Hats Glossary

Interested in learning more about the most common hat styles? Trying to think of all the hat names and styles on your own is difficult, especially since there are similarities between many designs. Check out this glossary of hat styles names and popular hat materials to get all the details you want in one easy guide.

Hat Styles Glossary

  • Ascot Cap: A hard, men's cap similar to the driver cap or ivy cap styles, but with a sturdier and rounded shape. Ascot caps are sometimes referred to as Cuffley Caps.
  • Baseball Cap: A soft cap with a long, stiffened bill (may be curved or straight), sometimes fastened in the back with an adjuster made of Velcro, plastic or elastic.
  • Basque Beret: A flat, round headpiece usually woven in one section, fitted and featuring a leather sweatband. Basque Berets get their name from the Basque people, inhabitants of the Pyrenees in Northern Spain and Southern France.
  • Beanie: A small, rounded skull cap, cut to fit the head. One popular hat style is the propeller hat, colorful and featuring a spinning propeller at the top of the crown.
  • Bucket Hat: A soft, crushable and packable hat, featuring a wide and downwards sloping brim.
  • Cadet Cap or Army Cap: A soft cap with a long, stiffened and curved bill. The Cadet cap or Army cap is similar to a baseball cap, except that the body is longer and more shallow than a baseball cap. This hat is reminiscent of a train conductor's cap.
  • Cloche Hat: A fitted, bell-shaped hat made popular in the 1920s. Cloche hats were designed to be worn down on the forehead, with the wearer's eyes barely showing underneath the brim.
  • Deerstalker Cap: A cap that resembles two baseball caps back-to-back, with earflaps coming down over the sides. The flaps can often be flipped up and tied at the peak of the crown. This hat style is typically worn by hunters in rural areas or associated with detectives like Sherlock Holmes .
  • Derby Hat or Bowler Hat: A hard-felt hat with a rounded crown and a flared brim, first manufactured in 1849 to protect gamekeepers from low-hanging branches while on horseback. Derby hats or Bowler hats replaced Top Hats as the most popular men's hat in the late 19th century.
  • Driver Cap or Ivy Cap: A rounded cap with a small brim and a heightened peak in the back. Many Driver caps or Ivy caps come with a sewn or button-snap front brim and are sometimes referred to as a Jeff cap, golf cap, or flat cap.
  • Eight Quarter Cap or Newsboy Cap: A fully rounded cap with a small brim, with the body often times divided into eight panels with a buttoned top. Eight Quarter caps and newsboy caps are sometimes referred to as a baker boy cap, apple cap, eight panel cap, or Gatsby cap.
  • Fedora Hat: A hat creased lengthwise down the crown and generally pinched in the front of the crown on both sides. The brim goes all the way around the hat (either contoured or a flexible front snap), often times with a hat band separating the brim and the crown.
  • Fez Hat: A red or black felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone, with a tassel hanging from the center of the crown. It is originally of Turkish origin, but has been associated with many religious and ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire during the 19th Century.
  • Fur Felt: A felt body of a hat, made from the soft under-fur of an animal, primarily rabbit or beaver. Fur felt hats are naturally water repellent, softer and more durable than wool felt, and have more longevity than wool felt hats.
  • Gambler Hat: A hat that has elements of an outback, western, and homburg. Named after popular riverboat gamblers from the early 20th Century, gambler hats feature oval/telescope shaped crowns and slightly flared brims that are contoured downwards in the front and rear.
  • Gaucho Hat: A flat top and flat brim hat, featuring a chin-cord that tied underneath, associated with the Gaucho people of South America, sometimes referred to as the "South America Cowboy".
  • Gob Hat: Associated with sailors and U.S. Navy members of the past, these white, cotton twill hat have a four part crown and an all-around upturn brim.
  • Greek Fisherman Cap: Made of wool, leather, canvas, or cotton, the general shape of the Greek Fisherman cap features an extended brim and peaked front crown. The staple fishermen's cap in the early 1900s, the Greek style features traditional braiding on the front brim. The Fiddler cap is plain on the brim.
  • Harris Tweed: Luxury pure virgin wool fabric that is woven in the island of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The wool is hand woven, and is warmer and more durable than basic wool production.
  • Homburg Hat: A classic homburg hat features a creased or center-dent crown and a flared all around brim. The crown and brim are separated by a hat band. This formal hat, once more popular than the fedora in Europe and America, became popular by the hot film, “The Godfather.”
