Which is the meaning of the fez in lounge culture?

Hi i,m interesed in know which is the meaning of Fez in lounge culture,i live near Morocco,and i surprised when i see this traditional cap in lounge culture,please you can help me,thanks in advance

The fez is actually a direct link with Shriners in the 50-70's.

The Masons, Al Bahr, Al Malakai(sp). They were sort of fraternities and business networking groups for working men. The also prided themselves on community involvement and charity events.

Not sure how the adapted the fez but it was a distinct way to show belonging in the group. I have my grandfathers fez from his Shriner days.

Its sort of an outdated way to socialize but shriners still exist.

..I always associated it with the villians from old spy, james bond and also in the third installment of raiders of the lost ark films ......because of that whole spy/bond genre, the fez became co-opted amongst surf fans into spy surf instromental music (surf music also has a deep middle eastern influence as is heard in many surf tunes, old and new school) and lounge lizards alike which co-opted the fez look for it's association with those 1960's films. It's was a symbol of exotic lands and high adventures......of jet setting to moroco for and afternoon caper.....then off to rio or some other destination...conjuring up images of cocktail sippin' swingers in far off lands.

The fez is exotic and funky :)

Plus, monkeys look funny in any other hats...

Cool thread.

I found myself wandering back repeatedly to stare longingly at the Limited Edition Oasis6 Fez at the Fez-O-Rama booth. When I told my friend he told me if I'd bought it he'd have "slapped that damn thing off my head".

I'd like to know why some in the tiki scene embrace the fez while others scorn it.

I'd like to know why some in the tiki scene embrace the fez while others scorn it.

..simple...cause the ones who like it, are the cool ones...and the ones who don't are clueless and lack a certain sense of humor and playfulness that the entire tiki genre engenders. there is no room for seriousness in tikidom.....if anyone is that severly serious, please, do us all a favor and go join a cult instead.......

Monkeyman is halfway there. The fez is affiliated with the headwear of the Masons (Shriners) from the 1950's-70's era. But although the Masons do perform legitimate community service, I would argue that those in the tiki community today are not wearing fezes because they wish to perform more charity work than those tiki folk who do not wear fezes.

From the 1950's to 70's, the Shriners had a reputation for getting together at their meetings and conventions, and letting their guard down and doing some excessive partying. It was viewed as a social club, where once they were away from their wives and families, they could go wild.

This attitude is captured well in a couple of highly visible movies/TV shows that appeared in the early 60's. The first is 'Bye Bye Birdie', the very popular movie musical that stars Dick Van Dyke and Ann Margaret. In that movie, the Rose Alvarez character somehow ends up in a basement meeting of a group of Shriners. There is a wild, dance musical number, which essentially has the Shriners chasing, in a choreographed fashion, Rose Alvarez all around the basement - much in the style that a male office executive might stereotypically chase his secretary around the office.

Shag picked up on this fez connotation, with his 'Wives With Knives' print.
http://www.shag.com/Holidaysonice/wivesprint.html

The other media representation is the cartoon series the Flintstones - where Fred and Barney are members of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes - a fictious organization that is based on the Shriners, although their headgear is a bit more excessive and silly.

The late 50's/early 60's was a period where it was more acceptable to become excessively drunk (think of 'alcoholic' comedians of that era, such as Dean Martin, Foster Brooks, and all the cartoons featuring drunks wearing lampshades on their heads) and to act in ways when drunk that may not be as socially acceptable today.

The fezes are worn today in spirit of that wild, let your hair down, hedonistic lifestyle.

By the way, I can highly recommend the book 'A Fex of the Heart - A Trek Around Turkey in Search of a Hat' written by Jeremy Seal, which will provide some actual history about the signifigance of the fez headwear - although it doesn't really touch upon the above wild retro period hedonistic connotation.

