Lace Wedding Hat, 1950s Straw Sailor by Fisk Chicago

What is a Sailor Hat?

Today the term “sailor hat” usually conjures up an image of a white cotton cap with straight up flaring brim, such as those worn by men in the Navy in the mid-20th century. That is still the proper name for the cotton hat worn in the Navy. The term means something entirely different when describing a woman’s hat, Sailor, or a men’s hat, Boater.

From the early 1900s women’s hats referred to as “sailors” were the female equivalent of mens’ straw boaters. The lady’s sailor had a round flat brim, a crown with straight vertical sides and often flat tops – like a round or oval pillbox with a flat brim. Sometimes the crown on a sailor is taller than the crown on a boater, sometimes shallower.  Some lady’s sailors had domed crowns.

The April 1950 Flair magazine classified 1950s sailors into these sub-categories: wide brim, down-brim, bowl-crowned, and crush-crowned (indented like a porkpie crown).  An article in a 1963 Hats magazine lists the 1960s sailor styles as: boater, gaucho, roller, and kettle edge brim.  From Hatatorium:  An Essential Guide for Hat Collectors, 2nd Edition.

About Fisk Hats

Fisk was a long-time Chicago millinery house that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871.  The company was the largest hat maker west of the Allegheny Mountains until 1931.  Fisk manufactured hats through the 1960s with the label “Individually Tailored by Fisk, Chicago”.