Top Hat
Date: 1900 - 1910
Location: England
Maker: James & Locke Co.
Materials: Silk plush, wool, lined with satin, card
Object Type
Top hats were tall, high-crowned hats with a narrow brim usually slightly rolled up at the sides. In the 19th century they were usually black, but sporting varieties might be grey or brown. Light off-white colours were worn with sporting dress from about 1820, and during the 1830s and 1840s were fashionable for general wear.
Time
In the early 19th century the top hat was the predominant type of headwear in a gentleman's wardrobe. It reached its peak of popularity during the 1840s and 1850s, when mass manufacturing and industrialization brought fashionable dress within the reach of a much wider section of the population. During the second half of the century new informal styles, such as the straw boater and soft felt hat, as well as the more formal bowler hat, challenged the predominance of the top hat.
Ownership & Use
By the 1880s the top hat was relegated to more formal occasions when a gentleman would wear a frock or tail coat.
Person Under the Hat - Click here to explore!
Date: 1900 - 1910
Location: England
Maker: James & Locke Co.
Materials: Silk plush, wool, lined with satin, card
Object Type
Top hats were tall, high-crowned hats with a narrow brim usually slightly rolled up at the sides. In the 19th century they were usually black, but sporting varieties might be grey or brown. Light off-white colours were worn with sporting dress from about 1820, and during the 1830s and 1840s were fashionable for general wear.
Time
In the early 19th century the top hat was the predominant type of headwear in a gentleman's wardrobe. It reached its peak of popularity during the 1840s and 1850s, when mass manufacturing and industrialization brought fashionable dress within the reach of a much wider section of the population. During the second half of the century new informal styles, such as the straw boater and soft felt hat, as well as the more formal bowler hat, challenged the predominance of the top hat.
Ownership & Use
By the 1880s the top hat was relegated to more formal occasions when a gentleman would wear a frock or tail coat.
Person Under the Hat - Click here to explore!