The English Flat cap has been in and out of style for many years. It's what I wear when I'm riding my English C & V bikes.

Interestingly enough the English Flat Cap was popularized back in 1571 when it became the law of the land in England to wear one or be forced to pay a fine for failing to have one on!

A 1571 Act of Parliament to stimulate domestic wool consumption and general trade decreed that on Sundays and holidays, all males over 6 years of age, except for the nobility and persons of degree, were to wear caps of wool manufacture on force of a fine (3/4d (pence) per day). The Bill was not repealed until 1597, though by this time, the flat cap had become firmly entrenched in English psyche as a recognized mark of a non-noble subject; be it a burgher, a tradesman, or apprentice. The style survives as the Tudor bonnet in some styles of academic dress.

Nope, I can't believe that any headgear manufacturer would ever support a law or peer pressure to force people to buy and use their product?



Tally ho!