History of the Top Hat
History of the Top Hat
When Emily Post laid down her rules regarding top hats, she included one that had nothing to do with etiquette. “Wear it level on your head,” she said. Now, I’ll accept Mrs. Post’s authority when it comes to whether I should take my hat off in an elevator, but as to how my hat should sit on my head, no thank you. As it happens, she was dead wrong about the top hat. A man should not wear it flat on his head. He should wear it tilted forward and to one side - very slightly though, no more than 10 degrees in either direction - about the same angle Lord Ribblesdale wore his in the famous portrait by John Singer Sargent.