Antonio Garcia - available at Edie Hats

The Cordobès Hat is a round, stiff felt hat which hails from the Cordoba in Spain. While originally it was popularised by workers for the shade provided by its stiff wide brim, it has very much infused itself into the traditional culture of Spain.

The Cordobès Hat in the elegant equestrian arts

Today it is an icon in many great Spanish Artforms – Flamenco, Bull fighting, Equestrian Arts and other traditional festivals in Southern Spain. The Hat has become an integral part of the pageantry and spectacle. Dancers use the Hat as a focal point in many routines and the Hat regularly appears in costumes and celebrations.

Flamenco Dancer performing with Cordobès Hat at Cafe de Chinitas in Edie Hats

21st Century fashion has finally recognised the defined aesthetic of The Cordobès Hat. Chanel is the latest couture label to celebrate its unique character. It is the rigid structure that creates a striking image that is both strong and romantic.

Chanel's S/S 2010 Campaign celebrating the alluring Cordobès Hat

Hugh Jackman as 'Drover' in the movie 'Australia' - wearing an Akubra!

 The Akubra Hat is a thoroughly authentic Australian Icon and no other product embodies the spirit of the country so completely. Born in 1874 in Hobart, Tasmania by an English immigrant who combined hat-making skills and an inventive nature to create hats that could withstand Australia’s varied extremities. With many different styles, Akubras are traditionally worn by drovers, farmers and essentially anyone who works outdoors. Like the wearers, these hats are tough and work hard in any environment.

Their versatility and strength comes from the many pelts of rabbit fur in each hat. Rabbits, a foreign species, have had a fiercely destructive impact on native Australian fauna and flora, which is why there are constant efforts to cull their growth. This lends to an easily sourced and widely available fur whose cultivation is actually beneficial to the environment. A typically practical Australian solution to an Australian problem!

 Today, the ‘Sydney’ is one of the last traditionally shaped fedoras. The rounded, open crown and soft fur allows the wearer to decide the shape. With a quick karate chop and light pinch of the crown one can tell the hat how to look. A bit of steam will help shape the hat more permanently (we are happy to do it for you!). Its twelve pelts of rabbit fur makes this is one of the most waterproof hats available. Simple and stylish, the charcoal colour and plain black band means it can be worn with almost anything, jeans, smart trousers, floral dress, wool coat. Men, women, Summer, Winter.

Jack White wearing a 'Sydney' purchased at Edie Hats

Likewise, the lighter coloured ‘Snowy River’ with its classic cowboy shape and up-turned brim flatters most heads and is comfortably worn throughout the year. This is a hat that denotes strength of character with an eye for looking good!

Akubra makes hats that last a lifetime. Take them on the journey with you, they become a part of your story.

They range in levels of extravagance, from simple fascinators and whimsical straw pieces to exquisite, elaborate felt pieces with veiling, feathers and ribbons. 

The Top Hat has always been associated with finery and elegance. Originally a symbol of wealth and high status, today the daily formal wearing of a Top Hat is considered excessive. However, in Pop culture it is a Hat that has re-invented itself to retain its place as a fashion icon.

British milliner Stephen Jones is largely responsible reviving this hat to suit modern tastes. He created a fun alternative to the original. By making the hats miniature and adding sparkle, feathers, veils and bows he turned the style on its head (pun intended!) making it a hat for women. His creations quickly became an extraordinary hit and are now a perennial favorite among England’s fashionable elite and are a fun stable at any formal event. 

The appeal of these hats is layered. They are formal yet playful, modern yet classic. We love them for the delight people get from trying them on and for the satisfaction fashionistas get from knowing the right dress to match them with!

Edie Hats: A Passion For Hats
Net Loft, Granville Island
Vancouver, BC | (604) 683-4280

This diversity comes from its heritage, founded in the 1930’s by a Jewish immigrant from Poland in West Cumberland and initially sewn by French beret makers. Through sheer determination and adaptability the company survived several wars and economic crisis to become an international success story. While Kangol offers different styles, the ’504′  has become an icon. Named after the block upon which it was first shaped, it quickly became the companies most popular hat.

The word Kangol comes from the fabrics used, silK, ANGora, woOL. Kangol boomed in the US in the early 80‘s where they were known as ‘those kangaroo caps’ due to uncertainty over the brand name. This led to the company adding a Kangaroo as their logo, which today is one of the most recognizable logos in the world.

Kangol hats today retain an eclectic following due to simple, classic shapes that allow the wearer to create their own style.

Edie Hats: A Passion For Hats
Net Loft, Granville Island
Vancouver, BC | (604) 683-4280

The arrival of the famous straw hats in the store this week marked for us the end of winter darkness and a time to begin looking forward to sunnier, brighter days again!