  • Jockey Cap: Named after a traditional riding cap worn by jockeys on horses, the contemporary style resembles a baseball cap, except with a stingy brim.
  • Kentucky Derby Hat: Having been a popular Derby Day accessory for nearly 200 years, Kentucky Derby hats offer a new take on the classic women's big brim hat by adding a variety of adornments including silk ribbons, feathers, flowers, and more.
  • Military Beret: A style of the beret made popular by military forces in the 20th Century. Unlike the French Basque Beret, Military Berets are one piece and flat on the top with a classic leather binding around the rim.
  • Milliner and Millinery Hat: Milliner is a traditional hatter who designs, makes, sells, or trims hats and dresses. Milliners would sometimes take old clothing and remake into newer looking articles.
  • Outback Hat: Generally referred to as the Australian version of the American cowboy hat, the brim is elongated and turned downward in the front and back. The outback hat sometimes features a chin-cord that ties underneath.
  • Panama Straw: Although hand woven in Ecuador, Panama straw got its name because it was often transported by the Spaniards through the Panama Channel. After the straw is picked, it is cooked in big bowls before woven. The durability and fineness of the weave is what sets Panama Straw apart from regular paper braids.
  • Pith Helmet: A lightweight hat made from cork or pith, designed to protect the wearer's head from the sun.
  • Porkpie Hat or Be-Bop Hat: A pork pie or be-bop hat has a telescope or oval crown and a flat brim. Originating in the mid-19th Century, they are most commonly associated with Jazz players.
  • Pub/Duckbill Cap: A pub cap or duckbill cap is similar to a driver cap and ivy cap, but the brim is folded inwards some, similar to an old-fashioned baseball cap. The brim is sewn to the rest of the body, created a more streamline fit than a basic driver and ivy cap.
  • Raffia Straw: A popular straw hat for women in the summer because the flexibility allows for easy packing and is made from durable and flexible palm native to regions of Madagascar and Central and South America.
  • Safari Hat: A type of fedora with a bigger brim that is generally downturned all around, creating a more casual style and protecting the face and neck from the sun.
  • Stovepipe Hat: A type of top hat where the crown is straight all the way across, unlike the flared style of a mad-hatter top hat. This hat was made popular in the U.S. by Abraham Lincoln.
  • Top Hat: Tall, flat-crowned, and broad-brimmed, most commonly worn during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Today the top hat is more worn for formal occasions.
  • Toyo/Paper Braid Straw: The most common of basic straw hats made from twisted rice paper that is formed into strong fibers. Toyo straw is light, durable, and comfortable and unless treated with chemicals, toyo is not meant to be worn in the rain.
  • Trilby: A style of fedora that generally has a shorter brim, deep indented crown, and a pinch in the front.
  • Visor: A style of cap made to protect the eyes and face from the sun. A visor generally has no crown, and is fastened in the back with adjustable Velcro or ribbon tie.
  • Western Hat or Cowboy Hat: A defining piece of attire for farm and ranch workers in Western and Southern U.S., Canada, and Northern Mexico. Became a part of popular culture with the spring of western movies during the mid-20th Century. Today, cowboy hats are a part of fashion all across the country.

Common Materials Used to Make Hats Glossary:

  • Camel Hair: Specialty fiber woven into haircloth, generally coarse and inflexible. When blended with wool or taken from the pure undercoat, camel hair becomes quite plush and soft. Haircloth is taken from the undercoat when camels molt in the warmer seasons.
  • Cashmere: Sometimes referred to as Pashmina. Taken from the Cashmere goat, the wool is fine in texture, strong, soft, and light. It is extremely warm when used in garments.
  • Murino Wool: Hats in the Belfry's own term for the fur felt-like finish of a hat. Through the steaming and brushing process during production, murino-finished hats have the soft feel and look of fur felt, without harming any animals in the process.
  • Silk: Natural protein fibers woven into textiles for production. The naturally strong absorbent qualities make silk comfortable to wear in warm weather. The low conductivity keeps warm air from escaping your head, making it also desirable in the winter.
  • Worsted Wool: Long, fine staple wool that is spun to create worsted yarn. The wool is brushed before woven, creating a finish that is extremely soft and light weight, but just as warm as regularly prepared wool. Worsted wool is more durable than regular wool felt.