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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<ref name="roetzel">Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style. Barnes & Noble.</ref> and was frequently seen at the horse races.
The traditional London 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's "wider brim which is more level". The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
HistoryEdit
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".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its shape somewhat resembles the Tyrolean hat.Template:Citation needed
Traditionally it was made from rabbit hair felt, but now is usually made from other materials, such as tweed, straw, heavyweight cotton, wool and wool/nylon blends.
The hat reached its zenith of popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s; the lower head clearance in post-war American automobiles made it impractical to wear a hat with a tall crown while driving, while also blending in better with the sleeker Italian-inspired tailoring of the time. It remained a common item until about 1970 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 at several times in the 1980s, being marketed to both men and women in an attempt to capitalise on a retro fashion trend.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
As the use of hats became more of a limited pursuit in the 1990s and 2000s, the trilby became a favored garment of the hipster subculture, briefly resurfacing as a fashionable item in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
In popular cultureEdit
Frank Sinatra 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the Series 1 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.
See alsoEdit
- Cap
- Fedora
- Gat (hat)
- Homburg (hat)
- List of hat styles
- List of headgear
- Pork pie hat
- Shako, a tall, cylindrical military cap
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Hats Template:Headgear Template:Clothing Template:Trilby (novel)