Although indigenous to Ecuador, these hats became associated with Panama during the construction of the canal. Popular with workers because they were enduring and practical, it was Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to the canal site that introduced the hat to the fashion world, where it has been a staple ever since.

Weaving a Panama hat is a form of artistry, a skill learned from an early age and handed down over generations. Woven from toquilla plant leaves, the quality is measured by the number of weaves per inch – the higher the number the better the hat. The finest Panama hats, or the ‘superfino’ can hold water and when rolled will fit through a wedding ring.
A regular hat can be made in one day, but the finer ones can take many months to weave and have been known to sell for thousands of dollars.

Your Panama Hat should be stored in the bathroom, as the moisture prevents the straw from drying out. Like all hats, avoid holding it by the pinch as this will eventually degrade the hat.

Since 1998, Pure and Company has been offering hand knit cotton toques and hats that are designed in Canada and made in Thailand.  Edie Hats is proud to support this company as they are committed to ethical and environmentally responsible business practices.

Libby Ordell of Ordell Agencies, our distributor, visits the Pure and Company facility in Chiang Mei, Thailand

Every hat is knit by hand by one of the 3500 women in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Pure ensures ethical work standards and offers workers paid health care, maternity leave and paid continuing education, including free English classes for all staff, their family and friends.  Thanks to their educational program, two Pure employees are currently completing their Master’s degrees.   In addition, all excess yarn is donated to women’s groups and government organizations where it is used in income-generating projects.

The Pure and Company facility in China - where every hat is made with ethical and environmental awareness.

Beyond the products, Pure and Company prides itself on choosing eco-friendly options. All of their factories use solar energy to heat hot water.  They even added extra insulation to keep Thailand facilities cool and Canadian facilities warm.

Once the hats have been made and the orders have been filled, they ship most of their deliveries from Thailand by boat rather than air in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.  To support this more time-consuming way of shipping products, Edie Hats orders everything for the upcoming season far in advance.

These high-quality hats and toques are great pocket-stuffers and are excellent for people going through chemotherapy.  The cotton is soft and non-irritating and they come in a wide array of colors to complement your skin tone.

A new shipment for Fall 2009 has just arrived at Edie Hats. Come visit us soon!

The 1967 crime film Bonnie and Clyde is a classic: stylishly directed and edited, starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. At this time, Beatty was an established player in Hollywood while Dunaway was a newcomer. Her iconic role and look in this film propelled her to superstardom.

Set in the ’30s, the film romanticizes the life and crimes of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. While the real Bonnie and Clyde unquestionably had sex appeal and a sense of style, the film heightened both in a mythic way. Faye Dunaway’s wardrobe was carefully chosen to achieve her well-put-together look. Her berets act as a strong exclamation point, suggesting her confidence and defiance for the established order.

Bonnie and Clyde made such an impact that sales of French berets skyrocketed as young women strove to emulate Dunaway’s style. Still as popular as ever, berets continue to convey the same glamour and appeal. Edie Hats is proud to stock an assortment of authentic French berets. Check them out and give your own wardrobe a touch of movie star glamour that makes a real statement.

In Andalucía it is known simply as the wide brimmed hat.  It is made of wool, with a wide flat brim, and a low cylindrical crown. While there is no standard measurements, the crown can vary in height from 10 to 12 cm, and the brim from 8 to 12 cm. The most popular color is black, but others such as red, pearl grey, green, marine blue, brown, beige, tobacco, and ivory are also often worn.

The Feria, in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

The Cordobés Hat is an essantial part of the traditional costume in the world of flamenco, bull fighting, the equestrian arts, and all of the popular festivals from the south of Spain.  It has historically been a man’s hat, but nowadays women also wear it as an accessory to their flamenca costumes.

Manolete, famous bull-fighter and Juanito Valderrama, Flamenco singer.

The Cordobés Hat has been worn by many famous people, such as Flamenco singer Juanito Valderrama and the legendary bull fighter, Manolete.  The Beatles, more familiar to North American audiences,  donned this traditional hat during their visit to Spain and most recently, Bob Dylan wore a grey Cordobés hat while performing in concert.  A fan in Brazil ran on stage and tried to take the hat from his head but stole a kiss instead. Read the news article here. Watch the video on YouTube.

The Beatles in Spain, and Bob Dylan in a recent concert.

The Cordobés Hat has become an icon for the related Spanish art forms flamenco and bull fighting. In particular, the flamenco song forms of Garrotin and Tangos de Malaga are often danced using the Cordobés Hat as a prop. In the photo below, Michelle dances a Garrotin in the performance Imagenes del Oriente from Cafe de Chinitas, one of many events that have been held at Edie Hats.

Michelle dances Garrotin with a Cordobés Hat.

Sources:
http://wikanda.cordobapedia.es/wiki/Sombrero_cordobés
http://www.flamencoexport.com/todo-flamenco/sombreros/sombrero-sevillano-lana.html

Editorial by Elemente Magazine

Edie wearing her Cordobés with veiling, velvet ribbon, and Smart Tart roses.

