Wednesday 11 June 2008

The Indiana Jones Hat

Indiana Jones hat and costumeApart from his jacket and his whip, the Indiana Jones hat is probably the most distinctive part of the Indiana Jones costume.

The Indiana Jones hat is actually in the style of a fedora hat, which are made from soft felt and have a crease down the length of the hat and are pinched on the front and on both sides of the hat. The term fedora goes back right to 1891 and comes from the title of a play by Victorien Sardou. Princess Fédora, who was the heroine of the play who wore a hat similar to a fedora in 1882.

The reason for the fedora hat to be used as the Indiana Jones hat was because Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas wanted to give the character and look of the Indiana Jones costume a distinctive silhouette. And after looking at many different styles of hat they decided to use the fedora, and that is why the Indiana Jones hat is so distinctive!

As an added point of interest, the Indian Jones hat was made by Herbert Johnson Hatters in England for the first film. The Fedora Indiana Jones hat for the film The Temple of Doom was made by Eddy Baron of Baron Hats. And lastly, the Indy hat for "Crystal Skull" were made by Steve Delk and Marc Kitter of AdventureBilt Hat Company.

Indian Jones Hat – The Myths
Did Harrison Ford staple the Indy hat to his head?
Because the distinctive style of the Indian Jones hat became so iconic, the film makers could not really remove it and so Harrison Ford had to wear it for almost every scene and if it ever fell off, they would have to stop the scene, replace the hat and start again. As a joke, Harrison Ford placed a stapler gun against his head during shooting of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and so this is where the urban legend that Harrison Ford stapled the Indian Jones hat to his head!

US Shoppers
Indiana Jones Hat & Costumes on Amazon.com

Buy Costumes.com:
Indiana Jones Costumes



UK Shoppers
Indiana Jones Hat & Costumes on Amazon.co.uk


Check out a previous post on the Indiana Jones Costume

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