Lloyd's Treatise on Hats, with Twenty-Four Engravings / Containing Novel Delineations of His Various Shapes, Shewing the Manner in Which They Should Be Worn...

There is no part of a man's dress that makes or mars his appearance so much as his hat; not that it is its striking beauty when new, or a want of it when old, that is most materially concerned in producing either of the above effects; the grand point is the form, and the position which it is made to assume on the head; yet how few there are who give the least attention to either, except indeed military men, and they in general are uncommonly tasty, affording the best example of the precise style in which a hat should be worn. It is no less singular than true, that the same hat, by being placed on the head in different positions, will give, in appearance, as many distinct characters to the same person as the number of those positions amount to. The most striking are as follows:-sullenness-indolence-gravity, and good humoured impudence. To give the first, draw the brim of the hat so far over the eyes that they shall be quite concealed. The second is produced by the hat being thrown quite back. The third by a prim horizontal set, covering equally all parts of the head; and the fourth will not be easily mistaken wherever an extravagant cock on either side is brought full into view. These are undoubtedly all extreme habits, and seldom pushed to the extent here described; yet a slight inclination to either position may, under circumstances, have a very good effect.

There is another bad custom that ought to be noticed, which I shall do by first observing, that a hat was intended solely to keep the head dry-ON which it should be worn; but many seem to differ from this opinion, using it as a sort of NIGHT-CAP wherein is thrust head, ears, and all. This is a most slovenly practice, as well as a dangerous one, inasmuch as it tends to keep the head in a continual and forced state of perspiration, rendering a liability to "take cold," every time the hat is removed. Yet even this habit is not so bad as sticking the hat on the back of the head, which, of all others, is the most general, and carries with it the greatest impropriety, because such a position not only destroys the shape, but by lodging on the coat collar, the hind part, from friction, becomes greasy, and the binding is always in a state of raggedness; added to these disadvantages, a most ridiculous effect is produced by the practice, that is, the head in appearance is converted into a sort of peg, AGAINST which the hat seems to hang, instead of being placed upon. A man who indulges in so bad a custom, should at least preserve a consistency in his dress by walking "slip shoed," breeches knees open, and without braces, stockings down, waistcoat unbuttoned, cravat half tied, one arm only in his coat sleeve, and at least a six months' uncombed crop of hair about his pericranium; here he would be of a piece; and grotesque as such a figure must appear, by a general adoption of these "captivating negligencies," there is no greater inconsistency in the whole catalogue than that of wearing a hat on the back part of the head.

As to the form of a hat, and what is best for this face or that person, there is more in it than what is generally supposed, and a great deal might be said on the subject; but to talk of a standard fashion is absurd in the extreme, in proof of which it need only be observed, that if very large hats were adopted, a thin man of five feet high, would, by the wearing, become as complete a caricature, as a twenty stone man of six feet would by wearing a very small one. The best fashion a man can follow in a hat is that which best becomes him, and various as heads, faces, and persons may be, all things are now accomplished (so far as a hat is concerned) that can either fit the one or ornament the other,

By the Head's sincere friend,

and well-wisher,

R. L.

Furs used in a Hat of fine quality, according to the present improved system of making, their proportions, value, cost of manufacture, &c. &c.

Such is the cost of materials and labour at the present period; it is true that the above scale is drawn from "credit prices;" but let every part of a manufacturing concern be carried on for money only, which is rarely the case, still the deduction from the whole cannot be more than 7½ per cent. All substitutes for the above materials are decidedly condemned; nor can their quantities, as here stated, be lessened, without injury to the remainder. Here then is sufficient evidence that a fine hat must, under the most favourable circumstances, stand the manufacturer in upwards of twenty-one shillings, yet many assume a capability of retailing such an article at less even than the charge of manufacture.

A General List of Lloyd's Fashionable Hats, invented, manufactured, and sold by him, at his Warehouse, 92, Newgate-Street, London.

If the foregoing treatise to be judged by the letter and not the spirit-have mercy reader.

Rules for measuring a hat.-Take the circumference on the outside, where the band is fixed, in inches. The breadth of brim and depth of crown as wanted.

• Transcriber's Notes:
  • For the two tables outlining the expenses in making a new hat, the shillings and pence abbreviations were moved to column headers to fit line-width restrictions.
  • The original caption for the illustration of hat styles was almost illegible. It was replaced in the illustration by typed-in text in a similar typeface.
  • Missing or obscured punctuation was corrected.
  • Typographical errors were silently corrected.
  • Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book.