1. The Baseball Cap
If we look at the history of the hat and headdress, the Baseball cap is the one you especially see at American sporting events, or as a marketing souvenir. The baseball cap has a wonderful history, beginning in New York in 1845. It is an employee of The Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 12, who founded “The Knickerbocker Baseball Club”. The employee played Town Ball at the time, on a vacant lot in Manhattan. When the site was no longer available, he and the club members, consisting of, among others, a Wall-Street stockbroker, a doctor, a photographer, a sales person, and a trader, had to find another place to play. They found a park area in Brooklyn named The Elysian Fields. For $75 a year, The New York KnickerBocker Baseball Club rented the area, and all the players paid for the rent. This later became The New York Knicks, and as part of the team’s uniform, all players wore a Baseball Cap.
In 1920, Erhardt Koch launches The Era Company. The company is today the world’s largest manufacturer of caps 1 The New Era Company currently produces 2,000 caps for every baseball team in America per season1. The popularity of the baseball cap has also been spread via celebrities such as Tom Selleck or Spike Lee (film director). 2 This is the history of the cap. We like it because it’s both practical and nice to wear on your head. If the United States were to have a national hat, it would be the Baseball cap.
The New York Knickerbockers photo from 1858
2. Skullcap
Historically, the skullcap is said to be one of the world’s most widespread types of headgear. Speculation claims that the shape dates back 3.3 million years to the Paleolithic period, when it consisted of coiled plant fibers woven and sewn together. One of the earliest depictions of the skullcap may be the historical find Venus of Willendorf. Venus from Willendorf was probably made 27,000 years BC. The skullcap has been used all over the world in different variations. For example, as a religious head covering in Judaism called a Yamulke, among others in Georgian, Persia and Uzbekistan. The skullcap is called in Christianity a zucchetto. It has been worn in Africa and Saudi Arabia. Warriors have used it in Europe before and after the Roman Empire. Egyptian King Tut was supposedly buried with one. Chinese peasants have worn a skullcap, sewn from black silk with an amulet at the top of the cap, which was believed to scare away evil spirits. 2 See image below. In modern times, we have seen the skullcap under names such as sailors cap, docker cap and Micki cap. The skullcap has a neat and minimalist look. You could say it’s six pieces of timeless design. The pure geometric shape of the half-circle, never goes out of fashion. It is convenient outside on chilly days, and nice for formal events.
The Venus of Willendorf , also known as the Woman of Willendorf, is an 11.1 cm tall statuette of a woman. The figure shows a prehistoric use of a skull cap.
3. News Boy Cap/8piece/Bakerboy/AppleJack
The term News Boy Cap originates from the end of the 19th century, where, among other things, newspaper delivery boys were dressed in the characteristic hat. The News Boy cap consists of eight pieces including a button and a visor. Technically, it is an evolution of the bonnet. The cap is believed to have been created in the 14th century 3. At the beginning of the 20th century, The News Boy Cap was common headgear for steelworkers, concrete workers and factory workers. However, the cap was also worn by noble gentlemen who practiced sports.
The 8 Piece cap quickly became widespread in both England, and America. Traditionally, it comes in wool tweed, which keeps the head warm in winter. Since then, it has been seen in summer fibers, such as linen, silk or cotton. Today, the cap has gained a resurgent popularity, through the Netflix series Peeky Blinders. The series is set in 1920s England, where the characters hide razor blades in the brim of their cap as part of their gangster culture.
It is available in different colours and shades to complete a style-conscious clothing choice, with clear references to craftsmanship, tradition, style and history. A clear reference to working-class culture and stylish silhouettes from the last century make it popular in a modern context. Well-known personalities such as Kim Larsen, John Hamm, and Thomas Herman have made the 8 piece hat part of their apparel.