The crafts of hat-making and filmmaking have been closely intertwined, ever since the Birth of Film in the late 19th Century. Hats were in their heyday at the time, as the exciting new medium of the motion picture captured and immortalized numerous facets of American life, including daily fashions, of which the hat was an essential component. Although their influence have lessened over the decades, hats still remain an important part of American culture, and consequently its movies. In this series, I will detail movies that possess a strong association with hats, starting with a childhood favourite.

The 1930s and ’40s were a particularly notable era as movies had transitioned to sound, and the fedora was the most popular men’s hat in America. It was during this time that two wide-eyed kids grew up, addicted to Saturday matinee action-adventure serials like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and Zorro to name a few.

Years went by, and the two boys became men, but they never forgot those old movies that were a part of their youths. As budding filmmakers in the ’60s, they honed their skills at film schools, far removed from the glamour and corruption of Hollywood. In time, they were called upon to help save Hollywood from itself, and they did. One of them went on to make Jaws, the other Star Wars. After the smash success of their pet projects, they decided to collaborate on a film that hearkened back to those beloved old movies. They knew they had to set it in that time period. So, what would an action/adventure hero from the ’30s look like? Well, he’d have to be strong-jawed and strong-willed, a hit with the ladies, and with film being largely a visual medium, possess a keen fashion sense. And what better way to satisfy all these requirements than by adorning him with an elegant yet strong brown fedora? Add a bullwhip, and the actor Harrison Ford, those are fairly important ingredients, and lo, Indiana Jones was born.

The fedora gave Indy a handsome look, but it also made him a distinctive silhouette, recognizable instantly. The brown differentiated the hat and Indiana from the gangsters and detectives of the old movies, and perfectly captured the character’s ruggedness and spontaneity. It demonstrated that he was concerned with details, but when rules needed to be broken, he would not hesitate. Perhaps unwittingly, he reflected the personalities of his makers, who were themselves academically trained in film school, yet who needed to bend and break rules to get their movies made. Such was the case with Raiders.

The brown fedora has become an icon, a symbol of Doctor Jones. It epitomizes the character and everything he stands for. It is bold, brave, adventurous, and good. It’s beaten up and has had its share of spills, but it keeps on going. It is reliable, dependable, and unflinchingly stubborn. It is Indiana’s most prized possession, even more than the priceless artifacts he hunts on a regular basis. He just doesn’t know it, or at least won’t make that admission. There have been several instances where he has nearly lost it, but he never does. It would be like losing an arm, or a brain. He feels vulnerable, naked without it, and when he wears it, he is stronger, more powerful, able to take on any challenge, be it Nazis, cult leaders, or snakes.

In paying homage to the movies and hats of their childhood, the two filmmakers introduced the fedora to a new generation of film buffs and fashionistas, who have taken this classic accessory and integrated it into their own styles and wardrobes. Popular with men and women of all ages, the fedora endures, evolving to suit the particular tastes of an era, but at the same time referring to that classic epoch that was its pinnacle. Indiana Jones endures in the same way, for he is an evolution of the ’30s action/adventure hero, updated for modern times, while staying true to his roots.

LiViTY is a futuristic lifestyle movement focused on promoting a new sustainable way of life through creative activism. Our interpretation of Creative Activism is “the best way we can create change on the biggest level possible, as fast as possible using our most available and sustainable resources.”

We like to add the “Made in China with Love” tag for the simple reason that we support fair trade manufacturing practices but have yet to be certified ourselves. We realize that having our production in China may associate some negative connotations to our products but also believe that certification does not necessarily guarantee proper implementation of fair-trade practices in factories. The reality is that there is sub-standard working conditions in all countries and it all depends on the people you choose to work with. China is the largest hemp growing nation in the world and also the largest and most advanced manufacturing centre for hemp products. For a company like LiViTY, who mainly work with hemp, China is an inevitable step in the production of our goods.

“In order to bridge the gap, LiViTY makes numerous trips to each of the factories we work with to ensure that factory standards are up to par and also to develop strong and friendly relationships with them. The factories that we associate ourselves are very progressive. They have educational programs for their employees, have some sustainable energy implemented and are working on adding more solar technology to the mix and have a 3 to 1 ratio of female to male in their management positions.

“Lastly but not the least, all items should be made with love. We are promoting this lifestyle movement and implementing it to the best of our abilities. Our factories are partners with us in this movement and as the movement grows it directly benefits them. Promoting our products sometime turn into information overload for many customers and the tag keeps it simple. We are primarily a company that promotes eco textiles but we are also very aware of the whole manufacturing aspect that goes into our products. It is in this frame of mind that we proudly tag all of our products with “Made in China with Love” but mainly educate our customers about our textiles.”

www.livity.org