Vern

The fez in lounge culture and before that shriner culture has many parallels with the tiki culture, both are playful subcultures that took up exotic accoutrements for mystique and fun in a time when the world seemed much bigger and far off lands were more imagined than real for most Americans, before CNN and PBS would show you images of the remotest corners of the earth on a daily basis.The shriners took up the Arab/Moorish theme quite awhile before the tiki themed pop phenomenon appeared. Here is a copy paste from Wikipedia:

The Shrine was supposedly established in New York City in the 1870s as the "fun" part of the Masonic movement. The group adopted a theme of the Middle East and soon established "Temples" meeting in "Mosques" across the continent. Another Masonic group, the Mysterious Order of the Veiled Prophet of the Enchanted Realm (known colloquially as the "Grotto"), had adopted a similar theme in 1890. The theme was popular at the time and alluded to the mystery and ceremony of the Arabian Nights with its elaborate parties and frolic.
Despite its Arabic theme, the Shrine is in no way connected to Islam. It is a men's fraternity rather than a religion or religious group. Its only religious requirement is indirect, since all members must be Freemason; a petitioner to Freemasonry must profess a belief in a supreme being. In order to reduce the confusion with religion, the use of the word "Temple" to describe Shriners' buildings has now been replaced by the phrase "Shrine Center." For example, Mahi Temple is now the Mahi Shrine Center; the group of people meeting there refer to themselves as the 'Mahi Shriners'.
Rather than a religion, the Shriners function in occidental culture as what anthropologists call a clown society. In addition to the anthropological meaning, Shriners also frequently dress as clowns to entertain children in hospitals.
There are 500,000 Nobles belonging to 191 Shrine Centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Panama.

OH DEAR! See what happens when I stay away too long! :o Just a few weeks ago I decided to add to my hat wearing obsession (all stingy brims, of course :wink: ) by picking up a cheap leopard Fez on eBay for a laugh and then made the plunge to wear it to work (with a bowling shirt) on my Sat nite (midnight to 6AM) taxi shift. It was a gas tooling around Key West, playing swank tunes from the Bachelor Pad Radio Show on my MP3 player, and taking the partying revelers where they needed to go all vented and tasseled. :D It certainly got some looks, so now I decided to make Sat nites 'bowling shirt and fez nite'. Of course I had to come here and I find this thread AND find there is at least one website http://www.fez-o-rama.com selling a bunch of cool Fezzes........Now I must collect them ALL! But how will I pay for them? I'll NEVER be able to afford them AND my eBay habit! :evil: Guess I'll have to double my fares! :lol: Or sell some of my new Tiki necklaces (well actually they wont be ready till Sept). :cry:

Well in the immortal words of Juan Garcia Esquivel, "Zuu-zu Zuu-zu-zuu" :wink:

[ Edited by: Rattiki 2006-05-16 05:44 ]

On 2006-05-15 15:52, Monkeyman wrote:
Its sort of an outdated way to socialize but shriners still exist.

Just curious, why would you think it outdated? A Shriner's network is impressive. If you can get in, it's still THE business/social club. Just a bit less "out there."

Another note - views on world cultures were quite different back in the 1870's, when the first Masons/Shriner group was formed. Queen Victoria was the head of England, and the British culture then was somewhat repressive in terms of how sex was expressed in the public. The Arabic cultures were then seen as being much more open in terms of sexual freedom, with the images of harems with multiple wives, belly dancers, and other exotic imagery -- so the Masons were quite happy to tap into this culture for some of their key symbols and imagery.

Now, the tides have changed. The Western culture is seen as much more sexually open (i.e. the avialability of internet porn), while the Arab cultures are seen as more repressed.

Vern

Vern, thanks for all the info I was also wondering about the whole concept. Thanks for clarifying it. It all makes more sense now.

for me, "nassim" from the matt helm movie "the ambushers" and the derivative "mustafa" from the austin powers movies are my main reason for diggin on the fez.

A point over looked was that the Bohemian Movment (often associated with "Beatnics"..a cross betwen "the Beat Generation" and Communist "Sputnic") in post war California frequented a few spots, and Moracco was one of them.

