☞ BESPOKE: The Men's Bowler Hat Revisited

Bowler hats were standard in every man's wardrobe by the early 20th Century and the sartorial trend of the past few years have had some revisiting this look once more. At top is a photo taken by New York photographer Joseph Byron circa 1903 from the Museum of the City of New York digital library  showing a group of African-American men sporting a few bowlers as they visited the newly built Grant's Tomb in West Harlem (note the Morningside Heights border officially ends at 122nd Street).  We have seen a few men downtown now adopting the hat made popular in the Edwardian Era but a notable uptowner has been wearing them for years.

The rounded top hat with an abbreviated rolled brim is usually worn during colder seasons but some younger fashionable gentleman have been wearing them in the current transitional weather so we decided to see where this trend was coming from.  At the center photo, one can see that menswear designer Pauls Smith started showing bowlers about a year ago and more than a few fashion shows have since then featured them.  The curvy cap could also be seen worn in a dressed up way this year by seasoned fashion insiders (lower photo by Tommy Ton via GQ) but Harlem historian Michael Henry Adams (lower right by Ethan Hill) has been wearing them for years.