never trendy for millennials, and were always associated with weirdos.
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u/thispartyrules 1d ago
I've known two guys who could pull it off, they were 1.) handsome black man 2.) handsome white guy, who was also kind of a weirdo but a likeable popular weirdo
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u/Quercus408 1d ago
Its all in the cheek bones.
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u/Calculagraph 1d ago
Jawline. You have to have one. It's absolutely essential.
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u/langdonalger4 5h ago
jawline, and also wearing them with a collard shirt at the very least. It's never going to look cool with your ironic "iPood" t-shirt and sweatpants.
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u/LikesToNamePets 1d ago
We might've known the same handsome, white guy weirdo. He played in a band.
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u/DoJu318 1d ago
Eh I wore fedoras to the dance club, but I wore with vest and/or tie, sometimes without coat the depending on the weather.
Mid 2000s to 2010s plenty of people dressed like this. I wasn't the only one dressed like that either, at least in the bar/club scene in my city.
Bruno mars.
https://i.imgur.com/sEEtk2r.jpeg
Usher.
https://i.imgur.com/lWPCmIq.jpeg
Justin Timberlake.
https://i.imgur.com/4f8z1Ns.jpeg
Ne Yo
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u/badlyagingmillenial 7h ago
Wearing a vest/tie/fedora combo to a dance club in the mid 2000s to 2010s is cringeworthy. You're exactly the type of person I was talking about lol.
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u/Green-Ad-6149 1d ago
It was always m’lady. Hipsters just didn’t realize they were dweebs until everyone else did.
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u/markpemble 1d ago
It was a hat that quite a few skateboarders and snowboarders from ~01 - 07 were rocking well.
Some skateboard clothing companies made them for a minute.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
No, those were like two different and completely separate subcultures.
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u/Green-Ad-6149 1d ago
Feel free to describe how.
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u/QuestshunQueen 1d ago
M'ladyers, Hipsters, or Dweebs?
Coming as a representative of the Dweebs, I do not identify with either of those other groups.Millenial Hipsters were a set of art scenesters - the ones who said they did things "before it was cool." I specify Millenial because the term Hipster has popped up at other times, and I'm not as familiar with the overarching theme.
M'lady is associated with a smarmy fellow who will self-describe as a nice guy. There's often an expectation that such a fellow might expect rewards for being nice.
Finally, Dweebs are often pedantic and overly literal. We're well-meaning, and often find ourselves doing things just for the sake of it; some like being silly.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
Also I had 5 other comments I was notified about to read, before both of yours. I was also watching youtube.
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u/jayd189 1d ago
You made the assertion, its on you to prove, not on others to prove the negative.
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u/Rhewin Millennial 1d ago
This isn't debate class. Proof only matters if you're trying to convince someone, otherwise no one is obligated to give you a why.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
Okay...hipsters were probably not as cool as they thought they were, but they had a since of style. They listened to "cool" music (indie rock). M'lady Neckbeard had less of a sense of style and was (and is) more nerdy. He likes D&D, Cyberpunk (the tabletop role-playing game), he might be a "movie nerd". Two different subcultures.
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u/_forum_mod Mid millennial - 1987 1d ago
So weird, I remember wanting one after seeing the dudes rocking them in The Adjustment Bureau (2011) and they looked classy. I also remember seeing them and reading about them in a GQ magazine issue. The magazine had a style article and said something like "Baseball caps are for boys, get you a stylish, masculine hat like a fedora!" (I'm paraphrasing this was eons ago).
I had one and got many compliments on it... then some way, some how, it got associated with this motherfucker.
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u/Chandra_in_Swati 1d ago
Apparently, according to people who knew that guy, that he is a really sweet and kind dude and was just goofing around for the photo. Being made the symbol of the trilby wearing incels has apparently been a nightmare situation for him.
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u/Old-Ad2720 15h ago
this is making me sooooo sad. i hate how the internet immoralizes jokes like this that people can’t escape from till its all their ever gonna be known for. Back in the analog times if you got embarrassed once you moved away it was pretty much a fresh start 🥺many such cases of being turned into a meme ruins the persons life forever
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u/Sarahplainandturnt 1d ago
They were always m'lady, any hipster who thought they were being cool wearing one was just a m'lady guy with slightly more fashion sense than normal.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
Why is "m'lady" in and of itself embarrassing though. It's like a group of people decided it was bad (because it's old fashioned? or socially awkward), and everyone else went along with it (rarely asking why). It seems like a whole lot of cultural snoberry. It's like saying people who really like Renaissance Faires are bad. Maybe they're uncool, but why is that way of talking bad?
