Men's Hats

The formal custom of wearing hats has been in rapid decline since the John F. Kennedy era, and casual culture has made mass-produced baseball caps and knitted ski caps a common style choice. But even among this decline in fine hat wearing, fashionable toppers still have a dedicated legion of collectors.

Fine men’s hats are made of a variety of materials including wool, leather, velvet, and straw. Options veer from the subtle fedora to the bold top hat. Other popular styles include the traditional round topped bowler and the hand woven Panama hat.

Modern-day millinery is alive and well with a relatively small but passionate number of hat makers still plying their trade. Vintage hats are particularly popular at auction and serve as both inspiration for contemporary designs and objects of appreciation for auction participants.

Quick Facts

• A hat worn by Michael Jackson during his 1995 appearance at the MTV Music Awards sold at a 2009 New York Times Square Hard Rock Cafe auction for $73,800. The hat was tossed by the pop star into the audience during the performance
• A fur fedora worn by Harrison Ford during production of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade sold at a Profiles in History Hollywood memorabilia auction in October 2015 for $90,000
• Director George Lucas donated one of the fur fedoras worn by Harrison Ford during production of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for a Hollywood memorabilia auction with Profiles in History