# Names for different bowlers (hats?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335 "2020-08-17T17:04:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/1 "2020-08-17T17:04:47Z")
Or maybe they’re not all bowlers. In [this ep of The Beverly Hillbillies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lf96PPwP3Q), starting around 1:52, Uncle Jed is wearing a somewhat roundish bowler with a flattish top. But [many bowlers](https://www.google.com/search?q=bowler+hat&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFkfLP26LrAhXOp1kKHcZSDz4Q_AUoAnoECBAQBA&biw=1280&bih=910) are somewhat more longish, roundish on top, and often with a slightly upturned brim. Are there different names for different styles, or are they all just bowlers with different stylistic nuances? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/2 "2020-08-17T17:19:47Z")
That looks like a Top Hat. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/3 "2020-08-17T21:47:20Z")
Just variations of a bowler hat, no distinct name. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/4 "2020-08-17T21:47:50Z")
It’s not a bowler if the top isn’t rounded. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/5 "2020-08-25T11:10:21Z")
I think they’ve taken something like a Homburg that is too small for him, and pushed out the crown. It’s too tall to be a Derby/Bowler, and doesn’t have enough brim to be Boss-of-the-Plains. Also, the very flash feather marks it as a casual style – they’re really going for ‘ridiculous’, not for anything conservative. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/6 "2020-08-25T16:33:25Z")
Once again, it is a Top Hat. It is a very plain traditional top hat. Most people are used to the highly stylized versions, but that’s what a basic felt top hat looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/7 "2020-08-25T17:16:44Z")
Best guess given the video quality: **TriPolar** is right. Plain ol’ top hat. Google photos of JFK at his inauguration — he was wearing a top hat of just about the same proportions. re: the OP — Bowlers, also called derbies, were around for roughly a century, and the styles changed over time. My favorite was from roughly the 1880s-90s, where the brim is curled up more at the sides than in the front and back, which makes the sides higher. What I mean is, when you set it on a table, the sides of the brim don’t touch the table, only the front and back do. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-bowlers-hats/918335/8 "2020-08-28T01:58:03Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Best guess given the video quality: **TriPolar** is right. Plain ol’ top hat. I can’t see that. Specifically, I can’t see a flat top. And I can’t see an edge. I see a round top.