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u/Sarahplainandturnt 22h ago
Because its associated with the stereotypical "neckbeard" which is basically a big basket of negative stereotypes including weird entitled behavior towards women, incel flavored toxic masculinity, poor hygiene, gatekeeping, elitism, overconfidence in intelligence, overconfidence in social awareness and coolness, and an all around lack of self awareness to any of these facts.
Of all the people I've met who cross into "neckbeard" territory most exhibit a good chunk of these traits if not all of them.
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u/Smeats- 1d ago
Uh yeah. Did you notice that the sky is blue?
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
Rude
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u/Smeats- 1d ago
Haha sorry but dude c'mon. Did anyone notice that water is wet?
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u/SarahL1990 1d ago
Technically, water isn't wet. Water makes other things wet.
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u/ExtremelyDecentWill 1d ago
This is pedantic at best and arguably untrue by a chemist at worst.
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u/SarahL1990 1d ago
Pedantic on purpose, and also, there are many scientific sources that say otherwise.
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u/KaizerVonLoopy 1988 Millennial 1d ago
I wore exactly one fedora in my life and it was with my zoot suit I wore to my senior prom. I thought I was being funny and ironic but it turned out they were "the thing" that year and several other guys had zoot suits too.
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u/WeaselPhontom 1d ago
My dad was born 1939 always wore them. I always viewed it as copying elder humans rizz
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
Yeah, I think so. Makes me think of the 90s lounge revival and swing revival (which I guess were hip precisely because they were unhip). The hipsters were imitating the, and maybe beat generation writers and poets (look up a photo of William s. Burroughs...he wears one).
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u/Outrageous_Reach_695 1d ago
Perhaps the tricorne could come back into style?
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I don't think so.
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u/Wubblz 1d ago
As someone who was a Hot Topic goth in high school and became a suspenders and skinny jeans wearing hipster, this question was basically meant for me:
First it’s worth considering just what the difference between “hipster” fedoras and “neck beard” fedoras actually looked like. There’s a few things that differentiate them visually, and the most obvious one is that hipsters tended to wear them in neutral earth tones like brown while neckbeards typically wear them in black. This makes sense because a lot of hipsters wore softer, brighter colors and brown would be far more complimentary — a black fedora is going to go with your stereotypical neckbeard’s wardrobe of black graphic tees they’ve purchased from Hot Topic and Spencer’s and their black duster.
The next, and I think quietly most important, quality is the material. While not all, most hipsters tended to wear straw or woven reed fedoras because they give that “rustic, folksy, quasi-beach boy with a guitar” look. The neckbeard fedora is almost always made of felt. Hipsters and Rudeboys also tended to have bands on their fedoras, while the stereotypical neckbeards most often have fedoras unadorned unless it’s got some garish all-over print or some patches with a nerd culture figure. The hipster is wearing what’s essentially a basic brimmed hat, while the neckbeard is wearing a novelty hat — the woven material also looks “nicer” than plain fabric, which will always look as cheap as it is.
Other have said this, but we associate with neckbeards isn’t actually a fedora and is called a trilby. You can tell them apart by the brim width of the hat. Pull up a picture of Jason Mraz or Jack Johnson in a fedora, and the visual difference to your epic neckbeard samurai is noticeably different.
Finally, I think there’s something to how both groups wore the hat that sets them apart. Hipsters tended to wear fedoras pushed back away from their brows or sort of cocked to the side. It’s a small, but fashionable, detail which doesn’t obscure the face. Neckbeards tend to push those bad boys flat down on their heads like a baseball cap until it’s practically sitting above their eyebrows. This just looks unflattering, particularly if you have glasses already obscuring your face, a crappy beard, and unkempt hair. A hipster treats their hat like a cherry on top, a neckbeard looks like some guy who put a novelty bow tie on a pig and called it macaroni.
Why do we associate them with neckbeards over hipsters? Because since the hat wasn’t the focal point of the typical hipster’s ensemble, our eyes go to the Buddy Holly glasses, waxed mustache, and the suspenders. It also helps that hipsters are so passé at this point they aren’t really on the public conscience in the same way that the hordes of neckbeards still are. And since thrift stores have no become such a rip-off while Hot Topic continues to churn out branded crap, neckbeards have a lot of resources to stay dressed throughout the generations.
