It was the Italian immigrants who brought this straw boater, or also known as "skimmer" hat, to America. It's prime era was between the 1880's and 1920's, and was worn to summer 'at the park' events, at jazz events, semi formal to formal outings; and just about everything for every class and gender. What you wore with it gave the hat it's character. These hats were even worn by famous mobsters such as John Dillinger. Very few know that it's also associated with the headwear of FBI agents around the time of it's establishment in 1908.
I purchased this hat at Miller Hats for $98.00. I wear it frequently during the summer to almost every place I go. I love it cause it's rarely seen, it's authentic, and is one of few vintage hats that aren't damaged by pimp, hip-hop or rap trends. I don't go around walking with an umbrella or cane though; I just used it for the photo. It'd be just a little too much. :p
The flat cap was worn by boys in Great Britain and North America of all classes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the popular image of the cap is it's being worn by "newsboys". Cloth caps were worn by fashionable young men in the 1920's. Flat caps were also popular among the railway workers. They were worn most of the year around (save summer) and the winter ones had built in protective ear flaps. Today the flat cap is sometimes associated with old men, but has been revived occasionally among younger people, particularly SHARP Skinheads and those who associate with the punk and Oi music scenes.
I purchased this cap at a local mall for around $10.00. I wear it whenever I'd like dress headwear I can fit anywhere; wear it when I want and place it in my pocket when I don't. I'll also wear it to get me from one place to another if it's raining.
The fedora was invented in the mid-1910s and is very much still around today. It is often associated with Prohibition-era mafia and private detectives and tops off most zoot suits. In Europe a fedora is also called a trilby. They typically have a shorter, "stingy" brim and the back of the brim is distinctively more sharply upturned as a result. This hat was a birthday gift from a relative. I tend to wear it during the winter to replace the skimmer.
The English Bowler is a well known hat. It was designed by the hat makers James and George Lock of Mr. Lock of St. James's Street. Peaking in it's popularity towards the end of the 19th century, it offered a midway between the formality of the top hat, associated with the upper classes, and the casual nature of soft felt hats worn by the lower middle classes. This hat I bought at Miller Hats for $95.00. Usually I will wear it during the winter.
The civilian beret completes the image of the stereotypical Frenchman, especially French peasants, artists, and intellectuals, even though berets are fairly rare in France nowadays among men under 60. It also was the stereotypical headgear of film directors until it was replaced in the public eye with the baseball cap in the 1980s.
This beret was given to me by my mother; and this particuler one has a pencil holder on the left side. Can't say I've worn this hat in years.
The ever great top hat was worn by men throughout the 1800's and early 1900's; but which are now usually only worn with morning or evening dress. The first top hat was made by John Hetherington in 1797, however, the hat only became popular in the 1820s. In the latter half of the 19th Century, the top hat gradually fell out of fashion, with the middle classes adopting bowler hats and soft felt hats such as fedoras, which were more convenient for city life, as well as being suitable for mass production.
I bought this hat at Miller Hats for $102.00. I tend to wear it on the week of Christmas, on New Years, and my birthday. Usually with a scarf and my long double-breasted coat.
This is a Spaniard Pilot's cap given to me by a friend of mine. I'm not certain about the history behind it. This hat I'll wear once every blue moon.
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