New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-02
ENGLISH HATS.
MARKED CHANGES IN LONDON OF RECENT
YEARS

From The Hatters Gazette.
II the question were asked OF every wearer
Of a silk hat IF comfort were the ohly ques
ton to be considered. would you prefer ~ w.,
a felt or a silk hat?" We do not doubt tnat.
without exception the answer would be that
fashion DEGREES that silk hats must be worn py
al men who wish TO look wen dresseu' anu m
dictates OF fashion must be obeyed' not"lth-
standing the extra comfort gained by wearing d
hard or soft felt While fashion rules thus' the
nat trade benefits all round. man wearing d
silk hat when on business at social 1uncuohs'
or on Sunday. naturally reverts to ielt mar
on other occasions. As hatters know a nat sur
fers almost much wear by being exposed 10
light and dust while hanging on a peg as When
on the Wearer's head IL follows that All
branches Of the trade are helped. and the more
frequently the leaders Of fashion desire new
shapes in either silks or felts the greater VIII be
the turnover CT manufacturers and retailers
Who are the mysterious individuals, or rather,
who IS the mysterious individual who DEGREES
With what particular kind or covering lons-Su
fering humanity shall hide the brains we are all
more or less supposed to possess? II Is SAID
that the Prince of Wales, who is stanch be-
lever in the silk hat. has a considerable hand
in the matter But whether that be so or not.
the Prince is undoubtedly responsible for the
still almost impregnable position this article oc-
cupies In our wardrObeS. According 10 a Lon
don morning paper the silk hat is losing ground.
with frock coat Il IS de rigueur the world
over with all who make the slightest pretence
even Of knowing what to wear" says the writer
Of the article. But in no city, perhaps. is the
doom OF the silk hat more patent than in Lon
don Twenty, nay. ten years ago, who but
vulgar codhopper would dare wear bowler
in Bond-st or the Park? What city man. to
say nothing OF a city clerk. would have dreamed
% going to his office except in the regulation
headgear? What fellow from the cOuntry-rnore
especially II he wanted to be taken for n cock
noy--would have come for few days holiday
- T-Cndon without his silk hat2 The shape. or
style cut did not matter. To his Impractical
c.e he caw no difference; the fact that he had
4 six rat on more than sufficient for him.
IGt all that has changed The silk hat is fast
losing It's hold in other parts OF London. as il
cid many years ago in Flcet-st-the one great
tNoroughfare whore headgear is Of no account:
where even a poetcal species o. hat is affected
hy some. 4 veritable somErero Of sunny Seville,
y hich fo- some unfathOmable reason Londoners
soeak Of a ,sombrcrO hat as though som
breTO tsclf meant something else.
But in spite Of all this the silk rat still goes
q long way to mark a man The silk hat n the
sweil-tHe man about towns not the silk hat
u the city merchant; we have n Cabinet Minis
ter's silk hat. clerical silk hat, journalistic
silk hat a lawyers silk hat, 4 cabmans silk
hat, a city clerks silk hat, and many more.
There they all are. prOclaiminG loudly to some
extent by their condition, but more often by
their shape. to what class Of person they be-
long"