Once the emblem of the working class in Great Britain and Ireland, men’s driving caps — known as flat caps, newsboy hats, cabbie hats and ivy caps — eventually gained popularity among upper-class citizens, who wore them for shooting, riding, fishing, golfing, and, of course, for those iconic Sunday drives with the top down. The portability of men’s driving caps and their ability to be tossed into a briefcase was one of the big attractions in a world dominated by bowlers and other hats that could not be flattened without permanent damage. In North America, men’s driving caps became a popular cultural icon when corner newspaper sellers dubbed them “newsboy” hats, and American cab drivers spawned the term “cabbie hat.” All manner of men’s driving caps can be found in the collections of Kangol, Gottmann, and Woolrich.