After the French got chased out of Algeria, it has remained one of the more tolerant places in North Africa.

Smoking Jackets tho...those are another story.

I enjoy a good hat. Have a large collection.

I've been looking at a fez for a while, but unsure of the meanings and possible offense wearing one might cause.

This is a great thread for hearing all sides.

Seems like "if you don't get it then you're not with it, daddyo".

Off to buy me a fez.

fez story:
in the october of about 1998, i decided i was going to be mustafa (see above) for a halloween party. so i called a hat store in georgetown, washington dc called "hats i the belfry" and got some guy. i said, "do you carry fezzes?" and he replied, "what's a fez?" i tried to describe it, but it was hopeless so i drove there to find out in person.

when i got there, that guy wasn't there but there was a woman behind the counter and perhaps the manager woman who came in a bit later. i found the proper red fez, and while paying for it, i mentioned that the previous person i had called hadn't known what a fez was. i meant it in the spirit of having an informed haberdasher... you know, customer service. well the manager looked like i had just royally insulted the fellow, and made some snippy remark.

fez in bag, i happily walked out of the store onto wisconsin avenue. the manager lady came out a second later and as she started to cross the street, she shot a glaring little look at me and said "i hope you enjoy your FEZ!!! in a hissy spiteful tone. i just laughed at her. freaking georgetown retailers.

You must be a Mason to become a Shriner. One of th emany "funny hats" clubs. Though there is a social network, the work of the Masons is spiritual. Meta-religion. The intense inner work of the Lodges got more and more dilute over time. It's workings being secret, many popular notions arouse about it's real ceremonies and the goings on. The outer groups and public works cause Shriners to be seen in Fezes. There are a good many revels when Shriners get together and the notion of the drunken Shriner in a Fez became popular.

It's just an iconic image of the 1950-60s.

The Masons draw a lot of symbolic imagery from the East. The East being the direction from which the Sun rises, it is symbolic of the dawning of light in your mind, life and soul. It is symbolic of knowledge and god. The imagery of Egypt and Eastern culture is just part of that symbolism of "enlightenment." It all originated in 1870-1880ish.

The public sightings of Shriners became the source of stereotype. It was a different age. Husbands spent less time with wives. The Masons require enormous amounts of your time and men were fine with that back then.

Masonic lodges are far from dissappearing though. White lodges are graying and dying, but in the black communities, Masonic lodges are having a very strong growth. In a decode or two, the majority of Masons will be black.

On 2006-05-16 03:14, Rattiki wrote:
It was a gas tooling around Key West, playing swank tunes from the Bachelor Pad Radio Show on my MP3 player, and taking the partying revelers where they needed to go all vented and tasseled. :D It certainly got some looks, so now I decided to make Sat nites 'bowling shirt and fez nite'.

That is so COOL! I would be thrilled to get in a cab where the driver was havin' that much fun. Usually, the only time I get in a cab is only when I am in San Francisco. Most of the times the drivers are crusty clods that seem to border on psychotic. More often than not they have the personality of a box of nails and make me feel like I am inconvenience to them.

Of course no mention of the fez is complete with out bringing up Morrocan Mole from Secret Squirrel:

And you cant forget about The Neptunes who will often times wear their fez's, which they sale on their website, while shredding there legendary double neck guitars:

Personally, I connect the fez to lounge culture, as brought up before, as a symbolof exotic and far away lands. The Shriner/mason trip I never new much about or understood. Thanks for all the info, this is an interesting thread.

Chongolio

Lost-Isle
Coconut Wired Podcast
Barefoot bloggin'

The fez or tarboosh(in turkey)
was a way to keep ones head warm.
And is no more than an unbrimmed hat.

In some cultures it can show class or occupation.

Mostly it is a lounge culture thing and doesn't really relate to tiki except that it is cool fun headgear.

want to own a cool fez?

http://www.fezorama.com

The history of the fez in the U.S., with its various cultural meanings, can be fascinating. Even more wild though is the history of the fez in Turkey - the same leader (Kamal Ataturk) who renamed the city name Constantinople to Istanbul also declared the fez to be illegal, and people were actually killed for wearing fezes - all in the interest of becoming more modern and Europe-like.

