Top hat
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A top hat is a tall, flat-crowned hat traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or sometimes g
c. 1910 top hat by Alfred Bertiel
European royalty, 1859
16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Antietam during the American Civil War in 1862, wearing his distinctive "stovepipe" top hat.
Self portrait (c. 1770) of Peter Falconet (1741–1791). One of the earliest depicted prototypes of what became the top hat. In early prototypes, a sash around the crown was closed by a buckle. This was later dropped, in the same way as shoe buckles for male pumps were replaced by bow ties around the turn of the 19th century.
Opera hat
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An opera hat, also called a chapeau claque or gibus, is a top hat variant that is collapsible through a spring system, originally intended for less spacious indoor venues, such as the theatre and oper
Top hat
…counterculture of the 1960s, it remains a formal fashion accessory. A collapsible variant of a top hat, developed in the 19th century, is known as an opera hat. Perhaps inspired by the early modern era capotain, higher-crowned dark felt hats with wide brims emerged as a country leisurewear fashion along with…
French comic book from 1926 that exhibits the advantages with the spring device mechanism of the collapsible top hat.