History

The Fedora is most commonly known as a gangster hat, a hat which saw such widespread use and particular popularity amongst infamous prohibition-era gangsters such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegal that it will be forever more associated with them.

With the distinctive front pinch and wide, floppy and pliable rim the fedora is a distinctive hat indeed. The actual name ‘Fedora’ came about due to a stage play which was running in 1882. The main character, Princess Fedora Romazova, wore a hat just like it, thus it became known as a Fedora.

Another variation of the fedora is the trilby, a hat very similar although it has a less ostentatious and less menacing look about it due to the narrower rim. Such stars as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears have worn a trilby before.

Although you are much less likely to see young high-profile gangsters wearing a fedora hat these days they still do hold much popularity among older people, but this isn’t to say the fedora is a hat for the old. Many young stars still wear the fedora hat and trilby hat. Run DMC are one example of how fedora hats are still seen as ‘urban cool’, and they look anything but ridiculous. My guess is it is only a matter of time before we again see a huge resurgence in popularity for this hat, and the sight of younger generations walking down the street sporting a fedora as commonplace, yet the epitome of chic.

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Fedora Hat

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The Bowler Hat, or Derby, as it is known in the U.S. was first created in London in 1850 by St. James Street hatters George and James Lock. The hat was created initially as a hard hat, custom made for an aristocrat-cum-game warden by the name of William Coke II, and for a short time assumed the name of a ‘Coke Hat’.

The actual manufacture of the first prototype ‘bowler hat’ was handled by another London-based hatter named William Bowler. Due to the fact the hat was also bowl shaped, and manufactured by the William Bowler, the term ‘bowler hat’ soon replaced ‘coke hat’.

Because the bowler hat was initially created to be used as a hard hat for horse-riding people such as William Coke II, its use soon came to be standard for such horse riding events as the derby. One hatter from the United States duly noted the fact the hat was been used among those taking part in Derby’s, therefore the term Derby hat took hold in the United States before the original - and still the traditional term in the United Kingdom - bowler hat term could.

Gradually, more sophisticated riding hats replaced the bowler hat and the bowler hat gained use as a hat to be worn on the street by well-to-do folk.

Please visit our website to buy bowler hats, or for more information and pictures on the
Bowler Hat

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