Pork Pie Hats

 

 

A pork pie hat or porkpie hat is a type of hat made of felt or, less commonly, straw. It is somewhat similar to a Trilby or a Fedora, but with a flat top. The crown is short and has an indentation all the way around, instead of the pinch crown typically seen on fedoras and Homburgs. The Pork Pie hat originated in the mid 19th century, and referred to a type of woman’s hat, it gets its name from its resemblance to, quite literally, a Pork Pie!

 

The term is also used in reference to brimless hats worn by sailors of the United Kingdom and other nations. This hat is typically round, flat on top and wider at the crown. This type of hat is also known as a "square rig".

 

The Modern Pork Pie is a felt hat, with a round 2 inch brim and oval flat topped crown, with a groove running round the top.

 

There are many variations now, with a soft felt V-Pork Pie becoming popular. The Stingy Brim Pork Pie is a staple around London amongst the Brit Rock followers. There is even a Trilby Peaked Pork Pie, which adds a pinch at the front to an otherwise classic Pork Pie shape.

 

The pork pie hat was a staple of the British “Man about town” style for many years. Pork pie hats are often associated with Jazz, Blues and Ska musicians and fans, Charles Mingus wrote an elegy for jazz Saxophone, called “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”.

 

In Jamaica, the hat was popularized by the 1960’s Rude Boy subculture, which traveled to England and influenced the Mod and Skin-Head subcultures (although Jamaican and British pork pie hats are more similar to a very short-brimmed trilby rather than the US style).

 

Robert Oppenheimer, the Physicist, frequently wore a pork pie hat. Singer Dean Martin was known to be partial to pork pie hats, and they were a trademark of the silent film comedian, Buster Keaton, who handmade his own.

 

The pork pie hat had a resurgence in popularity after Gena Hackman’s character, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle wore one in The French Connection.