Flat cap

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Flat Cap Back View

Flat Cap Front View

A flat cap is a rounded men's cap with a small stiff brim in front. Cloths used to make the cap range from tweed (most common) to cotton driving caps for summer wear, sometimes featuring air vents. Less common materials may include leather.

History

The style can be traced back to 14th century Britain, Italy and Ireland, when it was more likely to be called a 'bonnet', which term was replaced, except in Scotland, by 'cap' before about 1700.^[1] When Irish and English immigrants came to America, they brought the flat cap with them. This style of cap is also referred to in some parts of the U.K. as a 'Cheesecutter' cap because of its wedge shape.

A 1571 Act of Parliament to stimulate domestic wool consumption and general trade decreed that on Sundays and holidays, all males over 6 years of age, except for the nobility and persons of degree, were to wear caps of wool manufacture on force of a fine (3/4d (pence) per day). The Bill was not repealed until 1597, though by this time, the flat cap had become firmly entrenched in English psyche as a recognized mark of a non-noble subject; be it a burgher, a tradesman, or apprentice. The style survives as the Tudor bonnet in some styles of academic dress.

Flat caps were almost universally worn in the 19th century by working class men throughout Britain and Ireland, and versions in finer cloth were also considered to be suitable casual countryside wear for upper-class English men (hence the contemporary alternative name golf cap). Flat caps were worn by fashionable young men in the 1920s.

The stereotype of the flat cap as purely 'working class' was never correct. They were frequently worn in the country, but not in town, by middle and upper-class males for their practicality. Mather says "A cloth cap is assumed in folk mythology to represent working class, but it also denotes upper class affecting casualness. So it is undoubtedly classless, and there lies its strength. A toff can be a bit of a chap as well without, as it were, losing face."^[2] The British workman no longer commonly wears a flat cap, so in the twenty-first century, it has gained an increasingly upper class image.

Academic Regalia

One of the flat hats worn in academia is known as the bonnet or Tudor bonnet and derives directly from medieval headgear of the period of the original 1571 Bill. It remains essential ceremonial wear by members of the academic community, in many countries around the world, usually as the headgear of doctoral graduates (PhD's). Commonly it has a soft round crown and a stiff flat brim. The bonnet is often made of black velvet and trimmed, between crown and brim with gold cord and tassels. Some universities opt to trim their bonnets with coloured cord and tassels.

Some stylistic varieties of this bonnet include:

• the Canterbury cap, a flat-topped soft cloth hat with a round headband deeper at the back than at the front;
• the Oxford bonnet, which has a black ribbon between crown and brim;
• the John Knox cap, a soft square cap made from black velvet and worn by the Doctors of certain Scottish Universities as well as Durham University in England;

The other main hat is the academic cap.

In Youth Culture

Boys in the United Kingdom and North America of all classes wore this cap in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hat is often associated in popular culture with city newsboys (i.e.: street-corner newspaper sellers) in North America. Some may associate the cap more with working class boys, though this may be purely personal or regional.

In British popular culture

In British popular culture the flat cap has been associated with older working class men, especially those in northern England, as personified by Fred Dibnah and comic strip anti-hero Andy Capp. The flat cap's strong connection with the working class and the East End of London is illustrated by Jim Branning of EastEnders and Del-Boy Trotter of Only Fools and Horses. Taxicab and bus drivers are often depicted wearing a flat cap, as comedically portrayed by Norman Hale and Gareth Pace's (Hale and Pace) "London cabbies" sketches.

The popularity of the flat hat also remains strong with fans of English country clothing, rural and agricultural workers, the country set or those who simply find them practical, though it tends to be associated with an older generation of wearers. Charles, Prince of Wales, is often photographed in a tweed or tartan flat cap at his various country residences.

The flat cap today

Man with a flat cap

The style has remained popular among certain groups of people in Europe and North America. The hat is sometimes associated with older men, but has been popular (along with the newsboy cap) among some segments of younger people, particularly those with working class Irish heritage, making them very popular in cities such as Boston with a large Irish-American population, as well as those associated with skinheads and the Oi! and punk subcultures. The flat cap has also appeared in the hip hop subculture, worn back-to-front, proving very popular in recent years.

Celebrities who have worn flat caps include: AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson, comedian Joe Rogan, movie star Brad Pitt, baseball player Mariano Rivera, former Genovese crime boss Vincent Gigante, comedian Dave Chappelle, singer Madonna and her ex-husband movie director Guy Richie, R&B singer Ne-Yo, comedian Kevin James, rappers Common, Missy Elliott, Notorious B.I.G., Proof (rapper), Babyshambles's drummer Adam Ficek, basketball player Michael Jordan, boxer Manny Pacquiao, comedian Chris Rock, German comedian Bodo Bach, professional golfer Payne Stewart, film and TV actor Joe Pantoliano, James Bond film actor Daniel Craig, actor Samuel L. Jackson, actor and former pro-skateboarder Jason Lee, Alkaline Trio bassist Dan Andriano, Ocean over head guitarist Kieran Sims, Australian TV veterinarian Harry Cooper, Found Magazine creator Davy Rothbart, CCM artist Tobymac, Dropkick Murphys lead vocalist, Al Barr, Capital Crimes bass player Father Guido, DJ Junkie XL, Portuguese fado singer Rouxinol Faduncho, and actor C. Thomas Howell. The flat cap is also the signature hat worn by internet comedian Walter P. Wiley. Flat cap is also seen worn by Lucas Grabeel on the film High School Musical.

Although it is mostly worn by men, some women have adopted the cap.

Rugby League team Featherstone Rovers supporters nick name is "The Flat Cappers", due to the fact that every supporter in years gone by used to attend matches in a flat cap.

The black leather flat cap is often combined with a black leather jacket and dark clothes in popular culture to depict a burglar, mugger, or robber, occasionally with a domino mask.

The United States team in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing wore white flat hats designed by Polo Ralph Lauren in the opening ceremony parade of nations.

References

External links

• "If the cap fits". Ayup magazine, April 2000.
• "Caps fit for new generation". Express & Star, July 2007.
• How to make an authentic 16th century flat cap