"A Gentleman Does Not Wear a Straw Hat in the Metropolis, sir"

[Dick Ireland]

I heard this line in an episode of Jeeves & Wooster this week, which some of you may know is a period British TV show set around 1930, about a young aristocrat and his valet. Jeeves was referring to Wooster's new boater hat, and they were visiting NY, NY at the time.

Anyway, watching this show I've noticed a lot of points of clothing etiquitte (a major subtext of the show, since one of the characters helps the other get dress every day) that seem unique to the UK and I wondered if anyone can throw light on this particular one:

where golden age rules allowed grown men to where a boater?

In America it seems like a city hat, not a country hat. But maybe I've got that wrong.

In the UK, were they worn much? I know the climate is very different. But they had much stricter rules on city/country, didn't they?

Maybe it's silly but I'm a student of history and this stuff fascinates me. And since we haven't really developed new hats etiquette rules I follow the old ones pretty much to the 'T.'

I look forward to any insights you have to share.

-Dick

 

[Shangas]

"Sir, I found this hat on our hatstand. I can only assume that a tradesman left it".
"Oh Jeeves! We're not going to have a difference of opinion about that hat, are we?"
"I'm not yet in a position to say, sir".
"This is what is known, among the fashionable elite, as a 42nd Street Skimmer!"
"...Gentlemen do not wear straw hats in the metropolis".

I recalled that entire dialogue from memory.

The boater is a summer hat, but I think it was mostly associated with the countryside, or the seaside. You wore it for picnics, punting, rowing, sailing, going to the beach, going out into the country, but in town, I think it was more acceptable to wear a felt or a Panama (a Panama isn't strictly a straw, is it?).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Don't sweat it. Thankfully such etiquette absurdities went the way of Jeeves & Wooster.

 

[fedoracentric]

"The boater is a summer hat, but I think it was mostly associated with the countryside, or the seaside. "

I'd have to disagree with that. Certainly straw boaters were worn where you note above, but they were also worn in the city quite often. Look at the crowd shots in summer baseball games and you'll see boaters. There are also plenty of images of politicians with them on in the city. There was also a short time in the early 1900s when gangs of teens would snatch the straw boaters off the heads of people on the streets and smash them when the hats were out of season (specifically in New York City).

So, the idea that they were only worn in the country or at the seaside is, I don't think, true.

 

[Shangas]

The boater is a pretty old hat. It dates, as far as my research tells me, to the 1870s at least. So by the 1930s era of J&W, it would be the better part of 60 or 70 years old. I reckon most of the style/fashion 'rules' about it would've died out by then, and people were just wearing them as regular summertime wear.

I remember reading somewhere (possibly here on the Lounge) that boaters with black bands were acceptable at summertime / daytime outdoor funerals.

 

[cpdv]

Also would there not be a difference between what Americans and English would wear in a city?

 

[Denton]

In different ways, both Jeeves and Wooster are representatives of what is socially acceptable and fashionable. That is to say, Bertie, the gentleman, is at least as capable a spokesperson for "what a gentleman wears in the metropolis" as Jeeves, the gentleman's gentleman. The very fact that Bertie wears a straw hat in the city means that gentlemen wear straw hats in the city. There is no reason to privilege Jeeves's judgment.

Part of the point of the stories is that the servant is much smarter than the master. But a point in Bertie's favor is that Jeeves always hates Bertie's hat when it is at the height of fashion. Jeeves's tastes in clothing are conservative; his sense of what is done and what is not done may be twenty years out of date.

I think the real lesson of this episode is that there are disagreements about etiquette. There isn't just one set of rules for what a gentleman wears and how he behaves. Jeeves has a set of rules, and Bertie (who famously follows a code) has another set of rules. The two men have different social positions and different aesthetic ideals, but both can claim expertise on the subject of gentlemanlike behavior.

Etiquette is a mysterious thing, both in the golden era and today.

 

[RBH]

You can not where a boater anywhere in Arkansas.
I can not speak for the rest of the Country.

 

[mayserwegener]

The Sahara of the Bozart

 

[BR Gordon]

I've always been under the impression that boaters were the proper summer hat to wear with a dinner jacket. Never heard of it being limited to the country, when worn that way.

 

[mayserwegener]

They were worn at baseball games.

 

[Dinerman]

You can not where a boater anywhere in Arkansas.
I can not speak for the rest of the Country.

 

[DJH]

You can not where a boater anywhere in Arkansas.
I can not speak for the rest of the Country.

NH is covered by this rule as well.
I have a knice Knox boater (I bought it because it was cheap and I wondered if my head would touch the top) but I have never worn it outdoors and I don't expect to.

