When the dandies ruled during the Romantic Period (1815-1840), France and England each had their style stars who set trends both in fashion and popular culture. The Count D’Orsay and Beau Brummell captured the attention of the fashionable, changing the course of men’s dress. They were the gods of cloth, boot, and haberdashery. They would simply utter a word, and continents would scurry to their tailor. As men in position of influence– not as politicians, but as arbiters of taste and ultimately, fashion–they both created their own individual style amid the froth of frippery and brocade, to emerge streamlined, clean, and immaculate.

The hat of choice for these upstanding gents was the silhouette we know and love as the top hat. Born during the 16th century, and revived with the postilions of the 1760s, the top hat came to the forefront of global fashion during the early part of the 19th century and didn’t budge for a hundred years.

As the gentleman’s hat of choice through the years of the Regency and Victorian elegance, the top hat was worn as easily as baseball caps reign at the local mall today. Worn during the day in pale grey, fawn felt (or straw in summer), at night a black silk version was donned, whilst a collapsible model was invented for ease in theatre-going.

The top hat always carried that note of refinement with it, right up to the time Marlene Dietrich wore one in The Blue Angel. Cinema transformed the hat that had been the quintessential mark of respectability, into an accessory that now leant itself to a seamier lifestyle. Not far behind the movie world, the rock community seized upon the top hat with alacrity: used by Janet Joplin’s Big Brother and the Holding Company as a poster logo; worn by Slash from the Guns N’ Roses, and sported by Madonna as symbol of alternative culture.

Not only is it still seen at Ascot every year, but also onstage with Britney Spears and her travelling Circus tour, the top hat has come into its own. There is no need to be a ringmaster to have one of your very own.

Image courtesy of 20thcenturylondon.org.uk