Brad Bowers
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,187
Wow, most of these posters haven't been around in years!
From the moment that Griswold Lorillard popularized the sack coat as evening wear in America by wearing one at the Tuxedo Park Ball in NY in November 1886, (and inadvertently giving the garment its common name in the process), there seemed to a conflict over which hat to wear with the coat. Most American newspaper reports show that the high silk hat was not appropriate, and instead a low-crowned hat (soft felt, perhaps), a Derby, or even a black straw in summer, would be appropriate. However, there are also reports of those who favored the high silk hat with the Tuxedo coat. With the popular (and sometimes, begrudging) acceptance of the Tuxedo coat in America by 1890, it was obvious that fashion needed to find the correct solution. And thus the invention of the Tuxedo Hat by 1892-93. I've found no records of who made the first Tuxedo hat, though I know of at least several American manufacturers made them well into the twentieth century. It wouldn't surprise me if it originated as a French design, since we have seen a couple of French examples here on the Lounge, but I like to think that it might be one of the few hats of American invention. I can prove nothing, however. Someone like Knox could very easily have introduced it to America, just as they did the Fedora, or been the inventors in the first place. I'd sure like to know.
As stated above, either a Fedora or Homburg would be considered correct today, if there even is such a thing a correctness anymore. If you could find a vintage Tuxedo hat on eBay, that would be even better.
History side note: the was a woman's hat called the Tuxedo that was offered as early as 1887, but named after Tuxedo Park, as were many fashions of the day. It had nothing to do with the sack coat and looked nothing like a man's hat.
Brad
~The Hatted Professor
From the moment that Griswold Lorillard popularized the sack coat as evening wear in America by wearing one at the Tuxedo Park Ball in NY in November 1886, (and inadvertently giving the garment its common name in the process), there seemed to a conflict over which hat to wear with the coat. Most American newspaper reports show that the high silk hat was not appropriate, and instead a low-crowned hat (soft felt, perhaps), a Derby, or even a black straw in summer, would be appropriate. However, there are also reports of those who favored the high silk hat with the Tuxedo coat. With the popular (and sometimes, begrudging) acceptance of the Tuxedo coat in America by 1890, it was obvious that fashion needed to find the correct solution. And thus the invention of the Tuxedo Hat by 1892-93. I've found no records of who made the first Tuxedo hat, though I know of at least several American manufacturers made them well into the twentieth century. It wouldn't surprise me if it originated as a French design, since we have seen a couple of French examples here on the Lounge, but I like to think that it might be one of the few hats of American invention. I can prove nothing, however. Someone like Knox could very easily have introduced it to America, just as they did the Fedora, or been the inventors in the first place. I'd sure like to know.
As stated above, either a Fedora or Homburg would be considered correct today, if there even is such a thing a correctness anymore. If you could find a vintage Tuxedo hat on eBay, that would be even better.
History side note: the was a woman's hat called the Tuxedo that was offered as early as 1887, but named after Tuxedo Park, as were many fashions of the day. It had nothing to do with the sack coat and looked nothing like a man's hat.
Brad
~The Hatted Professor
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