Hat Styles

Hats are slowly becoming a daily accessory for more and more modern gentlemen, reminding us of a time in America when men wouldn’t leave the house without one.

Hats are crafted with the finest materials, like Harris Tweed, murino wool, ripstop, genuine Panama straw, lambskin leather, Italian suede, fur felt hats, beaver fur hats and 100 percent wool top hats. Hat styles include iconic fedoras inspired by bygone gangsters, woolen ivy caps designed in the Irish tradition and safari hats and Outback hats made just for adventurers along with Western hats for the cowboys.

So to make it easier for you, we’ve broken down the basic hat styles, offered a little background history, and provided some pointers for adding them to your wardrobe.

The Cowboy Hat

The cowboy hat is an American icon and can be immediately recognized as such anywhere around the world. They are typically made in felt, leather, or straw and have very wide brims. The cowboy hat as we know it wasn’t invented until 1865, by John Batterson Stetson. The first model was called “The Boss of the Plains,” and it was a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat without any indents or creases in the crown. The spread of the cowboy hat relies as much on popular culture and Eastern perceptions of the West as it does the actual hat-wearing habits of cowboys.

However, that’s not to discount the usefulness and eventual dominance of the cowboy hat among ranchers. The felt was waterproof and the shape of the crease and indents could be adjusted for the climate, to either hold air in or dispel it. It became a symbol of rodeo clowns, some police units, Western entertainers like Buffalo Bill, and characters in Western movies. It was a hat designed for use in the West, and eventually became synonymous with it.

There are many variations on the cowboy hat, most of them adjusting either the indent and crease pattern, or the brim roll or snap. All of them, however, share at least two characteristics: a high crown and a wide brim. When wet, felt can be adjusted, and will stay in the shape that it dries in, so many different styles of cowboy hat crowns emerged. Many were particular to certain ranges or ranches.

Cowboy brims range from flat brims, to edges that are completely rolled over, to sides folded at a right angle. They usually feature a slight snapping down in front and up in back. Cowboy bands are often decorative and made of leather or ribbon.

The Fedora

A fedora hat is the most stylish of all hats and are generally known for their high quality. The fedora was most popular during the first half of the 20th century. However, it has resurfaced in the past decade or two, probably thanks to Indiana Jones.

The fedora is a broad term that encompasses a variety of crown styles and brim shapes. It’s classic good looks, the ability to suit a wide variety of people, and the many celebrities seen wearing it only add to the appeal. A fedora is typically creased lengthwise down the middle of the crown, then “pinched” near the front on both sides.

A good felt (or straw) fedora has a sturdy but flexible brim that can be “snapped up” or “snapped down” in the front or back, allowing you to mold the brim and achieve the perfect, slightly-askew shape.

The Panama

The Panama hat is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Similar in shape to the trilby (down in the front, curled up in the back), but with proportions more similar to the classic fedora. Traditionally Panama hats were made from the plaited leaves of the Carludovica palmata, a palm-like plant rather than a true palm.

The rarest and most expensive Panama hats can have as many as 1600–2500 weaves per square inch. These hats are known as Montecristis, after the town of Montecristi, where they are produced. The Montecristi Foundation has established a grading system based on a figure called the Montecristi Cuenta, calculated by measuring the horizontal and vertical rows of weave per inch. A “superfino” Panama hat can, according to popular rumor, hold water, and when rolled for storage, pass through a wedding ring.

The Newsboy

The working man’s cap. Flat caps were very common for North American and European men and boys of all classes during the early 20th century and were almost universal during the 1910s-20s, particularly among the working ‘lower’ classes. A great many photographs of the period show these caps worn not only by newsboys, but by dockworkers, high steel workers, shipwrights, costermongers, farmers, beggars (such as Oliver Twist), bandits, artisans, and tradesmen of many types. This is also well attested in novels and films of this period and just after.

The Ivy Cap

The Ivy cap, or flat cap, is similar to the newsboy, only without the floppy 8 panels and the button on top. This style, which traces its history from Southern Italy, Northern England, and parts of Scotland, also wins the awards for the most names. It is also referred to as a cabbie cap, longshoreman’s cap, cloth cap, scally cap, Wigens cap, ivy cap, golf cap, duffer cap, driving cap, bicycle cap, Jeff cap, Steve cap, Irish cap, Paddy cap…in Scotland as a bunnet, in Wales as a Dai cap, and in England and New Zealand, as a cheese-cutter. Cloths used to make the cap include wool, tweed (most common), and cotton. Less common materials may include leather, linen or corduroy. The inside of the cap is commonly lined for comfort and warmth.

Below is a complete list of hat styles