Wearing a Hat. It’s Not as Simple as That
Photography and Text: Matt Hind
Styling: David Nolan
Forget the visual cliché of prohibition gangsters and film-noir sleuths. Hats are political. They have their practical uses to keep off the rain and protect from the glare of the sun but until the latter part of the 20th Century, the wearing of a hat was a clear indicator of social status.
That all changed, particularly in The United States, when JFK refused to wear one at his presidential inauguration in 1960. Before the casual revolution got into full swing, Jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Lester ‘Prez’ Young and Dizzie Gillespie along with actor Harry Belafonte had already subverted the tradition of hat wearing and brought it into sharp focus to an emerging, aspirant class of young Americans. Much in the same way that Miles Davis had embraced Ivy style (another signifier for the elite) for his Milestones album cover in 1958.
Still today, the hat can simultaneously be read as a symbol of the establishment or marker for subversion. Either way, Lock and co, a family owned business established in 1676 caters for both.
All hats featured are by Lock & Co. Hatters, London. You can still make an appointment at No. 6 St. James Street to be measured up for a Coke (bowler) or a top hat. Alternatively walk in and buy a fedora or a cap off the shelf.
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Issue 22