Here is a website that gives a brief summary of the history of the fez in Turkey. http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/fez_1/

It is really kind of amazing, the meanings that a country will apply to a head covering.

Vern

On 2006-05-15 20:26, hodadhank wrote:
I found myself wandering back repeatedly to stare longingly at the Limited Edition Oasis6 Fez at the Fez-O-Rama booth. When I told my friend he told me if I'd bought it he'd have "slapped that damn thing off my head".

Is your friend's name Bamboo Ben? :)

On 2006-05-16 07:35, Johnny Dollar wrote:

fez in bag, i happily walked out of the store onto wisconsin avenue.

... good thing you went to the store in person...

many thanks Sirs,great info :)

On 2006-05-16 07:35, Johnny Dollar wrote:
she shot a glaring little look at me and said "i hope you enjoy your FEZ!!! in a hissy spiteful tone. i just laughed at her. freaking georgetown retailers.

Man you should send her pics of you in the fez at various parties with an accompanying letter saying how you are enjoying your fez very much, and thanking her for her wondefuul disposition and quality of service. In fact, you are reccomending that all of your friends are interested in the Fez and that you have reccomended her shop :)

Speaking of Fezzes, one time after watching "That 70's Show" for years it finally hit me that Fez or Fes is the acronym F. E. S. or Foreign Exchange Student. After having this epiphany, my life has been irrevocably changed, everything is different now....

ST

I just found this song

Put on your Fez.mp3

I got my Fez from my Great-Uncle Harry, who bought it in Fez, Morrocco. It's unfortunately no longer large enough for me, but I still keep it on display in our bedroom.

And who can forget the fez-infested Laurel and Hardy movie "The Sons of the Desert" ? Where Ollie makes believe that he went to "Honolulah" for his "health" (instead he goes to party with his brethren at a convention).
He comes home to his wife singing "Honolulu Baby".
Best fez movie ever.

Love that Put on Your Fez song! And I absolutely concur, Sons of the Desert, best fez movie ever! And later Oliver sports a niffy smoking hat and jacket and afterwards a bowler hat. It may be the biggest number of hat changes in a Laurel and Hardy film, I'm not sure.

They're selling copies of the Sons of the Desert fez on ebay right now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/SONS-OF-THE-DESERT-FEZ-LAUREL-AND-HARDY-FEZ_W0QQitemZ9143069076QQihZ011QQcategoryZ2312QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hey, and as Hello Tiki also points out, let's not forget this is the same movie that has the boys singing Honolulu Baby with a ukulele while sporting leis and pineapples! Don't you just love when all your favourite things fuse together!

“Paradise is exactly like where you are right now... only much, much better.”

[ Edited by: lone tiki? 2006-06-05 09:46 ]

And as for images, how about the cover of the infamous (the Shriners tried suing the band) Dead Kennedys' "Frankenchrist" lp?

Gotta love those cars...

Several months ago I purchased a really good quality red felt fez and a nice red silk smoking jacket (complete with black solk ascot and pocket square) available here: http://www.hillesodesigns.com/deluxesmoking.htm I immediatelly threw a cocktail party and greeted all my guests at the door in said outfit and a martini in hand. I was greeted with laughs and compliments every time, and one friend immediately took my picture with their cell phone, which now pops up whenever I call him. It was an incredible hit and I recommend it to anyone.

Cheers,
Ray

[ Edited by: Urban Tiki 2006-08-29 11:59 ]

Great thread!

I have always loved the Fez, at least since Mr C. wore one on Happy Days for the Leopard Lodge. Also do not forget Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton with their Racoon Lodge on the Honeymooners. Still, I would have to be really loaded to wear one.

