Sixpence

What is a Flat Cap?

In its basic form, the body of the cap is pulled forward over the brim and is sewn or snapped to the top edge of the brim. Flat caps are recognisable by their triangular profile.
The newsboy cap or newsie cap is similar to the traditional flat cap but with a fuller, rounder body and a button on top. This is only one type of flat cap. Depending on where you live, you may have heard one of its many other names: Joao’s hat, sixpence, cabbie, paddy, Gatsby, longshoreman’s cap, scally, Wigens cap, ivy, derby hat, Jeff cap, duffer cap, duckbill, driving cap, bicycle cap, Irish cap, crook cap, bunnet, cheese-cutter, or a paperboy flat cap.
We’ll stick to flat cap.

A Look Back in History

The flat cap, as modernly stylish as it may be, has been around for ages. In the 1570s, the British government tried to increase wool consumption by requiring all non-noble men (that would be us) to wear a wool hat on holidays and Sundays. The law was short-lived, but the flat cap became a part of the working man's uniform.
Its popularity boomed in the 1910s and 20s in the USA and UK. Celebrities in the 90s gave the flat cap a revival as well… but we suggest sticking to the British past for inspiration.