# What would you call this hat that Basil Rathbone is wearing as Sherlock Holmes (not the deer-stalker) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, fashion-clothing\ **Created:** [April 8, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132 "2026-04-08T23:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/1 "2026-04-08T23:10:13Z")
In his first two or three Holmes films, Rathbone wore the deer-stalker a lot, I think. But in later films, where they were emphasizing the current-day time frame rather than Victoriana, he was wearing this hat. > **[Sherlock Holmes - Coffret Basil Rathbone (Pack) - DVD](https://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/f47141-sherlock-holmes-coffret-basil-rathbone.html)** > > Considéré comme l'interprète idéal de Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone est resté gravé dans la mémoire des cinéphiles. Ce coffret réunit 4 enquêtes du célèbre détective de Baker Street. To me it looks like a sort of fedora, i.e. with a moldable brim and an indented crown, but it’s made of tweed. Is there a name for this sort of hat? One doesn’t see hats hardly at all any more, so it makes it that much more difficult to identify. I looked at Irish Tweed hats, but the ones that aren’t flat caps seem to all be bucket hats, I can’t find anything with a defined shape like this one. I suppose Rathbone might have had it designed to his own specifications; for some reason (perhaps only through association) it certainly seems to me to fit the character. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/2 "2026-04-08T23:33:32Z")
A Pork-Pie hat? ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/3 "2026-04-08T23:41:53Z")
“In the 1939 Fox films _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ and _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_, [Basil Rathbone](https://bakerstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Basil_Rathbone)’s [Holmes](https://bakerstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(Rathbone)) sports the cap as regular clothing. When the rights of the films were sold to Universal Studios by 20th Century Fox, Universal made the choice to re-marginalise the films as modern-day (1940s) British propaganda and therefore replaced the deerstalker with a fedora - in _Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror_, Holmes and Watson are about to leave Baker Street when Holmes picks up a deerstalker and Watson protests “no, Holmes! You promised!” and Holmes reluctantly puts down the deerstalker in favour of a fedora.” - [https://bakerstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Deerstalker](https://bakerstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Deerstalker) “A tweed fedora is generally referred to simply as a **tweed fedora** or by its specific style variation, most commonly a **tweed trilby** if it has a narrower brim. Because “fedora” describes the shape (pinched crown) and “tweed” describes the fabric, there is no single, unique noun for this combination, though it is often marketed with descriptive terms.” - from GoogleAI ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/4 "2026-04-08T23:44:43Z")
I had a english tweed rain hat like that. Here they say it is a trilby > **[Richardson Trilby Wool Hat](https://www.jjhatcenter.com/products/richardson-trilby-wool-hat-by-lierys?variant=42713840320627&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20624070877&gbraid=0AAAAADmSvrivpbKhv65f2w7yc5vLextTW&gclid=CjwKCAjw-dfOBhAjEiwAq0RwI44L2CAfTjRE9ghaMAlUhWEUNIcTaRwGzkEN3k-UBAnVIEKC0vHSnRoCUPYQAvD_BwE)** > > Stylishly cosy and sheltered. Warming wool was used to make this trilby from Lierys, which is made in Italy. Countless heathered color elements are dotted around on a plain base, giving the felt hat a cosy appearance as well as protecting the head.... Here it is a stalker hat > **[Men's Harris Tweed® Stalker Hat](https://www.houseofbruar.com/us/m-ht-stalker-hat-te03491moorlandhb/?locale=usd&glCountry=US&glCurrency=USD&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22638760007&gbraid=0AAAAA_uG_5vgn4tVR7mx61hTU63X695kX&gclid=CjwKCAjw-dfOBhAjEiwAq0RwI37CP2IbLZVaSYgpV1dUote0300b_xkD7T8izucrkWYFnsVNCD5e6RoC_pwQAvD_BwE)** > > Look the part in the great outdoors with this classically styled stalker hat made with genuine Harris Tweed® woven in the Scottish Isles. In London, Holmes likely wore a bowler. never a deerstalker. > [@Dropo](#): > > and therefore replaced the deerstalker with a fedora A fedora would be much later than Victorian era. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/5 "2026-04-09T01:11:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > A Pork-Pie hat? This is a pork pie: [pork pie and slice Stock Photo - Alamy](https://www.alamy.com/pork-pie-and-slice-image66723260.html) It’s not a favorite style now, so things that are called “pork pie hats” now look a lot more like just generic hats. Regarding the tweed fedora in the OP, I would have called it a "Inspector Jacques Clouseau’s (Peter Sellers) hat ", (and know I know what they were parodying, which I did not know before). But of course the Jacques Clouseau hat is only a parody of the Sherlock Holmes hat, and is a bit more “bucket” than Holmes’ fedora. By the way, “Trilby” is named after the character in the play of that name, and “Fedora” is named after the character in the play of that name. (Both characters were women wearing a “man’s” hat in character). So “Sherlock Hat” is a perfectly cromulent term. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/6 "2026-04-09T01:23:42Z")
I’ll add Quincy, M.E., Sinatra, Deputy Dawg, occasionally Bugs wore Trilby’s. ETA The Blues Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/7 "2026-04-09T01:28:03Z")
And I wouldn’t call it a Trilby – the Trilby (see picture previously posted) has the rear brim sharply turned up, which I don’t see in the picture of Holmes’ Fedora. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/8 "2026-04-09T01:33:23Z")
The Trilby snap back is it’s distinction. I believe. Although Google says Holmes more modern hat was in fact, a Trilby. So…grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/9 "2026-04-09T02:09:16Z")
In his biography of John Belushi, author Bob Woodward refers to the Blues Brothers’ headgear as “Pork Pie” hats: [![](https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.lFOEzPgOR89GdM2aLTdLvAHaJ4?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain&o=7&rm=3) ](https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.lFOEzPgOR89GdM2aLTdLvAHaJ4?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain&o=7&rm=3) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/10 "2026-04-09T02:18:32Z")
