The Professor was left to stare into the depths of his ancient hat, as if it were a vestiary expression of his present situation.
* * * * * * * * * *
How does Pynchon know so many words? I bet he knows at least fifty more than I do.
"vestiary"
Vestiary means relating to clothes or dress. Which means the Professor sees his ancient, battered, empty hat as a metaphor for this terrible business meeting. The metaphor might simply stem from the emptiness of the hat. The entire prospect of working with Scarsdale Vibe is devoid of any virtue or pride. If the metaphor is any deeper than that, you can probably only visualize it if you're thinking the way Pynchon thinks. Maybe he'll explain it in more detail in the next sentence. "The deal was empty like how the hat was empty. And the terrible plot proposed by the evil Scarsdale as old and tattered as the material. The bent brim symbolized the Professor's impotence and inability to refuse a man of such means."
Earlier the hat was described as "a stovepipe hat whose dents, scars, and departures from the cylindrical spoke as eloquently as its outdated style of a long and adventuresome history." So maybe that will help determine how the hat is an expression of this current situation! Just think, "The Professor's current situation is like a stovepipe hat with dents, scars, and a significant departure from the cylindrical." See? Now you know the Professor is not in a good state of mind.
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