Top hat
ca. 1850
Medium
Fur, silk
Classification
Top hat
Culture
American
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Ethel Paxton, 1950
Accession Number
2009.300.4615
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of mid-19th-century American fashion withTop Hat* by Olangan, crafted around 1850. This elegant accessory exemplifies the era's emphasis on formal menswear, when top hats were indispensable for gentlemen of means, symbolizing status and sophistication. Worn by everyone from businessmen to politicians, they evoked the height of Victorian influence in the United States, blending European tailoring traditions with emerging American industrial prowess. Made from luxurious fur—likely beaver, prized for its durability and glossy sheen—and finished with fine silk, the hat...