Editing Fedora (section)

==History==
The term ''fedora'' was in use as early as 1891. Its popularity soared, and eventually it eclipsed the similar-looking [[Homburg (hat)|homburg]].<ref name="Kilgour"/>
The word ''fedora'' comes from the title of an 1882 play by dramatist [[Victorien Sardou]], ''[[Fédora]],'' which was written for [[Sarah Bernhardt]].<ref>Encarta Dictionary, Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2004.</ref> The play was first performed in the United States in 1889. Bernhardt played Princess Fédora Romazoff, the heroine of the play. During the play, Bernhardt{{emdash}}a noted [[Cross-dressing|cross-dresser]]{{emdash}}wore a center-creased, soft brimmed hat. The hat was fashionable for women, and the women's rights movement adopted it as a symbol.<ref name="History of Hats" /><ref name="Escapist" /> After [[Edward VIII|Edward, Prince of Wales]] (later the Duke of Windsor) started to wear them in 1924, it became popular among men for its stylishness and its ability to protect the wearer's head from the wind and weather.<ref name="History of Hats">{{cite web | url=http://www.historyofhats.net/hat-history/history-of-fedora/ | title=History of Fedora Hats | work=History of Hats | access-date=June 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Escapist">{{cite web | url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/11083-The-History-And-Abuse-of-The-Fedora | title=The History And Abuse of The Fedora | work=The Escapist | date=March 6, 2014 | access-date=June 24, 2014 | last=Rath | first=Robert | archive-date=May 14, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514233105/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/11083-The-History-And-Abuse-of-The-Fedora | url-status=dead }}</ref> Since the early part of the 20th century, many [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] and other [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jew]]s have made black fedoras normal to their daily wear.<ref>Shields, Jody; Dugdale, John (1991). ''Hats: A Stylish History and Collector's Guide''. Clarkson Potter.</ref>

=== Fedoras in early American society ===
[[File:Douglas_Fairbanks,_movie_star,_speaking_in_front_of_the_Sub-Treasury_building,_New_York_City,_to_aid_the_third_Liberty_L_-_NARA_-_530736.tif|thumb|[[Douglas Fairbanks]] in 1918 speaking to a large crowd of people wearing hat styles ranging from the fedora to the bowler]]
During the early twentieth century, a hat was a staple of men's fashion and would be worn in almost all public places. However, as a social custom and common courtesy, men would remove their hats when at home or when engaged in conversation with women.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book|title=Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions|last=Schoeffler|first=O. E.|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1973|pages=323–342}}</ref> In addition, the ability to own a hat was culturally considered a sign of wealth due to fashion being recognized as a status symbol. Only those with few economic resources would venture out without a hat.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=ABC of Men's Fashion|last=Amies|first=Hardy|publisher=V&A Publications|year=2007|pages=21, 44, 57–58}}</ref> The introduction of a new line of felt hats made from [[nutria]], an animal similar to the beaver, helped establish the fedora as a durable product. Prices, in the first decade of the twentieth century, for a nutria fedora ranged from ninety-eight cents to two dollars and twenty-five cents.<ref name=":4" />
Starting in the 1920s, fedoras began to rise in popularity after the Prince of Wales adopted the felt hat as his favored headwear. As a result, "the soft felt hat replaced the stiff hat as the best seller in the decade". The fedora soon took its place as a choice hat and joined other popular styles that included the [[derby (hat)|derby]] and the [[homburg hat|homburg]].<ref name=":4" /> 

A notable trend that emerged during the rise in popularity of the fedora was to invert the lid of the hat itself and cut jagged edges across the brim. This style of hat would eventually be called a [[whoopee cap]], and became a popular alternative to the more formal fedora for mechanics and children of the era.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998-07-12 |title=WHATEVER HAPPENED TO… THOSE HATS? |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/07/12/whatever-happened-to-those-hats/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Jughead and Friends Digest Magazine |date=February 2008 |publisher=Archie Comic Publications, Inc. |issue=25}}</ref>
[[File:Frank-carr-businessperson-common-history.jpg|thumb|Businessman Frank Carr wearing fedora c.1965]]
During the 1940s, the brims of fedoras started to increase in width, while the British maintained a slightly smaller brim size. The colors of fedoras traditionally included shades of black, brown, and gray. However, this palette would grow at the onset of the second world war to include military themed colors such as khaki, blue, and green. One of the most prominent companies to sell fedoras was the department store [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]]. In addition, famous hat manufacturers which still exist today include Bailey, [[Borsalino]], and [[Stetson]].<ref name=":4" />

=== Women and fedoras ===
In the 1880s, long before the fedora became popular for men, French stage actress [[Sarah Bernhardt]] popularized the fedora for a female wearer. 
In the play ''[[Fédora]]'' by the French author [[Victorien Sardou]], Bernhardt played Princess Fédora Romazoff.<ref>Marciano, John Bemelmans. 2009. ''Anonyponymous: the forgotten people behind everyday words''. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 65. {{ISBN|9781596916531}}</ref> It soon became a common [[fashion accessory]] for many women, particularly among activists campaigning for [[First-wave feminism|gender equality during the late nineteenth century]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofhats.net/hat-history/history-of-fedora/|title=History of Fedora – Who Invented the Fedora Hat?|website=www.historyofhats.net|access-date=April 6, 2019}}</ref> The fedora was eventually adopted as a defining symbol of the women's rights movement.

Fedoras continue to be worn by women, but not quite to the same extent as in the early twentieth century. Women's fedoras vary in form, texture, and color. In addition, these fedoras come in almost every color from basic black to bright red and even in the occasional animal print.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal|last=Nestoras|first=Bessie|date=2013|title=Fall for Autumn|url=http://yearsoffashion.weebly.com/|journal=Gifts & Decorative Accessories|pages=120–130|via=BYU Library|access-date=2019-04-06|archive-date=2022-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507215755/http://yearsoffashion.weebly.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Along with men's felt hats, women's fedoras were described as making a comeback in an article about 2007 fashion trends. Baseball caps, which had been the staple of headwear, were experiencing a decline in popularity amidst this "fedora renaissance".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Briere|first=Rachel R.|date=2007|title=Crowning Glories: The Fedora is Making a Comeback Against the Baseball Cap|journal=The Sun (Lowell, MA)|via=Ebscohost}}</ref>