The origins of "the look"?

Posted by Austin Powers from dialupC174.mpls.uswest.net on January 10, 2001 at 15:14:45:

To me, Indy's hat and jacket(at least in 'Raiders') have a very distinct "look" to them. This "look" has proved to be VERY difficult to reproduce in replica form. For years people have complained that Herbert Johnson(accepted as creators of original hat) offer an Indy fedora that leaves something to be desired. People(myself not excluded) have searched hat shops and internet sites the world over in the quest for an EXACT duplicate of the "Raiders" hat, only to come up short. I've got a couple hats that, to the untrained eye look like Indy's(but then again to the untrained eye Bogart's hat looks like Indy's), but none that are perfect. I bought an Indiana Miller a while back and I reshaped it and finally put a thinner ribbon on it, and it actually looks CLOSE, but not exact. The color is a tad too reddish(like Marion's bar scene, or every scene prior to the castle in 'Crusade') and the brim isn't quite right. As for the shape, it looks like a dead ringer for a hybrid of all three movie hats, but not exactly like 'Raiders'. I've heard great things about the Peter Bros. hat and I would've been the first to order one, if it weren't for the thickness and stiffness. I may end up buckling under and ordering anyway, the pictures are just too cool.

But back to my original thought. Taking all this in, the years of searching for a 'Raiders' hat, the tiny modifications that make all the difference in the world, who came up with the original "look" of the hat? Someone had to keep saying "no" to prototypes until the final look was achieved. And we've found out that, even with an original to draw inspiration from, it's still hard as hell to achieve. So how did these people back in 1980 come up with a mental picture of this hat? For all practical purposes they could've just bought any old fedora from a hat shop and slapped it on Ford's head(I.E. the one Selleck's wearing in the screen tests).

But who knows, maybe they just stumbled across this hat in a shop in London. That would definitely explain the lack of the 'Raiders' look in the following two movies.

Austin Powers

Follow Ups:

Re: The two Nazi's in Cairo wearing the grey fedoras...those hats look like they were made by Indy's hatter.(nm) The Spatsman 08:07:15 1/11/2001 (1)
- The first part of that sentence sounds like the beginning of a joke... at least Indy fer sure didn't wear a Kangol... (nm) lobo 08:14:50 1/11/2001 (0)
This is what an old Hat Maker told me like 10 years ago. Matthew Walker 18:17:56 1/10/2001 (6)
- Re: This is what an old Hat Maker told me like 10 years ago. Michaelson 20:17:27 1/10/2001 (1)
  - Re: Dobbs, Stetson and Biltmore are a few of the hat companies that are still in business today, but in the 20's and 30's hatmakers were everywhere. This smells like unfounded urban legend.(nm) The Spatsman 08:00:21 1/11/2001 (0)
- What old hatmaker? What shop? Location? (nm) Fedora 18:47:33 1/10/2001 (3)
  - Re: What old hatmaker? What shop? Location? (nm) Matt Walker 20:13:37 1/10/2001 (0)
  - Your not interested in a story about hats are you? (he he)(nm) MK 19:33:59 1/10/2001 (0)
  - Yea, but the "original" had a feather in the ribbon, too...(nm) Patterson 19:32:36 1/10/2001 (0)
Re: The origins of "the look"? grifter2020 16:57:30 1/10/2001 (1)
- It looks correct only to an untrained eye(nm) Fedora 17:15:46 1/10/2001 (0)
Re: The origins of "the look"? Daniel 16:20:45 1/10/2001 (5)
- I think they used a particular blocked HJ that isn't available anymore Fedora 17:13:57 1/10/2001 (4)
  - Re: I think they used a particular blocked HJ that isn't available anymore WndJameR 18:34:05 1/10/2001 (2)
    - Pretty sure we all recognize that dozens of hats were used. I'm saying that ALL of them had "the look". (nm) Austin Powers 20:49:25 1/10/2001 (0)
    - Forgive the Typos, I never claimed to be a typist (NM) WndJameR 18:36:56 1/10/2001 (0)
  - Re: I think they used a particular blocked HJ that isn't available anymore WndJameR 18:31:45 1/10/2001 (0)
The shape of Ford's head? 3k$ 16:10:56 1/10/2001 (2)
- Have you started production yet? Fall Guy 16:41:15 1/10/2001 (1)
  - No, but I'm working on it. 3k$ 17:59:41 1/10/2001 (0)
Re: The origins of "the look"? Abner 15:33:53 1/10/2001 (1)
- Re: The origins of "the look"? Shawnkara 16:09:44 1/10/2001 (0)

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: To me, Indy's hat and jacket(at least in 'Raiders') have a very distinct "look" to them. This "look" has proved to be VERY difficult to reproduce in replica form. For years people have complained that Herbert Johnson(accepted as creators of original hat) offer an Indy fedora that leaves something to be desired. People(myself not excluded) have searched hat shops and internet sites the world over in the quest for an EXACT duplicate of the "Raiders" hat, only to come up short. I've got a couple hats that, to the untrained eye look like Indy's(but then again to the untrained eye Bogart's hat looks like Indy's), but none that are perfect. I bought an Indiana Miller a while back and I reshaped it and finally put a thinner ribbon on it, and it actually looks CLOSE, but not exact. The color is a tad too reddish(like Marion's bar scene, or every scene prior to the castle in 'Crusade') and the brim isn't quite right. As for the shape, it looks like a dead ringer for a hybrid of all three movie hats, but not exactly like 'Raiders'. I've heard great things about the Peter Bros. hat and I would've been the first to order one, if it weren't for the thickness and stiffness. I may end up buckling under and ordering anyway, the pictures are just too cool.

: But back to my original thought. Taking all this in, the years of searching for a 'Raiders' hat, the tiny modifications that make all the difference in the world, who came up with the original "look" of the hat? Someone had to keep saying "no" to prototypes until the final look was achieved. And we've found out that, even with an original to draw inspiration from, it's still hard as hell to achieve. So how did these people back in 1980 come up with a mental picture of this hat? For all practical purposes they could've just bought any old fedora from a hat shop and slapped it on Ford's head(I.E. the one Selleck's wearing in the screen tests).

: But who knows, maybe they just stumbled across this hat in a shop in London. That would definitely explain the lack of the 'Raiders' look in the following two movies.

: Austin Powers

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