As many of you already know…if you’ve ever dipped a toe into steampunk fashion, you’ve probably noticed that hats aren’t just “optional accessories.” They’re literally the whole deal.;)
Without one, you probably might look almost halfway dressed, like when you forget your belt and spend the whole day doing that awkward pants-hitch move!
Or the brief view simply doesn’t feel right when passing the street window reflector during the day. The same goes for coffee without sugar and cream….in my personal opinion!;) We can easily draw the line between Wi-Fi and hats of the genre here, cause if your “hat game” is weak, your whole aesthetic drops back to dial-up speeds lol!;D
But we’re about to learn that there is a very good reason for that, guys!;) Yes, you don’t technically need one for the other, but wow, why does it feel wrong without it, aight? From the very beginning of the genre, hats have basically been the handshake: Victorian fashion is the backbone of Steampunk, and back then, nobody left the house without some sort of headgear! Period!
Mean, let’s be real…without hats, steampunk would just be like “slightly overdressed people just standing next to each other”! Awwkward!;D The hats pull it all together, and they’ve been essential from the jump!
It’s only up to you to twist it up more with extra accessories as you may like, people! From the author’s point of view…the most simplified, sharp, and modest picks are working as a charm! Here comes a little reminder: We all have the option of handling the look by not going too overboard!
At the same time…what I personally just love is how people with gigantic balls treat hats as their creative playground. Like, here’s a perfectly good top hat…why won’t I just glue on some extra leather, strips of fabric or a set of clockwork that unfortunately don’t actually turn on? But who the hell cares!;)
At the end of the day, hats in steampunk aren’t about being historically accurate, or practical, or even subtle (definitely not subtle). They’re all about self-expression. And don’t let yourself get bothered by the “stereotypical nerdy-guy wearing a Fedora Hat” reality vs expectations look, please, cause it’s all about the combination of the whole look!
Although I do LOVE that Steampunk gets so much attention thanks to that nowadays!;D
Let’s get to the business! Here is the list of the different types of headwear I’m about to explore with you for achieving the most “glamorous old-meets new look” in Steampunk.;) All items come with excellent quality and effort that has been put into the work!
Ps! Look closer into each and one of them for the available color options!
- Brim & Fedora Hats
- Boater Hats
- Top Hats
- Homburg Hats
- Cowboy/Western Hats
- Pork Pie Hats
- Other historical trends and finds
Brim & Fedora Hats
Back in the days in the 16th-17th centuries, these big brimmed hats were “the thing” in Europe. They’re basically any hat with a brim, as you already guessed it! Wide-brimmed, short-brimmed, floppy, stiff…you name it! People have been wearing them forever. Why? Because the sun has been rude to us since day one, and nobody enjoys squinting their eyes ofc!
By the time the Victorians rolled in (mid-to-late 1800s), these hats came in all shapes and sizes. Men had bowlers and top hats, women went for massive, decorative creations that looked like someone glued half a flower shop on top of their head to be honest! I’m serious…walking through a doorway must’ve felt like trying to parallel park!;D
While brim hats kept people shaded, Fedora hats made people look more slick, and in Steampunk they’re both non-negotiable!;)Speaking of the specific one, it actually got its name from a French play in 1882 called Fédora. Sarah Bernhardt, who was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries wore a hat with that signature crease and pinched crown.
Shortly after it most definitely made people realize that it was going to be “quite a hit”!;) If fashion history taught us anything, it’s that never underestimate the power of a great “headset” right?
So where’s the difference for the raw eye?
Well…all in all these two can deliver both the same aesthetics depending on what you are going to match them with! Speaking of steampunk, both Brim hat and Fedoras have the same “inventor or detective” vibe attached to them. Giving you thousands of options to combine it with gadgets, feathers, chains…whatever you might desire!;)
Click and shop for the coolest quality Brim & Fedora hats below!!
Boater Hats
“The Boater” first started popping up in the mid-to-late 19th century, right around the Victorian era. It’s made of stiff straw, has a flat crown, flat brim, and usually a ribbon wrapped around the middle. In the earlier days most men’s boaters were made from heavy wool or felt cause it was great for London winters, not so much for sunny afternoons though!
And yes, ABSOLUTELY…ladies wore them too, although often decorated with flowers or veils for receiving the feminine kick!;)
Boaters in general got their name from…well, obviously boating!;) In fact, rowing clubs and college crews in England were the early adopters. But the headpiece didn’t stay stuck on the river for long. Pretty soon, the boater was the “go-to semi-formal” summer hat. It’s something that’s perfectly sitting in between…not as stiff as a top hat, for example, but not as casual as a floppy brim hat!
Okay, so how do boaters tie into steampunk?
At first glance, a straw hat doesn’t exactly scream gears and steam engines. But here’s the thing: steampunk borrows all kinds of Victorian and Edwardian fashion, not just the fancy top hats and fedoras. Late in the era, if you were a “fashionable gent or lady”, you probably had one. And if you didn’t…well, you expect any invitations to these glamorous garden parties lol!;D
That being said, the boater might sneak in as the “casual daywear” option for steampunk admirers. At the same time…with some little changes it can be easily turned into performance gear to make a great first impression;)
Click and shop for the coolest quality Boater Hats below!!
Top Hats
By the 19th century, especially in the Victorian era, the top hat wasn’t just a hat! If you were anyone with money, influence, or ambition, you just had to have one! The taller and shinier, the better. They were originally made from beaver felt cause apparently beavers were the “silent heroes” of fabrics in fashion until they got over-hunted. Shortly after it switched to silk once people realized shiny fabric worked just as well.
