History Of Hats: Fascinating Images From The 1700s To Today

Published March 15, 2013
Updated November 7, 2023

History Of Hats: 20th Century

In the history of hats’ Edwardian period, it became fashionable for a lady’s silhouette to resemble an S-shape. To achieve this effect, women wore an exceptionally wide-brimmed hat atop a mass of upswept hair. Occasionally, the brims were so wide that the hats stretched beyond the woman’s shoulders and caused the hat-donning woman to lose her balance.

Hat History Trilby

Source: Esquire

With the rise of a new, industrialized century and its transformational ideals came a new cultural evolution in the history of hats. Born into this era, the trilby and fedora hats are considered the most timeless of all men’s hats and remained in popular fashion long into the 1960s. Their compact design meant they could be worn easily in motor cars, and their use in early Hollywood movies made them incredibly popular among Americans in particular.

Hat History Trilby

Source: Rhyl Life

History Of Hats Mod Hat

Source: Tumblr

The cultural revolution of the 1960s liberalized many things ranging from civil rights to proper hair length, and it should come as no surprise that the definition of what constitutes a hat was widened as well. Psychedelic flat caps, peaked baseball caps, even the odd mod hat, were all worn by men and women alike. And at the end of the 20th century, the gender of hats became almost entirely interchangeable.


After this look at the history hats, check out some of the craziest Kentucky Derby hats and have a look at the weirdest fashion trends in history.

author
Savannah Cox
author
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.