The History of Bucket Hats
From fishermen wear to high fashion. Exploring the fascinating history behind the unpretentious, tomboy charm of Bucket hats.
Whether you are a fan of 90s rap music or just a hat fan, you are familiar with the bucket hat. It has a long and varied history that includes everything from harsh weather to military and pop culture. A bucket hat is a headgear with a wide, slanted brim that slopes downward. The hat’s name comes from its unusual shape. Its deep, circular base resembles an inverted bucket on the wearer’s head, with a wide brim that softly slopes down.
first worn in the 1900s to keep them fisherman semi-dry, it wasn’t until around 1900 that the bucket hat was introduced as a “Bucket Hat”. Irish farmers and fishermen alike used to wear these hats, which were initially constructed of wool felt or tweed cloth, as weather protection because the lanolin in raw wool made it naturally waterproof. The Israeli Defense Force adopted a military version of the bucket hat as a standard-issue uniform in the 1940s to protect soldiers from the desert sun. This adoption led to the introduction of bucket hates to the rest of the world. It was first popularized as a high fashion item in the 1960s, and with successive revivals in both street fashion and the catwalk, it is thought to be frequently worn by Mods. The hat, like the pillbox and cloche types, was eventually modified as a women’s fashion accessory, suiting the fashion demand for more bouffant hairstyles.
Although the bucket hat’s practicality and protective form made it popular with a wider audience, it was far from a fashion statement at the time. When golfers adopted it as an alternative to the flat cap, its fate looked sealed. Until the 1970s, men used the traditional tweed Irish walking hat, which was famously worn by Sean Connery’s character in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Buckets hats, on the other hand, were immediately noticed by a different audience in the late 1970s: the Bronx’s booming B-boy and girl scene, completely changing the future of the hat.
The bucket hat gained global popularity in the late 1970s as a means to connect with the burgeoning hip-hop counterculture. Big Bank Hank of the SugarHill Gang is believed to be the first rapper to wear a bucket hat on record in 1979. LL Cool J, Run-Lauren Hill, and Rhianna popularized the bucket hat look, and it is still a cultural icon today.
The bucket hat became synonymous with hip-hop as it continued to trend from the Bronx to the rest of the world in the late 1980s. Rappers popularized the hat in the 1980s, and it remained popular on the streets well into the 1990s. In 1990s, Lauryn Hill and British rapper Monie Love adopted the look, paying homage to LL Cool J and the SugarHill Gang, who wore them before. Although the hat’s popularity waned in the late 1990s, Jay Z was determined to maintain it in the public spotlight as the early 2000s approached. After characters on HBO’s Sex and the City were spotted wearing bucket hats, it resurfaced in popularity among women.
The bucket hat has gained popularity as a symbol of African American counterculture cultural appropriation. Despite the controversy, the bucket hat’s laid-back, incognito appeal continues to appeal to new generations. The bucket hat has come a long way from its humble beginnings with fishermen and farmers to global high fashion runways. Perhaps it thrives because it cannot be tied down, with fashion embracing a more open viewpoint. Proving The bucket hat is a one-of-a-kind item with a wide range of meanings and history.
By Keren B.