roundup: hipster hats decoded

Posted by MrKate on March 04, 2013

Hats are hip and hipsters everywhere are sportin' various styles of vintage or vintage-inspired chapeaus. I own a few myself but never thought to look into the names and history behind the various hats that were once popular and have now re-surfaced as fun style statements...until now! We researched and decoded the hats from my own personal collection to fill our heads with interesting tid bits about the things that we put on our heads.

Hats are great for bad hair days, to keep your head warm, or keep the sun off your face and they're also great to add another style element to any outfit! Here are some of my favorites...

Pork Pie: named for its resemblance to the pork pie dish and first worn by jazz, blues, and ska musicians. They have a flat top and short brim. Recently worn in the "Rose Gold OOTD" and Joey wore this very one as Heisenberg for our Breaking Bad costumes this past Halloween.

Boater: this stiff straw hat was associated with the Gondoliers in Venice, Italy in the 1880s and worn by men in the 1920s/30s for sailing and boating before it became part of everyday fashion over Europe and then the United States. This hat traveled with me to Italy and I wore it with this outfit.

Cloche: French for "bell", this hat was very popular for women in the 1920s. I wore it here and Angelina Jolie wore one in her movie The Changeling...keep an eye out for many cloches in the upcoming The Great Gatsby movie. I wore this hat a while back in this OOTD.

Tophat: for those not afraid to stand out! Invented in the 18th century, this hat was famously worn by Abraham Lincoln, Fred Astaire, Uncle Sam, magicians (for pulling rabbits out of)...and let's not forget the Mad Hatter and Willy Wonka! I rocked the top hat here, it was worn by the models in the Mr. Kate Days of Ore Lookbook, and inspired some DIY tophat lighting of course!

Fedora: The one in the photo above with the feathers can also be seen in previous posts here and here. The fedora was first worn by actress Sarah Bernhardt in the 1882 play Fédora and quickly became a fashionable accessory for men and women. It's best known for the 1930s "gangster" look and worn by entertainers such as Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, and good ole Indiana Jones. I'm wearing my grandpa's felt fedora here and my straw orange one here, here and here. The fedora is a very approachable hat if you're a hat virgin.

Panama: Made of straw and originally from Ecuador, Theodore Roosevelt was photographed wearing the hat while visiting the construction of the Panama Canal in 1906; the NY Times printed the photo calling it a "panama hat" and it was too late to go back and fix! The Panama hat is seen in movies such as Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, and To Kill A Mockingbird. I wore it with some mixed prints, in Italy, and I'm wearing it here with the Mr. Kate #001 Scarf; scarves are a great way to jazz up and personalize your hats.

Turban: The history of the fashion turban goes way back to the end of the 17th century. From silent film stars to designer runways, these hats are a bold and eclectic fashion statement. I've worn this one here and here or you can DIY a scarf turban.