wool top hats

[Miss 1929]

Grey tails, or "morning coat?"

Topper: Wool tends to have a "mottled" brab look, fur has a nicer nap to the felt.

The question here i would ask is why "grey"? If it is to go with grey tails you mention then the next question is why grey tails?

Grey is tradtional with Royal Ascot. Thus the rest of the time one should avoid using grey tails.

Even if you want to wear grey tails then you can also wear a Black Silk topper ( See my Avatar)

The Ideal hat to find is a Grey Silk plush Top Hat, which were made in grey many many moons ago. Locks would even (in years gone past) "keep" them stored away for their customers to be brought out once a year for Ascot!
to stop customers from being tempted to use them at the wrong time

Unfortunately grey Silk is not readily available, black is, and thus only fur felt or wool felt is in available grey.

As such I would ask what functions would you be going to when wearing it. And decide then if wool would be inappropriate ( as you mention budget).

I don't think I have ever seen actual tails (meaning the coat that is short in the front, tails in the back) in grey, have you an example? And your avatar has been changed, so the example isn't there...

Do you mean "morning coat"? That is daytime formal - striped grey and black trousers, grey waistcoat and morning coat (the front is graduated down into the back, not short across the abdomen), Ascot tie, stiff-collar shirt, and I have usually seen this with the grey felt fur toppers, but as you say, black silk is equally correct. It's what the Monopoly Man wears! Older gentlemen in the 20s nd 30s still wore it for formal business and state affairs. Nowadays, it seems to be relegated to weddings and the Ascot, more's the pity.

MetroPD, I applaud you for carrying the torch of full formal vintage in that Southern CA heat! Brave boy.

 

[Edward]

Wow, I lost track of this thread, and just spotted it resurfacing this morning with some great new discussion on it.

Miss 1929, terminology here may differe in the US, but over here you will often hear a morning coat being referred to as 'morning tails,' as opposed to evening tails.... I've also hear the term "swallow tails" used (but I think that's correctly used of evening tails if memory serves?). 'Tails' in this sense distinguishes the coat type from the square fronted, non-cutaway frock coat (also now commonly called the Prince Edward), which was the more formal alternative in the Victorian era. By the 30s, the cutaway / morning coat / morning tails had all but replaced the frock coat as formal daywear of choice. Ironically, it seems that the last few years have seen a resurgence in the use of the once more-formal frock coat at weddings by those who consider tails "too stuffy." A matter of personal choice, certainly - and a frock coat can look wonderful - but alas all too often they are chosen for th wrong reasons. The number of shorter (and plumper) men I have known opt for the frock coat thinking that tails will make them look, as one said, "like a penguin," only to cut themselves off at the knee and lose the slimming, elongating effect of the elegantly cutaway front.....

Wool tends to have a "mottled" brab look, fur has a nicer nap to the felt.

The question here i would ask is why "grey"? If it is to go with grey tails you mention then the next question is why grey tails?

Grey is tradtional with Royal Ascot. Thus the rest of the time one should avoid using grey tails.

Even if you want to wear grey tails then you can also wear a Black Silk topper ( See my Avatar)

Thanks for that - I do enjoy your posts on top hats as I've learned a lot from them. Interesting boater, BTW - I previously had no idea those were produced in anything other than straw, as a Summer season hat...

At the time I originally posted the thread, I was to attend a Victorian-era themed costumed event in daywear... without getting into pointless detail, the grey would have worked within the specific context. In the end, plans changed and the dress event was moved to after 6pm, so I wore white tie instead. I do have a grey morning coat that I stumbled across for a song some months ago already.... I'm not much of a one for the gee gees, and don't expect ever to be married so no, there's not much opportunity for it, but hey ho.... I have considered attending Ascot for the opportunity to wear the greys "correctly" at soem future point. On reflection, given the rarity of wearing the grey I may well simply stick with my black toppers (I have one vintage opera hat, black silk, European in origin, possibly German as it came from Germany via eBay, and one modern fixed topper, Christy's fur plush style) and not buy the grey. I do so like the look of a grey top hat, but it probably isn't worth it when there are so many more hats I would wear regularly that I don't as of yet have.

As an aside on the matter of formal daywear more generally, I do so wish that it was more de rigeur for wedding guests to dress as such.... Seems such a terrible pity to see it reduced to mere "costume" for the most part.