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The etiquette of wearing hats
Below are some etiquette points for doffing, or tipping one's Hat. Also detailed is information of when and where hats are permitted to be worn.
A gentleman should remove his hat for the national anthem, the passing of the flag and funeral processions unless they are in the military or clergy and on duty. Ladies likewise should remove any non-formal hat.
A gentleman should remove his hat in the presence of a lady out of courtesy and respect.
A gentleman should remove his hat when entering a normal building or reaching their destinations.
A gentleman should remove (unless they are in the military or clergy and on duty) his hat when entering a church, where as a lady may keep her hat on, provided it is a formal one.
A gentleman when paying calls, should take off his coat as entering the hall, but keep his hat in his hands until reaching the drawing room. He should await being offered to put it down by the host/hostess. The reason being that, the visitor is privileged to pay their respects, and should the time not be acceptable, then he should be ready to leave immediately. Hence the phrase: Having one's hat to hand.
A gentleman in the 19th centaury would always doff his hat to another gentleman of higher social status, or older age. This practice has declined at and if now the preserve for either meeting a personal acquaintance, of when members of the Royal family pass by.
A gentleman passing a lady of his acquaintance, should to doff or tip his hat to her in passing. If she stops to speak with him, he should remove his hat whilst standing together, but replace his hat when he (or they both) walk on.
A gentleman should hold a hat in such a way that shows only the outside and not the lining.
The mad hatter
To soften fur felts, hat makers used to use a heated solution
of Mercury nitrate that was brushed on the pelt. The process
was known as 'carroting', as once treated the fur turned an
orange 'carrot' colour. In Danbury, Connecticut, USA one of
the centres of the hat fur trade, the condition became known
as 'the Danbury Shakes' though the use of mercury nitrate
in hat making was not banned in most States until December
1, 1941 by the United States public health service.
Mercury nitrate, whilst inorganic, was highly toxic. Due to
the working conditions and lack of good ventilation, the hatters
were being poisoned by the fumes from the mercury nitrate,
which was able to travel to the brain, causing symptoms of
drooling, trembling, memory loss and psychotic behaviour.
So began the phrase Mad Hatter and Mad as a Hatter.
It can be backdated long before the popular Mad Hatter character
in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland published in 1865.
The phrase was known to be in use in 1837, nearly 30 years
earlier. The Phrase “Mad Hatter” does not appear
in Alice in Wonderland at all.
The magician's hat
The French magician, Louis Comte was the first noted magician to pull a rabbit out of a top hat in 1814 - Comte, was called "the Conjurer of the Three Kings" as he entertained Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe, it is unknown for certain if it was a white rabbit or not!
The top hat
The "top" hat evolved from the tall hat, a sytle
worn for many centuries beforehand. In the late 15th century
painting El Escorial, Monasterio de San Lorenzo, shows a man
in what appears to be a top hat.
Top hats can be made from many materials, the fist ones were
typically made from beaver or other type of felt, though top
hats have also been made of straw, leather and even wood. The straw boater is just a low-crown, flat brim version of the old straw top.
hat.
The first silk hats originated in Florence c. 1760 and are
first documented in England in the early 1790'ies being made
of a silk shag.
The First Silk Top Hat in Britain is credited to George Dunnage in 1793. The silk top hat as we know it today, with
a hard gossamer shell with a covering of silk plush became
de rigueur from the middle of the 19th Century. About this time the name Top Hat also became part of our vocabulary, about the same time as the bowler, as descriptive to distinguish between styles of hats made from the same material. Though now in the 21st century it has been mostly relegated
to formal event such as weddings, funerals, Trooping the Colour,
Royal Garden parties and Royal Ascot.
The opera hat
The modern opera hat is a man's collapsible top hat that
is spring-operated that was designed to be stored under the
seat at the opera. Whilst the first designs of collapsible
hats appeared around 1812, but it took the French inventor
Antoine Gibus until 1840 to perfect and patent the design.
The bowler
The Bowler was created in 1849 by Thomas and William Bowler,
hat makers in Southwark. It was created for Mr Coke as a hardened
domed hat to protect gamekeepers. In America the bowler became
known as the "Derby" where it was commonly worn
at the famous race. A tall crowned version with flat sides
called a “Cambridge bowler’ was also created in
the late 1800ies and was famously worn by “Odd-job”
in the James bond movie Goldfinger, and also by Sir Winston
Churchill (who nicknamed it a ‘bowker’) In the
twenty first century it only still seen at equestrian shows
as morning dressage wear, or for carriage driving. It is also
still used as proper order of dress for the guards household
regiments when not wearing service dress.
The boater
Whilst the boater can be considered a flat crowned straw
top hat, the origins of the modern straw hat come from the
Royal Navy Jack Tar sailor’s hat of the latter part
of the nineteenth century. The term boater took some time
before it became commonplace, with the hats merely called
straws. It was possibly was not used until the early part
of the 20th century when it became fashionable for gentlemen
to wear them out boating. In the 21st century it has been
relegated to part of The Season at Henley Royal Regatta.
The panama
A traditional brimmed hat from Ecuador made from the plaited
leaves of the toquilla plant (Carludovica palmata). Commonly
called a “straw” hat, its popularity increased
when President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal
during construction wearing this style of hat. The Hat Band is traditionally a Black Slik - the sign of mourning for Queen Victoria who died in 1901.
There are two main manufacturing regions in Ecuador: Montecristi and Curnca. Montecristi are generally considered the premium hat, though it ultimately depends of the expertise of the weaver, and actual quality of the weave itself.
The trilby
A short brimmed felt cap that originates in the Austrian
Tyrol. The name came from the heroine in George du Maurier's
play 1894 "Trilby" after the character wore the
specific style of hat on the stage. The Trilby often has a
snap-brim effect with the back of the brim sharply upturned.
The Trilby was more resently the classic look for The Blues Brothers (1980) staring Jake and Elwood Blues (played by Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi).
The fedora
A wide brimmed felt cap similar to a Trilby, The name came
from the heroine in Victorien Sardou’s 1882 play “Fédora
after the character wore the specific style of hat on the
stage.
This style of hat with the wide brim and tall crown is worn by Indiana Jones. We have the official hat available in our Country Headwear section, under Explorer Felts.
The homburg
King Edward VII when he was the Prince of Wales used to visit
his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm II during the latter part of the
19th Century. The hunting outfit they wore included a green
felt hat with the brim rolled slightly inwards on the side,
a single crease running down the center of the crown and very
slight pinches at the front.. He requested a hatter called
Möckel based out of Bad Homburg to make them for him
and the “Homburg” was born. The lightweight and
casual Homburg became a firm favourite over the stiff top
hat in the 20th century. Though in the 21st century it has
been relegated only to semi-formal
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