Hat Resource

Caps, billed caps, and baseball caps are typically a rounded style with a stiff brim in front. Sometimes the crown is a boxier shape, but they are generally made to fit snugly to the head.

Driving caps have a shorter brim, while baseball and Yeddo caps have longer brims.

A baseball cap is usually made of cloth and has a large front brim to shade the eyes. The brim can be straight or slightly curved. There is often an adjustable or elastic strap at the back to help the cap fit securely. Originally worn only by baseball players, baseball caps are now a general leisure hat worn by anyone, male or female, young or old.

The New York Knickerbockers wore baseball’s first official uniform in 1849, which included a straw cap. The Brooklyn Excelsiors introduced the more modern, rounded-crown baseball cap in 1860. The Brooklyn-style cap, with a long visor and a button on top, became popular in 1900. Another version of the antique cap featured a flat, pillbox-style crown, but it was not popular for long.

Now, the large front crown is often used to advertise businesses, sports teams, slogans, etc.

{…}

The cartwheel (pancake, platter) hat has a flat, shallow crown and a wide, stiff brim. When seen above it resembles a wagon wheel.

In the late 1930s it was seen on resort beaches and was often featured on brides with an open crown. This type of hat was often used in the late 1940s and early 1950s as an accessory to Dior’s New Look, as it provided visual balance to the wide skirts.

In the 1950s cartwheels were used in the evening as cocktail hats and lavishly trimmed with feathers and flowers.

Written by LadyScarletts

See Also: Picture Hat, Platter Hat

A casque is a very close-fitting cap that wraps around the head to frame the wearer’s face. They are often very decorative, with feathers, ornate leaves, or floral arrangements.

Written by TheVintageFashionGuild

A chignon (bun) cover is used to cover a chignon (bun) hairdo. Often made of crocheted fabric or lace, it is secured over the bun with elastic band or bobby pins. They can also be made of feathers, flowers, leather, or human hair.

Novelty covers are popular during the holidays. Pine cones with holly, faux candles, lace decorated with rhinestones, etc.

Written by PinkyAGoGo

A church hat is typically large, dramatic, brightly colored, and heavily decorated. They gained popularity in the late 1980s. Most are made in Taiwan, of polypropylene.

Written by AlleyCatsVintage

The most popular hat of the 1920s, the cloche (French for bell) is a snug-fitting hat worn down over the brow. Most are brimless, but there are examples with slight brims.

Invention of the cloche is attributed to both Chanel and Reboux. The style was first seen in 1917.
The flapper revival of the 1960s also saw the revival of the cloche.

Written by Lady Scarletts

The late 1940s saw a new social gathering called the Cocktail Party, and along with it came the cocktail hat. Similar to a half or clip hat, the cocktail hat is small and meant to be worn at formal evening occasions.

They are crown hugging and may have side prongs (grips) in varying shapes to help keep them in place. The hat body is usually constructed of velvet or brocade and embellished with rhinestones and/or feathers, which distinguish them from more-casual, daytime styles. They often, but not always, have veiling.

Written by AlleyCatsVintage

The conical Asian hat, commonly called a coolie, is associated with southeast Asian countries. They are typically made of straw in a conical shape to keep sun and rain off the face, and are held on the head by a cloth strap that goes under the chin.

Plain styles are worn during the day and at work, while more elaborately decorated ones are worn for festivals and holidays.

The term coolie may be considered derogatory.

Written by TheVintageFashionGuild

The Cossack hat (papkha, astrakhan hat) is worn by men of the Caucasus region. One style is tall, worn at an angle, and made of karakul lambskin. They may have earflaps which can be folded up.

Another style is called a kubanka. It is shorter and has no earflaps. In 1855, the papakha was made an official part of the uniform for the Cossacks, and later for the rest of the Russian cavalry.

Written by TheVintageFashionGuild

The cowboy (or western) hat has a high crown and wide brim. There is usually a thin, decorative band around the crown. Owners customize the creases and bashes on the crown as well as rolling the brim to their liking.

Cowboy hats can be made of leather, straw, wool, or fur-based felt.

The first cowboy hats were made in 1865 by J.B. Stetson and the style and construction haven’t changed much over the years.

They are a unisex hat worn for both outdoor work and as a fashionable accessory. They can be plain or highly embellished with feathers, rhinestones, and decorative trim.

A few famous cowboy hat wearers are John Wayne, Tim McGraw, Jose Eber, Brett Michaels, and Madonna.

{…}

The deerstalker (fore-and-aft cap, tweed helmet, Sherlock) was originally used as a hunting cap, most often for deer stalking.

The first recorded use was in 1871, and by the early 1890s it had been popularized by Arthur Conan Doyle’s character, Sherlock Holmes. The hat is now commonly known as a Sherlock in British circles.