People probably might think of top hats today as something super formal and “overdone”, but back then, they were just casual daywear! Bankers, politicians, businessmen…all in top hats! Going to work? Top hat. Shopping? Top hat. Afternoon walk? You guessed it…! It was less of a special occasion headwear and more of a daily uniform for the middle and upper classes. Looking back, when it first showed up in the late 1700s is quite a story tbh!;D
One random guy in London wore one publicly and it caused such a stir that the guy got fined for “scaring people” eventually. Imagine a hat being so unusual that it literally gets you in trouble with the cops. That’s a truly peak fashion drama!;) And since Steampunk equals Victorian…a top hat is basically the symbol of that era without any explanations needed!
They’re bold, structured, and kind of over-the-top for sure, but even after they stopped being everyday wear, top hats stuck around for ceremonial stuff like weddings, state events, fashion-styling, and ofc let’s not forget magicians’ stunts!;) They’re still shorthand for “fancy” even if most people today would rather not balance a 6-inch hat tower on their head all day, right?
All of the above is the reason why you see them everywhere in steampunk art and fashion. They’re bold, structured, dramatic, industrial, and kind of “over-the-top” masterpieces!;)
Click and shop for the coolest quality Top Hats below!!
Homburg Hats
The name comes from Bad Homburg, a spa town in Germany. In the 1800s, wealthy visitors went there for vacations…in other words, “to take the waters”! Which basically meant drinking mineral water and pretending it cured everything from headaches to heartbreak. Yap!:D
Also, while being there, they picked up these local felt hats as souvenirs as well. But it really blew up in the 1880s when Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) wore one. That’s when the Homburg became an outstandingly fashionable item across Europe.
While the top hat was still king in the era, the Homburg started sliding in as a more relaxed but still respectable option. It fits perfectly with the refined and more professional vibe with its sharp lines, cause it’s less “flashy” and formal than top hats, but way classier than casual hats!;)
Fast forward…the Homburg Hats actually kept going strong into the early 20th century also. Winston Churchill was a big fan and wore them a lot. So did plenty of other political leaders and business “big shots”. By then, it became almost the “power hat” for formal occasions. It started as a choice for the upper classes and gradually spread to anyone who wanted to look put together! Today, it doesn’t get as much hype as fedoras or top hats, unfortunately, but it still has that dignified charm!
Click and shop for the coolest quality Homburg Hats below!!
Cowboy & Western Hats
Cowboy hats didn’t come out of nowhere….as well compared to the previous ones! In fact, they trace back to the mid-to-late 1800s when a guy named John B. Stetson was credited with popularizing them. He designed what became known as the “Boss of the Plains” hat around 1865. It was durable, water-resistant, and had a simple, rounded crown with a wide brim. Perfect for ranching, cattle drives, and just surviving mostly the wild, dry climate of the American West.
Before that, cowboys wore whatever they had lying around: bowlers, military leftovers, even floppy old hats from back east. Stetson’s design just worked better, and it stuck. Cowboy hats give a super strong silhouette that’s completely different from fedoras, bowlers, homburgs…or any other alike. The thing is that the western hat was born in the same exact era as all those tall, formal hats in early Victorian England.
So while folks in London were showing off bowlers, homburgs, and top hats, cowboys on the American frontier were developing a “Victorian treasure chest,” their own!;) But with a practical spin. Same time period, totally different lifestyle!;)
The truth is that cowboy hats didn’t fade away when the 1800s ended, cause they had already become a permanent part of American culture, especially through rodeo culture and, later, Hollywood Westerns movies etc. Today, as we all know…they’re worn worldwide as fashion statements, sometimes as work gear, and always as an instant symbol of “Western.”
All in all, Steampunk isn’t only about corsets, goggles, and brass gears…it also borrows from the whole 19th century, which includes the Wild West for sure! The whole reason why you’ll see these “Weird West” styles being mixed in!;) Cowboy hats in steampunk just nod to that frontier side of the Victorian world!
Click and shop for the coolest quality Cowboy & Western Hats below!!
Pork Pie Hats
Well…a Pork Pie Hat it is! That’s literally how it got the name, though. Back in the 19th century, Pork Pie hats didn’t dominate like top hats or bowlers, but they had their own lane. It was considered as the alternative option for people who didn’t want to look exactly like everyone else in the crowd. Also, it gave a slightly more “laid-back” vibe compared to the taller and more formal hats. Gotta say that women wore them as part of everyday fashion in Britain and the U.S, but by the late 19th century, men really started adopting the style too. Speaking of that!
Moving forward to the early 20th century, it became extremely popular among jazz musicians. Giving them their own complete niche in aesthetics!;) And even later, it became tied to entertainers, movie stars, and even modern subcultures. Basically, it kept getting recycled across decades instead of disappearing like old sweaters!
Click and shop for the coolest quality Pork Pie Hats below!!
Other Historical trends and finds
Although while having all these labeled options above…there’s thousands of uncategorized hats with a massive background ready to explore. Let’s take Bollman’s Uptown Girl. Bollman produced record-breaking numbers of hats in 1980 and 1981, driven by the urban cowboy trend. But that specific piece carries the example of when the economic circumstances widened the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots”.
So yeah, elaborate designs and bright colors were in vogue in the 1980’s and this was a decade in which clothes became a major signifier for financial success and prosperity. So it most definitely was a perfect pick for a wealthy woman. Overall…I do believe that without even knowing when and how something had its kick-off on the way back…it takes the whole joy out of wearing something that could possibly have some crazy stories to tell!;)
Click and shop for the coolest quality Historical Hats below!!
