Strange triangular hats, popular among Europeans several centuries ago, are familiar to almost everyone from movies and illustrations. They were worn by military personnel, pirates, government officials. Why did the fashion for such unusual men's headwear appear and quickly disappear after a century?
1. How cocked hats appeared and why they were worn
These hats first appeared in the second half of the seventeenth century. The round, wide-brimmed hat used by the soldiers of the Spanish army in Flanders evolved and transformed into a cocked hat. The Spaniards then used weapons with a long barrel and wicks that were set on fire.
The classic wide-brimmed headgear could suffer from accidental contact with fire at the moment of sighting with a musket. Therefore, the soldiers began to tuck the hem of their hats. The soldiers of the French army adopted the style of wearing hats (and in general the appearance of the Spaniards). So the idea was conveyed to Louis XIV. The three-cornered hat quickly gained popularity not only among the military, but also among civilians.
The French court of that time was a cultural European center, as well as a trendsetter. Accordingly, soon everywhere in Europe and even in European colonies, men began to wear cocked hats. The color of the triangles, as a rule, was dark: brown, gray, black. Some of them had cockades indicating that the owner belonged to a certain union, political orientation. Hats were worn in two versions: "forward", when the corners were in front on two sides, and "across" - the corners were hit at the back and sides.
At the peak of their popularity, these hats had significant style differences, different sizes. Almost everyone wore them, including those who had nothing to do with military affairs and who were not aristocrats. But above all, the cocked hat or tricorne (tricorne), the army name, was the official accessory of the naval and military uniforms of many European countries.
2. The main advantages of the tricorn
The main material for creating this hat was felt. Beaver wool was taken for more expensive models. The main advantages of cocked corners were:
- stylish appearance. The hat could be combined with wigs, which made it possible for men to demonstrate their own status.
3. When the fashion for cocked hats has gone
In general, these hats remained at their peak of popularity for over a century - until the end of the eighteenth century. Then there was a revolution in the world of fashion. The Rococo style began to recede into the background. It was replaced by the Directory style, essentially a stricter version of French Neoclassicism (Regency style).
Along with wigs and chaussae, cocked hats went out of use in civilian life. It was replaced by a bicorn. So, all European officers changed their cocked hats to bicorne hats. Perhaps the popularity of the latter was influenced by Napoleon's love for this type of hats.
It will be no less interesting to know why in the days of Suvorov and Napoleon the soldiers fought in lines and walked in full growth.