The British Hat That You Don’t Want to Miss: The Porkpie

photo: hatsinthebelfry.com

British people are known for cricket, tea and HM The Queen. But in this article we will discuss another thing that they should be better known for: fashion. It’s about the pork pie hat, a statement of bon vivant in the British Victorian society.

The somewhat funny name comes from the resemblance with a pork pie, a traditional British pie.

photo: toppingspies.co.uk

What is it made of?

The pork pie is a hat made of felt, or less commonly of straw, bearing a great resemblance with the trilby and the fedora. The only difference is that unlike those two above, it has a flat top. Also, the crown is short and the indentation on it is all the way round.

What’s the main benefit?

By wearing this item, you add an extra 2-3 centimeters (1-2 inches) in height, which in turn, can make you look more imposing, and fix your size complex (if you have one)

Famous people who wore it

In popular culture, you can find this hat very popular among with jazz, blues and ska musicians and their fans.In the 1960s it was very popular in Jamaica, due to the birth of rude boy subculture, which later traveled to the UK.

The famous 1971 film “The French Connection” has meant a comeback for the porkpie, due to the main character’s choice of apparel (Gene Hackman of course).

photo: timeoutny.com

Joaquín Monserrat, a passed puertorican actor, wore it on a daily basis.

photo: prfrogui.com

Famous silent film actor Buster Keaton even designed and fabricated thousands of pork pies, for his movies. In 1964, he stated that for making one, he used a cavalry hat, which he cut down, stiffening the brim with concentrated sugar water.

photo: tumblr.com

Even cartoon characters have been modeled to wear the porkpie, for example the famous Yogi bear, Top cat, Hucky dog and Hockey Wolf all wearing the hat.

How can we match it?

First of all, we can match it with casual clothes.

This gentleman is obeying to the rule above. He is wearing it with a brown shirt, matching the color of the shirt with the color of the ribbon, although the latter one is a lighter nuance of brown.

And yet another example :

www.hatsinthebelfry.com

The guy above is matching the color of the ribbon (black) with the color of his shirt. Because his shirt has 2 colors, black and gray with dots, the gray  goes with the lighter shade of the pork pie hat. The hat is made out of straws, so the way those are braided agrees with the lines on the gray side of the shirt.

The pork pie hat is also a common fashion accessory for anyone with a retro style, often worn with a suit or a bowling shirt.

photo: bowling-tips-and-tricks.com

This matches perfectly with the following pork pie:

photo: hatsinthebelfry.com

With just one small change: the ribbon should be black.

So, if you like hats, there is no way that you should miss out on this one. It will make you stand out for sure, and it never gets old. We can say it has passed the British proof test with a straight A.