Fedoras in America, caps in the UK?

[avedwards]

An elderly gentleman at a suit shop where I bought a nice suit very cheaply started talking to me about hats, since I was wearing one. He said that when he visited America (I presume this was the mid '50s as he said when he was my age) all the men wore hats like mine (fedoras) while in Britain they wore caps (presumably flat caps). That would explain why there are more hat shops in America than here, even now where hats are hardly worn.

From vintage photos or people's memories, was it the case that generally fedoras were more worn in the US and flat caps in England?

 

[Barrelhouse]

That's a very interesting question. In the USA there were certainly a heck of a lot of Newsboy caps being worn in the 1920's and 1930's but after the war they seem to really fall out of favor on this side of the pond. I believe the Ivy cap was still popular here in the 1950's but almost always as very casual headgear; for the golf course for example. However, the fedora was almost certainly the most popular street hat in America from probably 1930 (if not before) until the 1960's.

If there are any Loungers out there who spent time in both the UK and USA during the 50's please chime in. Avedwards has really peaked my curiosity on this one. Nice thread! :eusa_clap

 

[Jauntyone]

I can't answer the question specifically, but having lived here in France for a while I get the impression that hat wearing died off much earlier and more definatively here in Europe than in the States.