Despite some of the fashion industry’s opinions (and there’s a lot of them), the bucket hat has finally completely made its comeback, despite its many previous attempts to be a thing.
A brief history of the bucket hat
This piece was first conceived in the early 1900s as a purely functional item worn by Irish farmers and fishermen as protection from the rain, which was made possible by its wide downward brim as well as the fact that this piece was easily foldable into a pocket, which was also a major appeal for these workers. From the ‘40s all the way to the ‘50s, war troops used a bucket hat made from olive drab cotton fabric in order to protect their necks.
It wasn’t until the mod movement in the ‘60s that the bucket hat transitioned from a functional piece to a fashionable one, with styles made from cotton or tweed or stiff fabrics that captured the spirit of the decade. During the 80s, the hip-hop community saw immense potential in bucket hats and in fact, some argue that this piece introduced rappers to the world of headwear!
Despite the bucket hat becoming a fashionable piece during the 80s, it wasn’t until the 90s that this headwear piece stopped being dismissed or mocked. During this decade, thanks to the britpop and house movements, we start seeing this piece in the cover albums of The Stones, The Kinks or The Small Faces as well as seeing it adopted by a whole generation of ravers as the crowning glory of a new free-spirited look.
From baggy to Britpop, the bucket hat was a real iconic symbol of the decade to come.
The trend today
Bucket hats today are really on trend and it all started again in 2015, when Rihanna was seen modelling a few of Melissa Forde’s M$$ X WT collection, a line completely dedicated to bucket hats. A few years later, in 2018, a bunch of designers collectively decided that the controversial style was in for Spring/Summer of that year and the trend has not stopped since.
It comes as no surprise that as the new generation look back on the styles and fashions of the ‘90s, that they’ve embraced the item of clothing that best encapsulated the spirit of the decade. The best part of this piece is that it can be checked, camo, denim, paisley, tie-die or monochrome, but it’s such a versatile look that generation after generation have picked it up, remixed it and rebooted it for themselves.
How to style it
One of the easiest ways to style your bucket hat is to use it on the beach, paired with a bikini, as if it was a sunhat. As long as you don’t forget to layer up your jewellery!
Try pairing a printed hat with a simple T-shirt, shorts and combat boots to achieve a grunge-meets-polished look, or pair it with a monochrome outfit for a clean girl aesthetic look.
But bucket hats are not just for the warmer days, in fact, you can try pairing it with a head-to-toe sweat groutfit for a cosy and chic look, or stay fashionable by pairing this piece with an exaggerated collared shirt and a colourful sweater vest.
However you decide to style this trend, it is certainly the best way to make a fashion statement and at Cherchez La Femme, we have designed and made this style in all our happy prints.
All our bucket hats have an extra large brim and can help you add extra colour to your life! You can fold our CCLF hats into the palm of your hand and easily take it on holiday with you!
As usual, we can’t wait to see how you style our hats!
Lots of love,
Cherchez La Femme team
Information sourced on crfashionbook.com, prettygreen.com and whowhatwear.co.uk
Photo 1 by Aedrian on Unsplash