Local rock legends, the Slickee Boys just did a 30th anniversary gig a couple of weeks ago. Singer Mark Noone did the second set in a bowling shirt and a Fez. In fact he said, "I have a collection of around 40 Fezs and if you come see enough gigs, you will see them all".

I have an early 60s Washington Redskins program from a preseason game. Its called the Alma Bowl named after the lodge. Great pictures of future HOF player Bobby Mitchell next to guys in Fezs.

Well I now have two and a couple of months ago I proclaimed Friday Nite in Key West to be 'Fez & Bowling Shirt Nite'.........which...addmitedly has really not caught on much, but F 'em if they can't make a joke! I still have fun :D

Here's a pic from 1960 of the passengers leaving for another island onboard the Matsonia.
There's two guys in Fez's. Also Pee-Wee Herman, two Audrey Hepburns, an Uncle Fester and more...

http://www.studioelectro.com/hawaii/pages/page_13.html

http://www.studioelectro.com/hawaii/matsonia.html

Awesome pictures! Love the one that has Arthur Lyman on the sign!

On 2006-10-26 07:37, lucas vigor wrote:
Awesome pictures! Love the one that has Arthur Lyman on the sign!

Ya - that's a fun bunch o pics. I just noticed that the guy in the background looks like Arthur! Was he tall like that?

Wow! That picture looks like a current TC event. Amazing.

On 2006-10-23 07:27, Steve-O wrote:
Here's a pic from 1960 of the passengers leaving for another island onboard the Matsonia.

http://www.studioelectro.com/hawaii/pages/page_13.html

I'm now the proud owner of the "Radio Fez" from Fez-O-Rama http://www.fez-o-rama.com

[ Edited by: Rum Balls 2008-11-26 09:37 ]

I think far too many people are 'reading into' the implementation of the fez-wearing trend in today's (and yesterday's) Lounge culture fashion. It has absolutely nothing to do with Shriners/Masons or Polynesian culture, nor to do with enlightenment and religion (forbade to bear one's head, for example).

Has it to do with a connection to an exotic locale? Yes: Egypt and North Africa (French Morocco, in particular), and Turkey.

Has it to do with 'I saw other people wearing them at a cocktail party'? Definitely yes.

Has it to do with 'I saw fezzes being worn in films like Casablanca, etc., when they were in a nightclub, restaurant, etc., smoking and drinking; and I noticed that the fez complements well its coupling with a tux jacket'? Most definitely yes.

Has it to do with 'I keep seeing the fez pop up in Lounge/Tiki art'? Most assuredly definitely yes.

Read into the meaning all you want, but basically the fez today is a fashion trend like any other; one that someone adopted for reasons other than its connection to Morroco and the Turks, but which its imagery and influence layed in (most likely from films), and which others soon emulated.

The fez works well for balding men and men who wear their hair extremely short. And although the fez DOES look complementary to a white tux jacket and tie, with a thick head of pompadoured hair, I wouldn't be caught dead in one.

The purpose if to have one to auction off & donate the funds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for The Cure of Breast Cancer. :D OK. this was informative I did wonder about them myself, I did think it was a Mason's deal. I think they look cool & fun! & if Fred Flintstone wore one? that's cool enough... oh, wait, that's a cartoon... so what still cool..

Revive a dead thread? Well if you insist...

So a few months back I purchased a fez at an antique market. It is a genuine Shriner's fez from the Al Malaikai Shrine in Los Angeles. I bought it with the express intent of wearing it at Tiki events. What I'd like to know from people with more knowledge on such subjects than I, is if that is kosher? Or is it the equivalent of wearing a Roman collar and not being a priest? It is in truly excellent condition, complete with the tassel pin, I'd hate to leave it sitting on a shelf. But on the other hand, I would in no way want to take anything from the hard work and diligence that the members of the Shrine do in the community. Any thoughts?

I say if you paid it do what you want. I've seen cute girls wear Cub Scout uniform shirts and I haven't been offended as a former Cub Scout. What's the worst that could happen a Shriner would drive a Go-Cart over your foot? If that is ever about to happen please let me know so I can film it.

