I am very happy with my caps and Panama hat from Susanne Juul, but I do not use a felt hat.

I have nothing against felt hats. I have seen men, who know how to wear them with style. I guess the trick is to wear a felt hat with some confidence. This goes for clothing in general, but with a felt hat it is even more important.

The two men on the cement barriers have the confidence.

The one on the left wears a trilby. It has a relatively narrow brim bent up in the neck. It was particularly popular in the 1960s. Sean Connery wears trilby in a couple of James Bond movies from that time.

The one on the right has a homburg on his head. It is harder than the trilby, the crown is higher, the brim wider, and it is turned up all the way around.

The homburg comes from Germany. As so often happens with objects in the classic wardrobe, it had to pass England before it became popular and legitimate worldwide. The agent was Edward VII, who brought the homburg to England from a trip to Germany.

“The homburg, occasionally called the “aristocrat” of men’s felt hats, is made of stiffened felt with a high, tapering crown, possibly inspired by the Tyrolean folk hat. With a central crease on top, a slightly upturned brim with braid-trimmed edges, and a fine ribbon hatband, the homburg lends itself to creating an elegantly casual yet distinguished appearance. Its name is derived from the German spa Bad Homburg, located in Hesse near Frankfurt. The homburg became a fashionable 1890s hat for English gentlemen after the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII (1901-1910), visited Bad Homburg and likely saw his German cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II wearing the hat. Edward, who was dashing and fastidious in his attire, is credited with the subsequent popularity of the new style. A photograph of him appeared in Harper’s Weekly, showing him dressed in an informal outfit, while holding a homburg in his right hand.

Homburgs entered the spate of 19th-century controversies regarding men’s hats that reflected deeper societal concerns surrounding the power and prestige of politicians and state leaders. In an age of growing opulence fueled by budding capitalism – albeit predominantly limited to the upper echelon of Britain’s socioeconomic strata preoccupation with status, wealth, and class was a prevailing undercurrent. Although the top hat was considered most prestigious for gentlemen aiming at formality, it was stiff and uncomfortable to wear. In contrast, the alternative homburg provided greater comfort, as well as elite status as the chosen style of a king. Thus, the homburg emerged as a wholly acceptable compromise between rigidly stiff formal headwear versus soft informal hats, such as the fedora,” Beverly Chico writes in Hats and Headwear around the World.

In the photo above the German chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who favoured a black homburg, and then mayor of West Berlin, Willy Brandt, wearing the common grey homburg. The year is 1961, shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Source: The Journal of Style