Gangster Hats of the 20s
During the 1920s, gangsters lead almost every major crime syndicate across the United States and especially within Chicago. Complementing their illegal activities is a fashion sense that was dubbed "gangster attire." These gangsters sported a certain set of clothing, complete with three-piece suits and hats. Together with historical photographs and influence from Hollywood mobster films, these gangster hats are popular even today. Does this Spark an idea?
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Fedora
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The fedora is commonly made with a soft felt and its name was derived from a play titled "Fedora," by Victorien Sardou, a French dramatist who released the play in the U.S. in 1889. A fedora has a short creased crown with its front pinched on both sides. A thin leather or silk band was wrapped around the bottom of the crown to add effect. The hat's wide brim surrounds the entire crown and gangsters usually lowered the brim's front. One of the most notorious gangsters, Al Capone, wore wide-brimmed fedora hats.
Trilby
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A trilby hat has a crown that looks like a fedora, but its brim is shorter and narrower. Trilby hats have crowns heavily dented in the middle, and the front crown is usually pinched on both sides for effect. Gangsters usually wore trilby hats with the front brim pulled down to their eyes or to the sides of the face, just like the fedora. Trilby hats also have silk bands at the bottom of the crown.
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Homburg
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Homburg hats have a taller crown when compared with trilby and fedora hats, and don't have pinches. The Homburg hat's crown is also heavily dented in the middle and has a short brim surrounding the crown. This hat has a brim that usually goes upward and has a fixed form and shape, unlike fedora and trilby hats that can be modified to the user's preference.
General Characteristics
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The gangsters of the 1920s usually had hats in colors like white, light brown, gray and black. Hats became a major accessory of the gangster fashion and some mobster bosses even created signature hat styles. Al Capone usually wore his fedora with a tilted brim on the left side, while others preferred to tilt the brim in front. All three gangster hats are usually made of felt, but Homburg hats are made with stiffer materials to maintain the form of the crown and the upturned brim.
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