Ever Wondered What the True Purpose of the Bowler Hat Is?

Sundas Farid-Fayaz
3 min readSep 19, 2022

And It’s Not What You Think.

Charlie Chaplin in a bowler hat.
Cassowary Colorizations, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A bowler hat is a fashion statement, making you look posh and sophisticated. We have seen everyone from Charlie Chaplin, Patrick Macnee in the 1961 British show “The Avengers,” John Cleese in “Monty Python,” and Oddjob, a Bond villain in “Goldfinger” pulling it off like a pro!

The bowler hat has made several notable appearances in both TV and movies. However, the story behind its rise as a trendsetter needs to be told. Not everyone is aware of its true purpose and it wasn’t to complete an outfit to achieve perfection.

The Bowler Hat’s Rags from Riches Story

Wooden dolls trying to solve a problem using blocks.
Image by succo from Pixabay

The 2nd Earl of Leicester ran into a grave, expensive, and reoccurring problem — the top hat. He found himself ordering top hats for his gamekeepers more frequently than he would have liked. It was becoming a nuisance, so he vented out his frustration to his younger brother, nobleman Edward Coke.

Edward Coke Seeks Out Lock & Co.

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