Personally I don't understand the whole fez thing anyway to me it seems like "Oh my aloha shirt doesn't make me interesting enough? How about this wacky hat?" :)

it's like anything; if you dig it, cool, if you don't dig it, cool.

personally, i don't understand the "sticking tongue out a'la maori style" myself, but that seems rather popular as well :P

Aloha Jason.

You need to get Mai Tai to tell you about his fez wearing adventure at Oasis last year.

On 2008-07-24 10:51, Jason Wickedly wrote:
Revive a dead thread? Well if you insist...

So a few months back I purchased a fez at an antique market. It is a genuine Shriner's fez from the Al Malaikai Shrine in Los Angeles. I bought it with the express intent of wearing it at Tiki events. What I'd like to know from people with more knowledge on such subjects than I, is if that is kosher? Or is it the equivalent of wearing a Roman collar and not being a priest? It is in truly excellent condition, complete with the tassel pin, I'd hate to leave it sitting on a shelf. But on the other hand, I would in no way want to take anything from the hard work and diligence that the members of the Shrine do in the community. Any thoughts?

unlike the girl scouts....the shriners and masons take their fezzes seriously...i too wore a shriner vintage fez when i used to design toys for a studio downtown years ago....one day i was read the riot act by one of our vendors that warned me that if i were to be caught with it on out on the street and a mason saw and recognized that i was not indeed a fellow brother that i could get into some deep shriner doo doo and have my fez ripped from my head and taken back.....this is what i was told and whether true or not...deserves some consideration....remember, you are dealing with a secret society that goes through great pains to select worthy members for their initiations into the group...in a way it does mock them. Most of the shriner stuff you find on ebay and such is from dead shriners...they keep all their stuff throughout their lives as shriners and when they die, neither their kids nor wives (if living) want the stuff so instead of being returned back to the shriners to keep it out of circulation it ends up in the garage sale...then on ebay, etc....

..none of the above applies to plain red fezzes, new fezzes, custom fezzes, etc....only to the actual vintage and masonic fezzes ....if you really like that look..buy a red fez and some rhinestones and create your own wacky fez that when finished, will look like the old time fezzes but will be recognized as not being from any existing fraternal order like masons or shriners....

So what happened Tipsy? Did the Vendor get the hat away from you?

On 2008-07-24 14:12, Bora Boris wrote:
So what happened Tipsy? Did the Vendor get the hat away from you?

it was really weird...the company i worked for at the time had hired another company to come in and water the plants and take care of the other foliage around the studio....this particular woman, who showed up saw my fez and asked me about the inscriptions on it and what they meant..kinda speakin in a crypitic way, as if i should know what she was talking about..i thought her level of seriousness was a joke and when she realized i had no clue and did not belong to the organization (of which she was a member, though not a high ranking one)...she proceeded to warn me about wearing an actual shriner fez in public. I told her of my extensive collection of fezzes and shriner memorabilia, where i got most of it and why i have it....she seemed to relax once she knew i had a general appreciation of the stuff though i know very little about it.(that's why it's a secret society-LOL).....anyway, no, she did not confiscate the fez - nor would i have let her if she tried....not long after that i finally found a plain red fez with black tassel that actually fits my enormous, brain-filled head.....which is the one i choose to wear to public/private events now....as for my vintage ones, aside from not fitting me, can be admired in a display case in my house...without fear of being lost, damaged or snatched off my noggin by a disgruntled shriner with an axe to grind.....

Believe it or not, I too love collecting Fez and Fez related items. I can't explain but I just like them. I don't wear them outside the house because frankly they are too big for my brainless small head. No seriously, I have a few, one real nice one that I got from an old client who's husband had been a member and she was so happy to give it to me because she didn't know what to do with it. I also have another one from Egypt (1950's) someone gave me, this one is too small for my head or I would wear it, maybe, (I don't think any Egyptians are going to get upset when they see me wear this one in the streets of L.A! do you?). :)