 

[ManofKent]

I recall a similar passage over a white Tuxedo.

Jeeves definitely represented more conservative opinions on dress with Wooster very much a man of fashion. The 20's and 30's saw the young aristocracy very much rebelling against the social conventions of their parents, and Victorian values. London was certainly more conservative than New York, and the young and fashionable were daringly adopting American fashions.

The bastion of traditional dress standards was the City. 'The City' doesn't refer to Greater London as a whole, but the square mile or two that forms the old City of London, which was the centre for banking and more conservative jobs. Some writers on clothing seem to miss this distinction and have the view that all of London had very conservative dress, creating rules of dress that in reality applied to a small percentage of the population of London, let alone the country.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Don't sweat it. Thankfully such etiquette absurdities went the way of Jeeves & Wooster.

Can I quote you on this if I decide to wear brown suede monk straps with a tuxedo . . . :eusa_doh:

The boater is a pretty old hat. It dates, as far as my research tells me, to the 1870s at least. So by the 1930s era of J&W, it would be the better part of 60 or 70 years old. I reckon most of the style/fashion 'rules' about it would've died out by then, and people were just wearing them as regular summertime wear.

I remember reading somewhere (possibly here on the Lounge) that boaters with black bands were acceptable at summertime / daytime outdoor funerals.

The origin of the boater hat is significantly older than the mid-19th century and similar to blazers, their lineage in nautical (as in the navel). As early as the late 1780s, sailors of the British Royal Navy hats that were almost identical to boater, when in tropical/hot regions. Often the men who crewed the launch that took the captain too and from shore were uniformed (at the captain's expense, which led to very spirited sartorial competitions amongst the various ships of the fleet to have the most smartly turned out launch crew) in outfits consisting of blue costs and black round hats. In warmer weather, these substituted for straw round hats. In the spirit of inner-service rivalry, crews of various captain's launches would participate in rowing races. Later, rowing teams became a fixture of English schools, thus the blazer and boaters we know were born . . .

They were worn at baseball games.

Boater hats fit in that class of clothing and accessories that was broadly referred to as "sport" wear, which were not thing worn to play sports but rather to watch. That's why a polo coat is called a polo coat and two-tone shoes are called spectators . . .

 

[Guttersnipe]

. . . The bastion of traditional dress standards was the City. 'The City' doesn't refer to Greater London as a whole, but the square mile or two that forms the old City of London, which was the centre for banking and more conservative jobs. Some writers on clothing seem to miss this distinction and have the view that all of London had very conservative dress, creating rules of dress that in reality applied to a small percentage of the population of London, let alone the country . . .

I'm not sure I entirely agree with this. The distinction between city and country was (is) definitely less about geographic boundaries and more about climate, social setting, time of day and frame of mind. I don't think you can say that "The City" only consisted (consists) of old City of London though.

 

[ManofKent]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with this. The distinction between city and country was (is) definitely less about geographic boundaries and more about climate, social setting, time of day and frame of mind. I don't think you can say that "The City" only consisted (consists) of old City of London though.

I think we basically agree - The distinctions between 'Town' and 'Country' were definitely more about climate, social setting, time of day and frame of mind than anything geographical, but generally use of 'City' rather than 'Town' had a narrower reference.

 

[splintercellsz]

 

[mayserwegener]

NH is covered by this rule as well.
I have a knice Knox boater (I bought it because it was cheap and I wondered if my head would touch the top) but I have never worn it outdoors and I don't expect to.

If you wore one with non-period clothing (Barber Shop Quartet association) people in NH would make a big deal? I find tall crown hats (like in my Avatar photo) draw the most attention. Doesn't matter the style or the clothing that I am are wearing. I don't wear straw hats often but when I have worn (not with period clothing) a Boater I didn't run into any issues (DC - Baltimore area). This is also the case with stiff felts if they have moderate crown height.

 

[Mulceber]

If you wore one with non-period clothing people would make a big deal? I find high crown hats draw the most attention (see my Avatar). Doesn't matter the style or the clothing that I am are wearing. I don't wear straw hats often but when I have worn (not with period clothing) a Boater I didn't run into any issues (DC - Baltimore area). This is also the case with stiff felts if they have moderate crown height.

Yeah, I've been strangely drawn to the boater of late too - my biggest fear is that I might be mistaken for a member of a barbershop quartet, but based on how Johnny Depp pulled it off at the end of Public Enemies, I think you could get away with wearing it casually and not look like a loon. As for the question about Jeeves and Wooster, the impression I get, knowing the era, is that Jeeves would probably think a gentleman in the metropolis should only wear either a bowler or a Top hat. Any of those uncouth soft felt and straw hats would be out of the question.