A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in BritainBernhard Roetzel (1999). Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style. Barnes & Noble. and was frequently seen at the horse races.
The traditional London hat company Lock and Co. describes the trilby as having a "shorter brim which is angled down at the front and slightly turned up at the back" compared to the fedora's "wider brim which is more level". The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design.
with trademark trilby]] Traditionally it was made from rabbit hair felt, but now is usually made from other materials, such as tweed, straw, heavyweight cotton, wool and wool/nylon blends.
The hat reached its zenith of popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s; the lower head clearance in post-war American automobiles made it impractical to wear a hat with a tall crown while driving, while also blending in better with the sleeker Italian-inspired tailoring of the time. It remained a common item until about 1970 when men's headwear went out of fashion and men's fashion focused on highly maintained hairstyles instead.
The hat saw a resurgence in popularity at several times in the 1980s, being marketed to both men and women in an attempt to capitalise on a retro fashion trend.
As the use of hats became more of a limited pursuit in the 1990s and 2000s, the trilby became a favored garment of the hipster subculture, briefly resurfacing as a fashionable item in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
In the Series 1 episode "The Think Tank" of the program Are You Being Served?, the Grace Brothers store policy is revealed to include a hierarchical order for hats male personnel wear: Bowler hat for departmental heads and above, Homburg hat for senior floor staff and trilbys or Cap for junior floor staff.
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