If you’re like me you probably spent your spring
break scrounging around your local city in search of the crème de la crème of
sophisticated headwear. I know what you’re
thinking: you want a hat that is rich in tradition but establishes a sense of
originality, something eccentric yet familiar.
Well folks, I’ve been searching for that hat myself. I’ve looked high and low for a local
haberdashery in my home town; then the adjoining town; then, sadly ladies and
gentlemen, I was forced to admit defeat.
Yes, folks, I feel your slightly perturbed empathy, because, as of now, I’ll
have to wait to get my hands on a bowler hat.
That’s right, I couldn’t find a bowler or derby hat, and missed my long
awaited chance to individualize my eclectic collection of gentlemen’s headwear.
The
bowler is thought to have been commissioned by Edward Coke (i.e. William Coke’s
little brother[1])
or possibly William himself. That hat
was, according to this place, designed as a form of hard hat for William Coke’s
game warden. They needed a hat they could
wear while patrolling his property on horseback, a hat that could protect them
from low hanging branches and foliage. The
legend states that when Coke was first presented with his custom made hat he immediately
threw it to the floor and trampled it underfoot to test its durability. Then he quickly placed it on his head, and he
left the haberdashery most likely pleased with the hats rugged design. The bowler was created by some hatters who
had the last name bowler, but the bowler hat has many names; it’s called a
derby in the United States because derby riders wore it, the Coke hat due to
the contributions of either William or Edward[2] Coke,
and the, more traditional term, the bowler due to the hatters that created it.
Sadly
I’ll probably miss the re-propagation of the bowler as it makes its way back
into mainstream fashion, because, according to these guys, the bowler hat is
making its way back into British mainstream fashion, and, before you know it,
the unique hat design will begin to proliferate throughout America. I guess I’ll have to lag behind on this
trend.