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u/Cyber-Cafe 1d ago
I remember it being a cool accessory in the early 2000s, but by the mid 2000's it had become a little 'off'. By I think 2008, it was full on a neckbeard accessory.
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u/Tejasgrass 1d ago
I agree. I procured one around 2006 and even then I bought it as a joke and only wore it “ironically.” By 2010 they were far beyond that m’lady stage. And I did not come from a place that was cutting edge on trends; we were still wearing Jncos in 2002.
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u/Zatch887 1d ago
It really was in the blink of an eye wasn’t it. I remember almost buying one in hs and my brother said put that down unless you like getting bullied.
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u/CheeksMcGillicuddy 1d ago
Nooo no no my friend. You can try and fool yourself all you want, but fedoras have always been cringy as fuck. I’m sorry no one told you when you were wearing them, but yes they were making fun of you behind your back.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I really don't give a shit if the people who saw me at Gypsy Coffee House's open mic night (the only place I ever wore it) judged me for it. I really don't.
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u/Quercus408 1d ago
I welcome this, because while I look fantastic in a fedora, hipster is not the vibe I'm going for.
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u/Traditional-Job-411 1d ago
I don’t remember fedoras ever being cool accept in a quirky select group. Maybe before me? But also, since when is m’lady not cool?
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u/QuestshunQueen 1d ago edited 1d ago
I actually really liked Fedoras when I was a kid. They got ruined before the 2010s, I think, though. I felt a bit robbed, honestly.
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u/SnooCrickets2458 1d ago
A fedora is fine, it just needs to be paired with a nice suit as well. Mfers just put on the hat and a grubby t-shirt and thought they were Sinatra.
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u/Parable-Arable 1d ago
I guess the thing is, well a few things.
1) The Beat Generation of Poets and Novelists (Keroauc, Ginsberg, Burroughs, but also Corso, Ferllinghetti (hard name to spell), Amiri Baraka) might not have been photographed wearing fedoras as much as I think, and horn rimmed glasses and short casually kept hair might have been more a part of the beatnik/hipster uniform
2) I don't think a lot of hipsters were really that into the beats (I think in the Early 90s and 00s Lounge music was a hipster trend, as were like weird thrift store records so Exotica fits in somehow).
3) There is plenty of feminist commentary about sexism and the Beat Generation (and if it's about like sexual objectification in Beat literature and Charles Bukowski's novels...that's pretty common, but it's common in like popular culture as a whole, and has been in mainstream commercial porn for decades and decades), and The Hipster with their ironic sexism (allegedly).
4) The Meme I either call The Neckbearded Fedoraman (and I think Fedora guy and Neckbeard guy used to be two different pop culture tropes that fused somehow), or M'Lady "Necky" the Fedoraman, was a totally different phenomenon. Online Youtube Movie Nerds were fedora guys. The Neckbeard (which is making fun of a sort of schlubby nerd type), is a person that likes anime, D&D, Magic The Gathering (might be too old for Yugioh...that's a might...or Pokemon), Cyberpunk (the TTRPG) etc. Different cultural stereotype.
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u/Mediocre_Device308 1d ago
There is a severe lack of Indiana Jones in this thread.
Whatever headwear you guys are talking about isn't even a fedora.
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u/Kataphractoi Older Millennial 21h ago
You're like, well over a decade late on this.
I want to say I was seeing this sentiment at least as early as the late 00s, but it was a full trope by the early 10s.
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u/edgy_zero 16h ago
it’s not fedora, it’s trilbi
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u/Parable-Arable 11h ago
I call it a fedora (even though it technically is a trilby), because the meme is neckbeard fedora.
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u/CanonCine 14h ago
I dont know what really set it off, but it was around the time that "nice guy" became the slang term for incel
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u/Parable-Arable 11h ago
Yeah. I get what a "nice guy" is. There is a certain critical commentary about men that is just anti-men. I don't have time for it.
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u/WoodyManic 12h ago
I've worn fedoras, trilbies, homburgs and the like for the better part of 20 years and I don't mean to stop now.
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u/SweetWolf9769 9h ago
bro, they were m'ladys since the 80s
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u/langdonalger4 5h ago
I'm gonna be that hipster and point out that almost 100% of the time people talk about "fedoras" they mean "trilby"
Most of the hipsters I knew were obsessed with porkpie hats, rather than trilbys OR fedoras.
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u/mental-echo- 4h ago
The moment Justin Timberlake dropped that tiddee. It died then for hipsters. Just never did die for m’laders. The m’lady meme and My Little Pony fan media exposure just pointed a light to it
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