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Friday 1 March 2024

The history of the flat cap


 Forget Sunak and Starmer, this is important - the history of the flat cap.


8 comments:

dearieme said...

You call it a flat cap I call it a ratting cap.

A K Haart said...

dearieme - my father referred to his as his titfer, although that seems to be a general term.

Sam Vega said...

The rich city boys in their late twenties and thirties who buy properties in snobby Sussex and Hampshire have them. I often wonder how they get to understand the dress code, as it is clearly of huge importance. You can see the new ones radiating a palpable anxiety as they wait for their shooting party or visit the local gastropub, kitted out in tweeds, body-warmers, brogues, and thick woolly socks. They either watch others really carefully before taking the plunge to become a posh countryman, or market-town outfitters are used to them and provide advice on the right kit.

Interestingly, the few old working-class blokes who remain tend to wear high-tech gear from Mountain Warehouse, North Face, and the like. If you have to go out in the rain and cold, it's better to keep warm and dry than look like a tit.

A K Haart said...

Sam - round here it's still a few old blokes who wear them, although I've seen a few younger chaps wearing them as a fashion item, but nothing like the tweeds and brogues look.

Apart from that, North Face, Superdry and similar seem popular with lots of people round here. A waxed cotton cap might be of some use in the rain, but not as good as a waterproof jacket with a hood.

James Higham said...

Saw that flat cap video, never wore one, couldna see the point.

A K Haart said...

James - I had one once but it was a version with ear flaps for walking in cold weather, not a standard version.

Doonhamer said...

In 1960s Scotland just about every working class man wore them. Look at any football crowd of the time. Also any big works of shipyard gate at lowsing time.
They were / are called "skippit bunnets."
I prefer to wear a brimmed hat to the hood of a coat. If I turn my head in a hood I often just see the inside of the hood. The brim stops the rain slicing down the back of my neck.

A K Haart said...

Doonhamer - I find a hood turns with my head of it fits well with drawstrings. The hat I used to wear in the rain when walking the dog was a leather one with a broad, stiff brim which worked well and kept the rain off my glasses.