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If the cap fits .............

silhouette53

One of the Regulars
Messages
212
Location
Birmingham, England
Does anyone here ever wear one of these caps ? I see them called different names - Gatsby, Newsboy, Eight Quarter etc. In period films, it looks like they were primarily the headwear of 'working class' people ( which is what I regard myself as since I work for a living !!! )
I think maybe I could wear one of these and not look too 'stand out'

Anyone have any views ? Good or bad !

gatsby.jpg
 

johnnycanuck

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,005
Location
Alberta
London in the sixties when you were working for a company your hat identified you as to what level you were at in the company. A dress code of sorts. Juniors and labourers wore caps (what you have a picture of there) middle management, bowlers and upper management, homburgs. I recall a episode of "are you being served" dealing with this issue. I recall fedoras falling in between Junior and middle management. as for standing out. With anything else it depends on how you carry yourself.
Johnny
 

Salv

One Too Many
Messages
1,247
Location
Just outside London
I've got a few and really like them: a plain black that I've had for years, a plain brown that I got off eBay a few months ago, a grey flecked that I bought in a vintage shop in London, and a dark blue tweed that I bought in a branch of Edinburgh Woolen Mills in Windsor. The brown one came from an eBay store called Great Gatsbys and they have a few different styles on Buy-It-now for £18.50 - £20.00.

The blue tweed is my favourite - nice soft wool, good shape, and it was only £15.00. EWM had caps in a few different tweeds, along with some lovely traditional Scottish jumpers and tweed jackets, but unfortunately their website makes absolutely no mention of the traditional clothes. Also not all their shops carry the caps. Windsor is one of their "Traditions Of Britain" stores - the nearest one of those to Birmingham would be the Stratford-on-Avon branch if you're out that way.
 

scotrace

Head Bartender
Staff member
Messages
14,376
Location
Small Town Ohio, USA
Absolutely

A lot of our members have and collect them. We have some excellent sources for these caps, of very high quality and at a great price.

b_wear1.jpg
 

gekisai29

One of the Regulars
Messages
199
Location
paramus nj
Caps are great & particularly good for top down motoring. With this style however oversized is to be avoided unless you are fairly young in my opinion.
 

Powerhouse

One of the Regulars
Messages
276
Location
SAN DIEGO, CA
big apple..

I've been wearing these panels for quite some time. They became my trademark accessory rather quickly. I don't wear them much lately though. I've worn a couple to threads. I try not to wear them so much since my hair has been... well not what it used to be. Thanks grandpa! Full head of hair untill early twenties and then nearly bald on top. Anyway, the larger floppier type with a larger bill are called big apples. Those are neat but can look very funny on some small frames. I used to get them in wool or linen from Arnold Hatters when I was living in Manhattan. Just $20 a lid. They have a website I believe. But I would rather get these custom from http://mariposa.yosemite.net/bwear/ Check it out.
 

Cabinetman

A-List Customer
Messages
331
Location
Central Illinois
Get one...you may well look to it as your favored lid. Not for every occassion, but it suits marvelously for "us working types" and almost everything in between.
 

scotrace

Head Bartender
Staff member
Messages
14,376
Location
Small Town Ohio, USA
A side Biz for you

Can one still buy caps like those /\ in the UK? You know what to look for - when you next get there, scout some up and resell them to unsuspecting Yanks, eh wot?

The Real Thing isn't so easy to scare up 'round here.
 

The Wolf

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,153
Location
Santa Rosa, Calif
the outfit in the old photos

I should like to ask the Baron, do you wear the knickerbockers also?
I also wear a flat cap on occassion. I can shove inside my coat when I'm indoors. It stands up to more abuse than my fedoras.

Sincerely,
The Wolf
 

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