I’m not a vocabulary Nazi: people can use whatever words they want to name hats. But, obviously, those Blues Brothers hats look nothing like pork pies: the minimal definition is short, and _flat round top_. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/11 "2026-04-09T02:55:10Z")
Exactly. Whatever the biography says. Mistakes get made about fashion stuff all the time. It’s not a crime. Altho’ some fashion is criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/12 "2026-04-09T02:57:37Z")
Thanks for the in-movie reference about the hat, and the link. I don’t think you could call that hat a Trilby, the brim is too broad. So just Fedora is probably fine. It looks less structured than what I think of as a regular Fedora, but that may just be because of the tweed material. > [@DrDeth](#): > > In London, Holmes likely wore a bowler. never a deerstalker. We are talking here about a fictional character and some of the movies that portrayed him. Not a banker. > [@DrDeth](#): > > A fedora would be much later than Victorian era. Yes, that is the exact point, which you would see if you were to read @Dropo’s quote from his link about the period of the later Rathbone/Holmes movies. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/13 "2026-04-09T03:10:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Mistakes get made about fashion stuff all the time. It’s not a crime. Yeahbut- some woman looked at a bunch of pictures of men on a dating site, and without meeting them, declared that the men who had “neckbeards” and wore “fedoras” were all losers- except that the guys were wearing trilbies, not fedoras. Trilbies came into a sorta fashion there for a bit. Fedoras are old school. Of course, being old, that means I sometimes wear a fedora- Indiana Jones hat is a Fedora. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > We are talking here about a fictional character and some of the movies that portrayed him. Not a banker. The movies got it wrong- > **[Did Sherlock Holmes Really Wear a Deerstalker Hat?](https://economistwritingeveryday.com/2024/09/24/did-sherlock-holmes-really-wear-a-deerstalker-hat/)** > > Quick, who is the guy on the right in the illustration below? Image: YouTube Here he is again: We’d know him anywhere, thanks to that deerstalker cap. This was a practical hat used by hunters and o… > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Yes, that is the exact point, which you would see if you were to read @Dropo’s quote from his link about the period of the later Rathbone/Holmes movies. Where does he say what i said? He never mentioned the period of a fedora. The canon ( that is what Doyle actually wrote) never used the term deerstalker, but he did - when Holmes _went to the Country_- describe a hat something like a deerstalker. In the city, Holmes is pictured wearing a Top Hat once, which Holmes would wear if going out in the evening. In the daytime, Holmes would most likely wear a Bowler hat. Nothing like a fedora. Or the tweed hat shown here, which was for country wear. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/14 "2026-04-09T03:16:43Z")
It’s a literary character written by a bat shit guy who believed in fairies. Like really. So he could put his character in any dress or costume he chooses. The movies and series are all over the place. I personally liked the Jeremy Brett _Holmes_ the best. He wore lots of hats. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/15 "2026-04-09T03:35:39Z")
Who the fuck cares about canon about Holmes’ hat? This was a question generated from a movie, i.e. please identify this hat that a character wore in a movie. The **movie** was set in then-contemporary Britain, the early 40s, so a Fedora hat was entirely time-appropriate **for the movie**. I’m sorry if you’re having trouble following the gist of this thread. No, I tell a lie, I’m not sorry, I’m pissed that you insist on cluttering it with crap. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/16 "2026-04-09T03:37:56Z")
Don’t blame me, blame that Bob Woodward guy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/17 "2026-04-09T03:41:26Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Who the fuck cares about canon about Holmes’ hat? All the Holmes aficionados. Holmes canon is a pretty big deal, like it or not. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This was a question generated from a movie, i.e. please identify this hat that a character wore in a movie. And, we did ID it. Asked and answered. But what did Holmes REALLY wear is a legit question for this thread in Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/18 "2026-04-09T09:45:20Z")
The hat that Walter White wears in his Heisenberg persona is a pork pie hat. There’s a Wiki page that’s correct and informative: [Pork pie hat - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie_hat) ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/19 "2026-04-09T09:49:25Z")
Oh, and getting back to the OP, could Holmes’ hat be a homburg? > **[Homburg hat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homburg_hat)** > > A homburg is a semi-formal hat of fur felt, characterized by a single dent running down the centre of the crown (called a "gutter crown"), a wide silk grosgrain hatband ribbon, a flat brim shaped in a "pencil curl", and a ribbon-bound trim about the edge of the brim. It is traditionally offered in black or grey. > The name comes from Bad Homburg in Hesse, in the German Empire, where it originated as hunting headgear. It was popularised in the late 19th century by the Prince of Wales, the futur... ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132/20 "2026-04-09T09:54:12Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > could Holmes’ hat be a homburg? I don’t think so. The Homburg has a curled brim and firm structure, a fedora is softer and the brim is not curled. > **[Hat Articles | Fashionable Hats Blog | Spectator shoes, Hat fashion, Hats for...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/801148221191119582/)** > > The ultimate hat guide and hat information resource. Learn about the latest hat news, information, trends, buying guides and hat comparisons. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-call-this-hat-that-basil-rathbone-is-wearing-as-sherlock-holmes-not-the-deer-stalker/1029132.md?page=2)