THE WALL STREET JOURNAL HONORS HAT HERITAGE AND HIPNESS

Ray Smith authored a wonderful article is last week’s Wall Street Journal. The article was so comprehensive we thought we would run it for you to read.

The Latest Hat Craze
Thin brims, straw trilbies and the ins-and-outs of wearing one
After decades in dormancy, brimmed hats are back on the streets.

A History of Hats

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Fedoras were worn by men good and bad, on hard-boiled detectives as well as on well-dressed mobsters. 1920s-era ganster Al Capone was well known for his sartorial meticulous, including his love of fedoras.

The so-called stingy-brim hat, with a brim 1½ inches wide, is considered more modern than those carrying standard 2½-inch widths, and straw versions have been big sellers this summer. "Our stingy brims are extremely strong right now," says Don Rongione, chief executive of Bollman Hat, whose brands include Bailey and Kangol.

Trilbies, soft brimmed hats that sit just above the brow, and hats with an extreme pinch in the front or a colorful band are also popular. "Trilbies make up for approximately 30% of our hat range and sales continue to be strong year on year,"says Topman design director Gordon Richardson. "Most popular is our short-brimmed trilby, which is a young fashion take on a regular trilby."

Not many hatters were able to withstand the long drought—Arnold Hatters of New York shuttered in May after more than 80 years in business. Fashion retailers have picked up some slack: a range of brimmed hats can be found everywhere from Marc Jacobs boutiques ($225) to J. Crew ($40) and Topshop ($30 to $40).

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Brad Pitt
Among the first hats distinguished by having a brim was the felt petasus or petasos of the Greeks and Romans, which tied under the chin, according to menswear historian Andy Gilchrist. In the 1600s, two types dominated: a low-crowned hat with a broad brim and a high-crowned, round hat made of beaver.

In 1797, English haberdasher John Hetherington made hat history by donning a beaver-fur felt hat so tall he was reportedly arrested for disturbing the peace. He was released and the top hat became the rage, says Alyce Cornyn-Selby, curator of the Hat Museum in Portland, Ore.

In the 19th century, new styles proliferated. There was the emergence of the Panama straw hat: Though they were made in Ecuador, the hat got its name via its passage through Panama, according to Tom Miller's 1986 book "The Panama Hat Trail." The hat's popularity spread when the U.S. Army purchased 50,000 for soldiers to wear during the Spanish-American War and when Gold Rush prospectors used the hats for sun protection, Mr. Miller says.

In 1850 William Coke, a prominent landowner and farmer, commissioned a London hat shop to make a sturdy low-crowned hat to protect his gamekeepers' heads from overhanging tree branches. Cheaper to produce than top hats, the bowler quickly became the hat of choice for men of all economic backgrounds, Ms. Cornyn-Selby says. In the 1889 version of French play "Fedora," actress Sarah Bernhardt became the first woman to don one, popularizing the fedora with women.

By the 20th century, movie stars such as Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart were popularizing men's fedoras, which remained in vogue throughout the 40s and 50s.

Then the hats came off. "It's fair to say [male hat wearing] declined in the 60s as longer hairstyles came into vogue," says Bollman's Mr. Rongione, who is also a former head of the Headwear Association. "Some attribute the decline to the automotive industry, the lower roofs in cars. Some say men who returned from World War II didn't want to wear things on their head" after wearing helmets for so long. "Hatless Jack," a 2004 book lamenting the decline, examines whether a hatless John F. Kennedy accelerated the trend.

Four decades later, menswear designers were flocking to retro-dandy looks. Giorgio Armani and Prada topped their models with brimmed hats for their Spring/Summer 2005 shows. A year later, brimmed hats turned up on the runways of Dior Homme and Yohji Yamamoto.

Soon, hats were appearing on the head of British rocker Pete Doherty and on the '60s-era show "Mad Men," says Michael Fisher, men's editor at trend forecaster Stylesight. Initially limited to fashion-forward men who would don them with skinny jeans, their popularity has widened to a much broader swath of casual fashion-watchers, reflecting the growing willingness of men to adopt more stylish looks and accessories from the past.

Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1964’s ‘Robin and the Seven Hoods.’

"We wanted to add a touch of sophisticated modern classicism," says Alessandro Sartori, creative director of Z Zegna, the sibling of Ermenegildo Zegna, which included hats in its Fall 2009 show.

The return of the hat brings with it some old etiquette. "Always take your hat off when sitting down to dinner at a restaurant or at church," says Tom Julian, a trend expert and author of "Nordstrom Guide to Men's Style." A straw hat or trilby works best with casual or contemporary looks. As for cocking the hat to the side, "you have to be a cool celebrity to be able to pull it off," Mr. Julian says.

By Ray A. Smith of the “Wall Street Journal”