From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Side view of a flat cap

A flat cap (see alternate names below) is a rounded soft men's cap with a small brim in front and a somewhat stiff peak in the back. The material is usually wool or tweed, although some have been made with leather. Lighter summer versions are usually polyester, perforated with thousands of tiny vents to allow air to circulate. It differs slightly from the similar eight-paneled newsboy cap.

The style can be traced back to 14th century Ireland or even England, said to have probably emerged from the French 'bonnet'. The caps were almost universally worn in the 19th century by working class men throughout Ireland, Scotland and the British Isles, and versions in finer cloth were also considered to be suitable casual countryside wear for upper-class English men (hence the contemporary alternate name golf cap). Cloth caps were worn by fashionable young men in the 1920s. Oddly, flat caps are not even mentioned in either the five-volume Thomson Encyclopedia of Fashion, Costume and Culture, or the 3-volume Gale Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion.

Boys in the United Kingdom and North America of all classes wore this cap in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hat is often associated in popular culture with city newsboys (i.e.: street-corner newspaper sellers) in North America.

In British popular culture, the flat cap is associated with working class men, especially those in northern England, as personified by Fred Dibnah and by comic strip anti-hero Andy Capp. The style was also prominent in The Goodies episode "Kung Fu Kapers", which gained notoriety for fatal hilarity.

The style has remained popular among certain groups of people in Europe and North America. The hat is sometimes associated with older men, but has been popular (along with the newsboy cap) among some segments of younger people, particularly those with working class Irish heritage, making them very popular in cities such as Boston with a large Irish-American population, as well as those associated with skinheads and the Oi! and punk subcultures. The flat cap has also appeared in the hip hop subculture, worn back-to-front, although this fashion appears to have faded away in recent years.

Celebrities who have worn flat caps include: movie star Brad Pitt, Solid Central leader Shem, AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, former Genovese crime boss Vincent Gigante, comedian Dave Chappelle, hip-hop artist Common, rap artist Proof (rapper), Babyshambles's drummer Adam Ficek, comedian Chris Rock, professional golfer Payne Stewart, rapper Notorious B.I.G., James Bond film actor Daniel Craig, actor Samuel L. Jackson, the renowned military leader and professor Lt. Col. Doug Delaney, composer Murray Gold, Musician Matt Anderson, Titan Lab lead consultant Edwin Zuniga Irish-American actor Neal McDonough and the popular Irish-American hooligan Brett McMurry. Although it is mostly worn by men, some women have adopted the cap.

Rugby League team Featherstone Rovers supporters nick name is "The Flat Cappers", due to the fact that every supporter in years gone by used to attend matches in a flat cap.

• Bunnet - Scotland
• Cabby Cap - USA
• Skip Cap - in Canada
• Cheese-cutter - in New Zealand and Canada
• Cloth cap - in UK
• Conductor's hat
• Coppola - in Sicily
• Dai cap - in Wales
• Derby Cap
• Driving cap or Drivers cap - in USA
• Foreskin Cap - Western Canada
• Froschmütze - in Schaiblishausen (modest Swabian village near Ulm)
• Gatsby cap - alternate name for newsboy cap
• Golf cap
• Gubb-mössa, or, Gubb-keps - (lit. 'Old man's cap/hat') in Sweden
• Hogans cap
• Halibut cap
• Irish cap
• Ivy cap - in USA
• Jeff cap
• Kaszkiet [kashkeet] - in Poland
• Kepka - in Russia
• Newsboy cap
• Mr T's Jazz cap
• Paddy cap - in Ireland
• Phatty Hat
• Scally cap - mostly in North America
• Schiebermütze - (black marketeer's cap) in Germany
• Scone bunnet
• Sixpence - in Norway
• Slap cap - in USA
• Touring cap - in USA
• Windsor cap

• "If the cap fits". Ayup magazine, April 2000.
• "Caps fit for new generation". Express & Star, July 2007.
• How to make an authentic 16th century flat cap