A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and was frequently seen at the horse races. The traditional

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

hat company Lock and Co. describes the trilby as having a "shorter brim which is angled down at the front and slightly turned up at the back" compared to the

fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

's "wider brim which is more level". The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design.

History

The hat's name derives from the stage adaptation of George du Maurier's 1894 novel '' Trilby''. A hat of this style was worn in the first London production of the play, and promptly came to be called "a ''Trilby'' hat". Its shape somewhat resembles the

Tyrolean hat The Tyrolean hat (german: Tirolerhut, it, cappello alpino), also Bavarian hat or Alpine hat, is a type of headwear that originally came from the Tyrol in the Alps, in what is now part of Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It is an essenti ...

Motorhead-johngullo-photograph-sofajockey-com

Traditionally it was made from rabbit hair

felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...

, but now is usually made from other materials, such as tweed,

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...

, heavyweight

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

and wool/nylon blends. The hat reached its zenith of common popularity in the 1960s; the lower head clearance in American automobiles made it impractical to wear a hat with a tall crown while driving. It faded from popularity in the 1970s when men's headwear went out of fashion and men's fashion focused on highly maintained hairstyles instead. The hat saw a resurgence in popularity in the early 1980s, when it was marketed to both men and women in an attempt to capitalise on a retro fashion trend.

In popular culture

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

was identified with trilby hats, and there is a signature design trilby bearing his name. The reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson often wears a trilby during his performances. Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau wore a Herbert Johnson trilby in Blake Edwards's '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1964), the second of his ''Pink Panther'' series; the felt trilby gave way to a tweed one in later films. The cartoon character Inspector Gadget wears a trilby hat. In the Series One episode “The Think Tank” of the program Are You Being Served?, the Grace Brothers store policy is revealed to include a hierarchical order for hats male personnel wear: bowlers for departmental heads and above, homburgs for senior floor staff and trilbys or caps for junior floor staff.

References

External links

History of Felt hats & Straw hats - Felt dress hats
{{Clothing 1910s fashion 1920s fashion 1930s fashion 1940s fashion 1950s fashion 1960s fashion 1970s fashion 1980s fashion 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 2010s fashion 2020s fashion Hats Trilby (novel)

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links