Head Fashion: Hats
Hats Were Fashionable for Everyone
If you take a close look at the above image of a festival in Deer Grove Park in Palatine, there is something that almost every person, no matter their age, has in common. They are wearing hats!
Hats were a popular accessory for the residents of Buffalo Grove. All ages, men and women, wore hats on a regular basis. As you can see in the above image, not all the hats were the same. There were particular styles and fashions for men and women.
Hats were both for function and fashion. They provided a shield from the sun, but they could also be a statement on wealth and status.
Mens Hats
Men in Buffalo Grove typically wore one of two types of hats when not working - a top hat or a bowler hat. On the left is a top hat worn by a Buffalo Grove man in the 1920s. Top hats were worn by all men, regardless of social status. The top hat was popular to wear anywhere.
In addition to the top hat, the Bowler or Derby hat was also popular (pictured below). The bowler hat came into fashion after the top hat. It was invented in 1849 and quickly became a competitor to the top hat.
Other common hats, many of which men wore when working as well, were the straw boater/skimmer hat and the panama hat. These hats had larger brims and were lighter fabric than the top and bowler hats. Pictured on the right below is Carl Raupp wearing a large brimmed panama hat.
Women's Hats
Women's hats were often more ornate than men's hats. Women's hats could have feathers, different types of clothes, beads, or lace attached. The brim of womens hats could be anything from non-exisentent to covering the womens entire face! There were many more colors involved in women's hats as well. Bonnets were fashionable for women to wear while working.
Take a look below at some photos of Buffalo Grove women wearing different styles of hats!
