# Fedora Shaming
Fedora Shaming is the online tradition of ridiculing young men who wear the felt fedora as their signature accessory, tying the hat to awkward flirts, self-styled 'nice guys,' and dating-app try-hards. Tumblr blogs and Facebook pages built the format in 2011, and it peaked with the 2014 Kitty and Christopher Ryan Facebook message post that went viral.
## Overview
Fedora Shaming is the online tradition of ridiculing young men who wear a fedora as their signature accessory, treating the hat as shorthand for awkward 'nice guys' and dating-app try-hards[1]. The joke lives across Tumblr photo collections, Facebook groups, and Reddit compilations built around cataloging real fedora wearers in the wild.
The mockery targets more than headwear. Single-topic blogs called out shirtless 'check out my chest measurements' selfies, ankle-length trench coats, and contemplative bedroom photos alongside the hat itself[2]. The wider joke pins the fedora to a 'nice guy' archetype that reacts badly to rejection[1].
## How It Spread
The joke turned into an organized movement in 2011. A Facebook page titled 'Take that Fedora off, you look like a tool' launched on April 14, 2011, and a companion page called 'Stop Wearing Fedoras' appeared two weeks later[3]. The Tumblr blog 'Lonely Nerds in Fedoras' arrived on April 27, 2011, and a Reddit /r/pics post called 'The Truth Hurts' set a photo of Humphrey Bogart against a young man in a fedora and sweater, gathering more than 9,300 up votes.
Copycat Tumblr blogs followed through 2012, including 'Forever Alone Fedoras' (March 29), 'You Shouldn't Wear That Fedora' (April 17), and 'Fedoras of OKC' (July 24), the last of which recycled OKCupid profile pictures of fedora-clad men[2]. Mainstream outlets caught on the same year, with BuzzFeed publishing a flowchart mockery in May and BoingBoing running 'Why the Fedora Grosses Out Geekdom' that October[3].
The peak moment arrived on February 24, 2014, when Tumblr user Pimp Under the Mountain (Kitty) posted Facebook messages from a Hot Topic customer named Christopher Ryan, who called her a real-life version of Felicia Day and cast himself as a fedora-wearing 'nice guy' who would 'worship' her[1]. Her reply gained over 121,800 Tumblr notes in 72 hours and jumped to Reddit's /r/justneckbeardthings, with The Daily Dot and Kotaku writing up the exchange two days later[1]. Around the same time, adolescent YouTuber Sir Fedora rose to notoriety with videos that reached the front page of Reddit[4], and the expression 'Tips Fedora,' mimicking a courteous hat-tip, spread as shorthand for cringey chivalry from the same crowd.
## How to Use
A typical Fedora Shaming post pairs a candid photo of a young man in the hat with a caption calling out an adjacent trait, like a hoodie combo, an OKCupid line, or a 'm'lady' moment. Common conventions include 'tips fedora' text over cartoons or screenshots, side-by-side 'what you think you look like' comparisons with 1940s stars, and reblog chains of dating-profile screenshots pulled straight from mocked blogs[2].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Fedora Shaming?
Fedora Shaming is the online tradition of mocking young men who wear the felt fedora as a fashion signature, tying the hat to awkward 'nice guy' behavior and dating-app posturing[1].
### Where did Fedora Shaming come from?
Tumblr blogs and Facebook pages built the format in 2011, followed by 2012 copycats like 'You Shouldn't Wear That Fedora' that mixed hat photos with mocking captions[2].
### What does Fedora Shaming mean?
It uses the hat as shorthand for a wider neckbeard persona: dating-app try-hards, self-styled geeks, and men who react to rejection as if it were a personal insult[1].
### How do you use Fedora Shaming?
The pattern typically pairs a photo of a fedora wearer with a caption or gesture, like the phrase 'tips fedora' or the 'check out my chest measurements' line lifted straight from mocked blogs[2].
### Is Fedora Shaming still popular?
The wave peaked with the viral February 2014 Kitty and Christopher Ryan Facebook exchange and cooled after, though 'tips fedora' jokes still surface in neckbeard-related humor[1].
## References
1. [https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/facebook-exchange-hot-topic-nice-guy-fedora/]()
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121002092845/http://youshouldntwearthatfedora.tumblr.com/]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fedora-shaming]()
4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZcDjcaSHvc]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/fedora-shaming
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