It is traditionally made from a wool tweed or twill. It has front and rear visors as well as rounded side flaps, which are tied in a bow at the top when not in use. The visors protect the wearer from the sun and the flaps from wind or cold.

Written by TheMerchantsofVintage

See Also: Trapper Hat

Disco hats are head wear used for disco dancing. They became popular in the mid to late 1970s.

Ladies sported beret or beanie-style hats elaborately decorated in beads, sequins, or rhinestones. Fascinators decorated in shiny beads, sequins, and rhinestones, as well as brightly colored turbans and knit caps were also seen on the dance floor.

Men wore fedoras. White with black trim was a favorite, as were oversized newsboy-style caps.

Written by TheVintageFashionGuild

The doll (toy, tilt) hat was very popular during the late 1930s and early 1940s. They were small and worn perched on the head, tilted well over the forehead.

By 1937, tiny toy or doll hats resembled saucers piled high with fruits, flowers, and feathers.

Written by Ladyscarletts

See Also: Toy Hat , Tilt Hat

The driving (flat, ivy) cap is a rounded cap with a short, stiff brim in front. It may have a button or snap brim. Common fabrics are wool, wool tweed, and cotton.

This cap can be traced to the 14th century in Northern England and to this day the style is quintessentially English and Irish.

Written by TheVintageFashionGuild

See Also: Newsboy Cap

An Easter bonnet is any fancy hat worn on Easter Sunday. Usually covered in pastel spring flowers and leaves and made of bright, pastel-colored materials.

Easter bonnets are worn to Easter church services and to Easter parades.

The tradition of buying and wearing a new Easter hat at the end of Lent goes back centuries.

Written by TheVintageFashionGuild

Edwardian Hat – Description to come.

The most popular hats during the 1909-1912 “Titanic Era” were enormous and large-brimmed. They were lavishly trimmed with ostrich feathers, whole birds, velvets, lace, flowers, and other embellishments.

These elaborate hats had various names including Merry Widow, Gainsborough, and Large Boater.

This type of hat required a long hat pin to hold it on a women’s head. As skirts became narrower, hats became wider.

In 1912, hats became somewhat narrower and taller.

{…}

The facing of a hat is the underside of the brim. It can sometimes be made of a different material or be of a different color than the top of the brim.

Written by Rue_de_la_Paix

A fanchon is a flat, unstructured head covering with elongated, decorative side pieces resembling earlaps. They were worn atop the head and usually made of lace, with or without additional fabric such as linen or muslin, or of delicate, embroidered netting. They were typically triangular, diamond-shaped, or round.

The fanchon hat or bonnet is the same shape as a fanchon, but with more structure. It is a very small, often triangular or circular hat that sits atop the head and has ribbons at either side to tie beneath the chin.

Both were popular in the mid-Victorian era (mid-19th Century).

Written by BetterDressesVintage

See Also: Headkerchief – Head Scarf , Mantilla

A fascinator is a woman’s miniature hat that is typically worn at an angle. It can be attached to a headband or have hidden clips to keep it in place on the hair. Intended to “fascinate,” they often feature whimsical and over-the-top designs. They were seen in large numbers at the royal wedding of William and Kate.

Written by AmandaInVermont

The fedora hat is generally made of soft beaver, rabbit, and/or wool felt, with smooth, brushed, velour, and/or longhair textures. It has a low-to-medium height crown with a length-wise or teardrop/diamond-shaped crease running along the crown’s top from front to back; a short, medium, or wide turned-up or turned-down brim; and the crown is usually ringed with a ribbon – often grosgrain with a flattened bow on the crown’s side.

The fedora is named after the 1882 play Fedora by Victor Sardou in which actress Sarah Bernhardt donned a soft felt hat to play the role of a Russian princess dressed like a boy. Contrary to popular lore, the play did not launch the fad of women wearing fedoras, but rather the hat was immediately marketed to and worn by men with its popularity slowly increasing from the 1880s through the 1910s.

The fedora’s prominence skyrocketed in the 1920s and 1930s, when it was worn by such actors as John Gilbert, William Powell, and Humphrey Bogart in popular Hollywood films. The fedora continued to be popular during the 1940s with support from gangster and Noir films – you simply couldn’t think of a gangster without imagining a fedora on his head!

During the 1950s and 1960s the fedora managed to maintain a menswear fashion presence, albeit an increasingly small one due to changing styles and times. By the early 1970s, as informal clothing became more acceptable and even popular, the fedora went out of fashion for most men, but enjoyed new popularity as womenswear with famous faces such as Lauren Hutton popularizing the look for ladies.

The list of famous fedora wearers is long and varied and includes everyone from gangsters, actors, and musicians to coaches, politicians, and even government employees. The fedora hat is a classic – both timeless and practical – and while other styles have come and gone, the fedora never truly goes out of style.

{…}