The Balloonhat Experience

The Balloonhat Experience records the inspired work of Addi Somekh and Charlie Eckert, who have traveled the world celebrating their belief that 'all human beings are born with the ability to experience joy.' Their extensive site includes video, interviews, documentary, photographs and stories.
'I have great faith that hats will come back, because they have been important to humans for millennia. And the balloon hats give people, at least momentarily, a return of that experience of dressing the head. I think that's why it evokes that bubbly, giggly, happy response. People feel that at last they have the recognition they deserve.' Mary Holmes.

The Bowler

The bowler resonates with such historical and social significance that it's impossible to capture its importance in a short post. Indeed, F.M. Robinson has written an entire book on the subject:
The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography, cataloguing its adoption by: "Gamekeepers, squires, street vendors, omnibus drivers, counterjumpers, bankers, union men, women on horseback and in cabaret acts, detectives and hanging judges, dictators and bums." Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardey, Rene Magritte, Samuel Beckett, Herge, Anthony Burgess, and Milan Kundera used the bowler as a symbol both instantly recognizable and endlessly mutable.
The Bowler (or Coke or Derby) was created in 1850 by Mr. Lock of St. James Street. The "iron hat" was coated with shellac and was, I imagine, more social signifier than comfortable headdress. Remarkably, it came to be associated with both everyman and the ruling classes, with both men and women, and hence its long lasting appeal. (see magritte, smith)

Hat Works

'Hat Works is the UK’s only museum dedicated solely to the hatting industry, hats and headwear. Hat Works focuses on the development of the hatting industry from its humble beginnings in the cottage industry to the mass production of the early 19th century.' tour

Hollywood's Hat Maker

Where do Hollywood costume designers get hats for the movies? Baron Hats in Burbank California. Fred Astaire and Zorro were customers. Clint Eastwood. Bob Dylan. You can learn about Celebrity Hat Sizes (Bing Crosby: 7 3/8), if you are so inclined. They also have good information on sizing and Care and Feeding. It's a surprisingly informative and fun resource.

New York City

New York City's oldest hat store, the J.J. Hat Center, 310 Fifth Avenue, opened in 1911. The Hat Shop, 120 Thompson Street, caters to women. Hatters make hats and milliners make hats for women, though the terms seem to be kind of interchangeable.

The Beaver

Innumerable forces were at work in the colonization of the New World. Then as now, the vanity of men drove exploration and conquest (along with, one hopes, a sense of wonder and discovery). One element within that matrix was fashion, particularly the desire for beaver fur for headwear in Europe. Hunted to extinction there, Canada (and the HBC), provided a seemingly inexhaustible source of furs and other natural resources. The smallest things shape our world.

Berets

'French béret, from French dialectal berret and from Old Provençal berret, cap, both from Late Latin birrus, hooded cloak; see biretta.' Probably starting out in medieval Basque and France, and turning up in Italy as berretti. (There's tons to learn about the social importance of headdress for, as Witold Rybczynski points out, people were very much concerned with status rather than comfort.) Later, perhaps because of their simplicity and adaptability, berets became popular in the military, including the Canadian Armed Forces. Its cache today comes also from its association with artists and of course Che Guevara.

Felt

Felt is the oldest form of cloth. Fabulous Hats, which is turning out to be a great reference tool for this sort of thing, describes felt as "the undisputed protagonist on the stage of men’s head dress." The artist Josef Beuys used felt extensively in his work. And he was rarely seen without his felt hat.

PorkPie

The porkpie is usually of felt, with a short crown. But there are tons of different styles . One sharp hat.

Village Hat Shop

The Village Hat Shop is, typically, a commercial site. But it does have lots of useful information and images. Under Information & Resources, you can find history, care tips, hats in art, videos, etc.

When Philip Met Isabella

H recommends Philip Treacy, a designer of art to wear on your head. An exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum showcases his creations for Isabella Blow.

Otzi's Hat

A few years ago, a body was discovered in a melting glacier near the border between Austria and Italy. 'It turned out to be 5,300 years old, the oldest frozen mummy ever found. Named Ötzi the Iceman after the Ötztal area where he was found, he became a worldwide sensation.' It's a fantastic trove for archaeologists, anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, and historians. Otzi's hat was of brown bear fur. It's extraordinary and humbling to imagine the skill, creativity (would they have recognized that term as useful or understood it differently, maybe as inventiveness or inspiration?), and strength of a people who lived and prospered in such an environment so long ago. ref

A History of Hats

Fabulous Hats is 'a free version of various chapters drawn from the book “Fabulous Hats” written by Giuliana Berengan.'

Hat Life

Hat Life publishes the Hat Life Directory, which is apparently known as the Encyclopedia of the Headwear Industry: 'For 135 years it has been the must-have resource offering complete industry information on manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, supplying, emerging trends, upcoming events and new product releases.'

The Hat Magazine

Turns out there is an enormous hat culture out there. Contemporary and historical research is going to be a fun and rewarding exercise. The Hat Magazine also runs HatsUK which is full of interesting stuff.

Henry the Hatter

Besides having the perfect name for a hat shop, Henry the Hatter in Detroit is an amazing place. When recently there with the wonderful H&D we discovered a bustling hub of hatdom. Interestingly, the majority of the browsers were dapper African American gentlemen who really knew how to wear snappy chapeaux. I could never live up to a Giorgio Cellini Capone Eggshell number for example, but they could pull it off with style. Definitely a place to get back to.

Cuffley Style Cap

A simple brown wool 'driving cap' from Henry the Hatter. Nothing fancy but a classic.