In 1882 the French dramatist Victorien Sardou wrote Fédora for Sarah Bernhardt, who played Princess Fédora Romazoff and wore a center-creased, soft brimmed hat on stage. The word fedora comes from that play. I love that a piece of felt with a brim has had a stage name for well over a century.

A wide brim felt hat is a simple object made by a slightly odd process. Felt is short animal fibers that interlock when they are worked in hot water and steam, and fur felt hats are chiefly rabbit. The cone of felt shrinks, with its tiny barbs locking tighter, until it is the size of the hat. The wool ones below skip the fur, and I like them for October anyway. Giuseppe Borsalino started his hat factory in Alessandria on April 4, 1857, and men's felt hats were where the company's research began, so this shape has a long line behind it.

Cream is where I would begin, because it is the hardest color to wear well and the nicest when it works. The Juniper Packable from Brixton in wax paper is the easy one, wool felt with a grosgrain band that folds into a bag. The Maude from Gigi Pip has a pencil-roll brim of 9.5 cm, which is properly wide. Free People's Boone in linen has a flat brim and a cream ribbon, and Van Palma's Angele is an ivory wool rancher with a tonal band. For something dressier, Eugenia Kim's Harlowe in winter white has a pleated satin band and a 3 3/4 in brim, and San Diego Hat's fedora in ivory carries faux pearls and crystals.

Hold the brim next to your shoulder in the mirror. It should look deliberate, not like a mistake. In our October light I would wear any of these with a camel coat and dark denim, so the cream reads as the one soft thing.

There is a reason the phrase mad as a hatter exists. French hat makers in the seventeenth century found that mercury made fur felt together with greater ease, and the vapors gave workers what was called mad hatter disease. The museum write-up I read says the proverb was in use by the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Today's black felt is a cleaner affair, and the shapes are the pleasure.

The Ross from Janessa Leoné is a black 100% wool fedora with a tonal leather band and a gold logo screw closure, brim 3.25 in. That is the sharp one. Brixton's Juniper in black has the same easy wool felt as its cream sibling, and I would pick it for travel. Free People's Clarke has a dipped crown and a ribbon band with a dried floral motif, so it leans romantic. Lack of Color's Benson has a triangle crown and a rounded wide brim, and San Diego Hat Co.'s Line Wool Rancher is flat and plain. Eugenia Kim's Harlowe in black keeps the pleated satin band, and Helen Kaminski's Claude is pure wool with leather trim.

Check how the crown sits on your forehead and whether the brim stays up when you tilt your head down. A black hat can swallow a face if the brim is too low. I would wear one with a gray knit and a long black coat.

What I would skip: a black hat with a lot of hardware if your coat already has gold buttons. Pick one place for the shine.

Fedoras did not become a men's hat until Edward, Prince of Wales started wearing them in 1924. Before that the hat was fashionable for women, and the women's rights movement adopted it as a symbol. I find that a nice thing to remember when you put on a camel one.

Janessa Leoné's Beck in camel is 100% virgin wool, with a 3.6 in brim, a suede band and a brass D-ring closure. The Ross comes in chocolate with the same tonal leather band. Stetson's Bozeman in mushroom is wool felt with a pinch-front crown and a leather hatband, and the product page says it shrugs off light rain, which suits October. Eugenia Kim's Emmanuelle is camel felted wool with a dimpled crown and a cashmere band. Mossant's brown hat has lace bands and a suede tie, so it is the most unusual here. Gigi Pip's Monroe is a tan rancher with an 8.5 cm brim, and the Miller has a tall pinched crown, an 8 cm brim and a hand-sewn suede band. Rag & bone's Dakota in espresso is the dark one.

Try each brim against your coat collar. If the hat fights the collar, the shape is wrong, not you. I would wear a camel hat with a chocolate scarf, or a brown hat with cream knits.

What I would skip: a camel hat with a camel coat in the same exact shade, unless you want to look like a single object.

Floppy felt hats were popularized in the 1970s by actors such as Faye Dunaway, Brigitte Bardot and Raquel Welch. They are less firm than fedoras, with much wider brims, and they gave more protection from bracing winds. That is the practical case for a soft brim in October, and the style case is that it frames the face.

Brixton's Juniper in blush is wool felt with a light stiffness that packs down without losing its shape. San Diego Hat Co.'s June in gray has a drooping brim, and the First Rain in olive keeps a wide soft one. Free People's Ulla in black has a structured crown with a flipped-up brim, which is the most playful. Barbour's Tack is a blocked wool felt fedora in tan with a braided leather band and a 3 1/2 in brim. Binata Millinery's Silo gaucho in bottle green is rabbit hair felt with black silk trim, handcrafted in New York. Peter Grimm's Pache has a feather and a woven band, and Hat Attack's Harper in black and silver has a bit of shine.

Press the crown gently and see if it springs back. A soft brim should bend without staying creased. Wear one with an oversized wool coat and a plain turtleneck, and keep your hair simple.

What I would skip: a very soft brim on a windy walk if you have to hold it with one hand.

In the 1970s Faye Dunaway and Brigitte Bardot wore soft, solid-color felt, face-framing styles, and that is the spirit of this row. One solid color, worn plainly, and everything else quiet.

Gigi Pip's Dakota in rusty red has a flat 10 cm brim and a triangle crown, and Brixton's Juniper in red earth is the packable version. Van Palma's Alva in olive green is soft felt with a dipped crown and a stone detail, made in France. Free People's Ser Sunbeam in sky blue has star detailing, so it is the loud one. Gigi Burris Millinery's Jeanne is a charcoal melange wool fedora, 90% wool and 10% cotton, made in USA, with a sateen band and a flat wide brim. Lack of Color's rancher in sage, Peter Grimm's Arrow in dusty mauve and Brixton's Messer in dark brick, an Australian wool felt with a teardrop crease, round out the colors.

Hold the hat against your face in daylight, not store light. Red and olive change a lot outdoors. I would wear the rusty red with a navy coat, and the charcoal with everything.

What I would skip: a colored hat with a heavily patterned scarf. Let the hat be the one decision.

Pick the brim you can live with before you pick the color. I would hold it against my coat collar first, because the hat that sits well with the coat is the one that gets worn on an ordinary Tuesday.

Then go in order: cream for the soft day, black for the sharp one, camel for the coat, and a red if you are feeling brave. Check the crown, check the brim, and leave the one that needs constant adjusting on the shelf.

Bernhardt walked on stage in a soft felt hat in 1882, and nobody has really stopped wearing it since. That is a long run for a bit of felt.