Editing Fedora (section)

=== 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" />