Men in Hats

Your faithful correspondent is of such an age when it was the norm for newly elected presidents of this great nation to be inaugurated into their office while wearing a top hat. The last man to honor the populace by wearing proper attire was John Kennedy. After that time standards fell and presidents decided to pretend to be "regular guys" by not wearing proper head attire and business suits instead of formal suits. In doing so they probably thought that they were making a statement that the identified with the "man in the street." What they were really doing was insulting the American citizen by showing that they did not think enough of the office that they were assuming to dress in a formal and proper manner. And in presenting themselves in such a manner they cheapened the image of the office. Would the reader have as much respect for Elizabeth ll if she showed up for a soiree wearing a muumuu and flip-flops? Respect goes two ways. And those in power seem to have forgotten that they should show us respect by dressing and comporting themselves properly.
But to get to the point.
This edition of Men in Hats concerns the top hat; sometimes called the topper.
The top hat, while nowadays considered a very formal hat, was, historically, not so formal. Consider Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist, the Victorian coachman wearing the coachman's version of the hat, the Mad Hatter, the Ton riding to the fox while wearing top hats.
The traditional top hat comes in various forms -- the silk hat, the collapsible silk hat, the beaver hat of mid-nineteenth century America, the felt top hat and the exaggerated top hat as shown in Tenniel's illustrations in Alice in Wonderland. The cat in Disney's Pinochio wore a collapsed topper.
During the time of the topper's popularity the hat was not so much known as a rich man's hat as it was as a town or city man's hat. As a practical hat shading the face or warming the hat it's not much use. But, when worn with a certain panache, whether the wearer is rich or poor, it looks cool. And it makes short men look taller.
Sherlock Holmes, Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt and Mr. Darcy all wore top hats.
Could it be the hat for you?