Research, Technology

Why did people stop wearing hats after the 20th century?

In films set in the 1900syears, you probably noticed that all men, without exception, wear hats. This kind of headdress is especially strongly associated with detectives and members of the mafia. In those days were especially popular fedoras - this is the name of the legendary hats fromsoft felt, which were wrapped in a wide ribbon. Many modern people believe that men in suits and hats looked extremely stylish. Sometimes it even becomes a shame that the fashion for such an appearance has completely disappeared over time and is not going to return. By the way, have you ever wondered why men no longer wear hats? No one can give an exact explanation, because there are several factors that contributed to the disappearance of hats. We will talk about them now.

In the 20th century, all men wore hats, but then the fashion passed. There are several good reasons for this.

What hats were in fashion in the 20th century

As mentioned, in the 20th century the largestfedoras were popular. If you've watched noir detectives or TV shows like Boardwalk Empire, you won't have a hard time recognizing this hat. Fedor hats were made of soft felt, had three dents on a low crown and brim that easily rose and fell. These hats got their name in honor of Princess Fyodor Romazova, a character in the book Fedora, popular at that time, by the writer Victorien Sardou. In the play, which was staged in 1889, the heroine wore just such a hat.

Men's fedora hat

Yes, initially fedora hats were worn by women -they became a men's headdress only in the 20th century. Every gentleman who wore a fedora was required to follow certain rules of etiquette. For example, when meeting with a woman, it was supposed to slightly raise the hat with three fingers, each of which was supposed to lie on one of the depressions on the crown. Today, this headdress is associated with detectives and gangsters, because such an image was often shown in Hollywood films of the middle of the 20th century.

Gangster Al Capone in a hat

Men's hats in Russia

Hats were very popular inRussia - it was an indispensable element of the wardrobe of any decent man. When wearing this headdress, a person also had to observe a special etiquette. In the 1911 book “Good tone. A collection of instructions and advice on how to behave in various cases of domestic and social life ”it says that when meeting a woman, a man must raise his hat above his head and extend his hand towards the person. Both fedoras and bowler hats and other types of hats were popular.

Mikhail Bulgakov in a hat

The fashion for hats in Russia continued into the 1940syears. Then a hat and a three-piece suit were considered a sign of well-being and chosenness. From time to time, people still bought and wore hats, but today this headdress can only be found on a few. What was the reason for the refusal of hats?

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Why hats are no longer in fashion

The first reason that men no longer wearhats, is to change the way of life. Until the end of the 19th century, hats were such an important accessory that they could not be allowed into a restaurant, club or other institution without it. A man without a headdress attracted a lot of attention and could even be stopped by the police. The hats also showed the status of the owner - the person in the hat immediately made a good impression, especially if he followed all the rules of etiquette. Finally, hats performed a practical function, protecting a person's face from the sun, water, soot, and other external influences.

Until the second half of the 20th century, hats were almost the most important part of clothing.

Beginning in the 1950s, the world began to rapidlychange. There were many factors for this, and among them was the development of the automotive industry. If at the beginning of the 20th century this was a luxury inaccessible to most, then by the middle of the century they began to appear even among relatively ordinary people. Many men and women began to move around in comfortable cars, and the practical use of hats faded. After all, the interior of the car already perfectly protected from sunlight, rain and wind - why do people need an extra load on their heads?

If a person walked on the street on foot, from a brightSunglasses protected their light. At first, this accessory was popular only among celebrities, but already in the 1960s it became an essential attribute of most ordinary men and women.

The emergence of sunglasses also contributed to the rejection of hats.

Since the middle of the 20th century, people have no longer neededdemonstrate their status with the help of clothes. It became difficult to distinguish the rich from the middle class only in appearance. Of course, their clothes differed in price and material quality, but outwardly they were almost the same.

In addition, people began to spend more time indoors - work often no longer meant being on the street all the time, and many people were sitting in offices.

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