4. Sixpence/Flatcap
Sixpence is the Danish term for a flat, soft cap, which is often sewn in tweed. It was originally used by men for outdoor and work life in the 1900s. In England, the cap is referred to as flatcap. A controversial history of the sixpence was, in 1500s England made flatcaps compulsory. In order to stimulate consumption and thus the trade in wool, the British Parliament decreed that all men and boys over the age of six should wear a woollen cap on Sundays and public holidays. The cap had to be made from scratch by English manufacturers and sold on the English market, so that sales of wool caps could have a positive effect on the entire English production. This was done because England was in a crisis situation and needed to strengthen the internal market. 4 According to some sources, the word sixpence originates from the fact that the hat was originally sewn from six pieces of fabric, which in English is called “six pieces”. In Denmark, this was quickly renamed “six pence”, even though it is the name of an English coin and has nothing to do with the hat. It is only in Denmark and Norway that the hat is called sixpence. 4 Regardless of its origin, a soft cap in a curved shape has been relevant for over a century, and so many have adopted it and given it different names. In Germany, for example, the cap is called a Herren Sport Mütze, and in Sweden an old man’s cap.
Flatcap is a part classic, part quality-conscious clothing choice. It is simple and elegant, with a timeless pattern, as it has always been a big part of society. The flatcap has been a popular headgear for hundreds of years, and its clean cut is consistently relevant for any well-dressed man or woman.
5. Deerstalker
A deerstalker has both shade at the front and back, as well as ear flaps that can be folded down or tied in a knot at the top. It is typically worn while hunting in rural areas, especially deer hunting. Here you sneak up on the animal, the so-called deer stalking in English, from which the hat got its name. 5 The hat is particularly associated with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and has become a stereotypical headdress for detectives in comics, films, and plays.
It is usually made of tweed fabric, like houndstooth woven. The hat is a fun and daring choice, that we believe can suit the style-conscious and creative man.
6. The Bucket Hat
The bucket hat is a soft hat often made of cotton. It can have ventilation holes, and is typically used in summer by people of both sexes and of all ages. The bucket hat was originally a fisherman’s hat and farmer’s hat, especially widespread in Ireland. Later, in the 1960s, it was elevated to be used as a fashionable hat, by fashion designer and milliner Lilly Daché to hit the trend of the English Mod style. In the 80s, the hat became part of the Hip-Hop culture, and since then it has belonged to street-style as well as high fashion. 6
Its design provides protection to both the neck, head and ears from the sun. Some bucket hats are water-repellent, e.g. in wax cotton so-called oilskin. The bucket hat can easily be packed up and put in a backpack, which is probably why it is also used by scouts. Today, it’s especially popular at festivals, and as street wear, it’s practical and cool.
7. One-Piece Crown
One-piece crown is an old classic cap. It was especially popular with men in 1910s, 20s, and 30s. Back then, it was both practical as it helped keep the head warm, and was formal and stylish. The one-piece crown cap consists of a single piece of fabric, hence the name one-piece. It is sewn together in a way that creates tips in a crown-shaped structure. From a distance, it looks like a very wide variant of a flatcap, but it is constructed fundamentally differently.
It is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship that, due to changing trends, has unfortunately been left behind. Today, only a few cap makers such as American Monsivais from LA 7, and Wilgart in Copenhagen still produce the cap. We do this because we believe it has a beautiful and special appearance. It is almost a little extravagant due to its volume and the large material consumption.
The hat is traditional, and elegant. The fabric is of good quality and has a simplicity about it that makes the One-Piece-Crown perfect for the modern man. Accompanied by a tweed suit, you will automatically appear as a historically insightful man. The style is also popular among women. Read also: New Old Style – The One Piece Crown
Sources
- Mike Dodd, Bob Nightengale & Paul White, USA Today, 2006, Baseball cap has endured generations as the all-American hat, https://eu.usatoday.com/, 7/27/2006 10:56, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2006-07-25-cap_x.htm, 04/02/2019.
- Chico Beverly, HATS AND HEADWEAR AROUND THE WORLD, United States of America ABC-CLIO, 2013.
- Wikipedia, 2018, Newsboy cap, 28 November 2018, at 21:38 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboy_cap, 04/02/2019.
- Wikipedia, 2018, Sixpence (headgear), Wikipedia, 18 September 2018 at 14:46, https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixpence_(head note%C3%A6dning), 04/02/2019.
- Wikipedia, 2018, Deerstalker, Wikipedia, 5 March 2018 at 16:59, https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deerstalker, 04/02/2019.
- Wikipedia, 2019, Bucket hat, 25 January 2019, at 22:56 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_hat, 04/02/2019.
- Monsivais Co. LA, https://monsivaisco.com/, 04/02/2019.
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