The More You Know...

Dress Hats In America's Past

Towards the end of the 17th century the vast wigs then worn by well dressed men made it impractical for them to wear the fashionable broad-brimmed dress hats of that time unless necessary. Custom dictated, however, that hats should then be carried beneath the arm. Rapidly, hats began to be folded to make them easier to carry. 

In the 18th century this habit and changing fashions led to many sorts of folded or cocked hats - cocked on one, two, or three sides. It was this style with the three sides cocked that dominated fashion and was seen in innumerable variations of adornment and proportion. While beaver felt was the preferred material others, including wool and camel's down, were available.

The top hat is a piece of history now, not really a part of most contemporary wardrobes despite its occasional uses for very special occasions. For a while, back in the 1930s and 1940s, Europeans got the false impression that it was making a comeback in American. They'd been watching Fred Astaire movies and simply assumed that all American men were dressing the way he did. Astaire wore them in a dozen or more films.

Since the beginning of time, dress hats have been used for status symbols, uniforms and fashion statements as well as functional uses like keeping warm or protection from the glare of the sun. Today, famous manufacturers like Stetson, Dobbs, Biltmore, and Borsalino have many styles like the Fedora, Homburg, Derby, Pork Pie, and Top Hat which are being used for formal as well as informal occasions.

Didn't find what you are looking for? Search Dress Hats...