|
Popular Styles Hats
Panama
The Panama hat has been popular in Latin American countries since the early 1800s, but became well-known north of the equator during the construction of the Panama Canal. Interestingly, these hats are handmade in Ecuador, not in Panama, from the leaves of the Carludovica Palmata, or hat palm.
It's said that the weave on a good Panama hat is so tight that it will hold water, and so soft that it can be rolled up to fit in a pocket. Panama hats are often warn as accessories to summer weight linen or silk suits.
Fedora
The Fedora is a soft felt hat with a lengthwise crease and pinches in the front of the crown, and is traditionally worn with the brim snapped down in front. The Fedora is a cosmopolitan hat, popular for its stylishness and ability to protect the wearer from wind and rain. Hats made of straw or twill are still referred to as Fedoras if they have the classic shape.
The Fedora defined the classic look of Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s, worn by detectives, gangsters, and tough business people. The Blues Brothers wore Fedoras. Humphrey Bogart wore one in both Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon.
Porkpie
The Porkpie is a hat made of felt or straw with a short flat brim and flat crown, said to resemble the profile of the British dish, the pork pie. The British man-about-town was never seen without one, and until the middle of the 20th century was quite common among British soldiers.
In America the best-known wearers of Porkpies were Buster Keaton and Dean Martin. Its continued to be a fashion staple among jazz musicians.
Gambler
At the time of the American Civil War the practical cowboy hat had become quite popular with the common people, but that hat took on an uptown flare to become the more sophisticated river boat Gambler hat. Its alternately known as the Plantation hat or sometimes the Big Daddy hat (after the character in Tennessee Williams play, who wore one).
The Gambler was notable for a pencil roll at the edge of the brim, and no crease or pinch in the crown.
Havana
The Havana is an authentic Cuban styled hat which goes well with a guayabera and a fine cigar. Its a light straw hat which resembles a stylish Porkpie with curved brim and taller creased crown and center pinches.
Our Havana hats are made in the U.S.A.
Homburg
The Homburg is similar to the Fedora in that its a felt hat with a "center dent" crease from the front to the back of the crown. Homburgs are stiff felt, have no pinches, and the edge of the brim is sharply turned up all the way around. Its typically made from wool and sports a grosgrain hat band. Though made in most colors it's most commonly black, gray, or brown.
This hat was popularized by Edward VII after he visited Bad Homburg and brought back a hat in this style. The Homburg is sometimes known as the Godfather hat, since Hollywood tended to portray gangsters and Mafia characters in them.
Slouch (Australian Bush Hat)
Australian armed forces in both World Wars brought the Slouch hat around the world with them. In Australia its a bushman's hat. When worn by soldiers, one side was typically pinned up to allow him to carry his rifle in an over-the-shoulder sling. If not pinned, the rifle knocked the hat from the soldier's head.
You've seen this hat on Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee.
Safari (Indiana Jones)
The Safari hat is a Fedora with an over sized unfinished brim and open crown (not shaped or blocked) which represents class, sophistication, and adventure. Charlton Heston wore one in Secrets of the Incas, and Alan Ladd in China. Harrison Ford introduced it to another generation in Raiders of the Lost Arc.
Personalize this hat by folding the brim up in the back, snapping it down in the front, or molding and pinching the crown.
Ascot
The Ascot is a traditional upper-crust British ladies' hat with a short crown and overly large brim. The Ascot is usually embellished with feathers, silks, and ribbons. The well-dressed lady changed hats for each social occasion. Sometimes several changes per day were required.
Our Ascot Cap hats draw heavily on the classic Ascot for their looks, appropriately updated for today's styles.
Bucket
The Bucket hat is named for its water bucket shape. Its a soft cotton hat made from heavy-duty cotton, denim, or canvas. Its very similar to the U.S. Navy enlisted dress uniform but with the brim flipped down. Ladies Buckets have soft rounded crowns and short soft brims to protect the lady's face from the sun.
Buckets are always a casual hat. Think Gilligan on his isle, or Colonel Blake's fishing hat in M*A*S*H.
Bowler
The Bowler is sometimes called a Derby, and was originally made of heavy felt to protect the wearer's head from low hanging branches as he rode on horseback. It has a hard round crown and short stiff brim. The Bowler is a mid step between the formality of a top hat, and the casual flat hat worn by British working classes. Bowlers are commonly associated with "gentlemen's gentlemen," or butlers.
Orville and Wilbur Wright and Charlie Chaplin were famous Americans who wore Bowlers. The hat fell out of popularity in the late 1950s, but has been worn with style by French painter Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, Led Zepplin's John Bonham, and rapper Nate Dogg.
|
|
|
