How the Baseball Cap Went From Athletic Gear to Fashion Statement
The “Philadelphia style,” with a sturdier brim, debuted in 1908, and was quickly embraced by major-league teams. Designers continued to tinker, as crowns grew higher and materials became sturdier. The advent of television—the first major-league game was telecast on August 26, 1939—brought a whole new audience to the sport and precipitated a rush of uniform redesigns and team relocations. By 1945 every team was wearing its own branded hat, and the accessory soon threaded its way into the hearts of children, especially those who played Little League and would take the look into adulthood.
In the 1960s and ’70s, agricultural companies began embellishing their foam-front hats with company logos and cheap, plastic adjustable straps. Mesh backing also made the hats more breathable for workers, and long-haul drivers embraced these new accessories, inaugurating the phenomenon of the trucker hat.
In the 1980s, New Era, the company that had supplied Major League Baseball for decades, started selling authentic team-branded hats to fans. Soon they were de rigueur. Tom Selleck’s character in “Magnum, P.I.,” set in Hawaii, wore a Tigers hat. You could see baseball hats on the cover of French Elle, in rap videos and atop the head of Princess Diana, whose occasional appearance in jeans and a baseball cap helped nurture her reputation as the “people’s princess”: It signaled approachability, even for a royal. And it worked for other luminaries as well. Steve Reich, a composer whose work has been played in some of the grandest halls in the world, and Paul Simon, one of the most successful pop musicians of the last 50 years, are both inseparable from rumpled, unbranded caps, even when they’re wearing black tie. No stuffy art-world or rock-star glamour here, the hats say. These are millionaires you could have a beer with.
The Advantages of a Snapback Cap
Adjustable Hats Fit Better
There is one problem that many people have with fitted caps, and this is that they do not always fit very well. They are either a bit too loose, or a bit too tight, and the next size up or down is way too loose or tight. The caps that come in small, medium and large are just not always right for everyone. With a snapback, you can adjust it so that it is a perfect fit, which is going to make your hat really comfortable too. Adjustable hats are easy to adjust, and can be fitted to many different sizes quickly and easily. There are no buckles to jab into the back of your head or straps hanging out, and no Velcro for your hair to get caught up in.
Show Your Team Spirit
When people go to sporting events, they often wear clothing with the logos of their favorite teams to show their support. One great way to show your team spirit is to wear a snapback tap with the team logo on it. It is a lot less expensive to get a hat than other sports-related clothing items, such as jackets and shirts, and unlike these pieces of clothing, you can wear the same hat every day if you want, and no one is going to notice or even care. If you were to wear a team shirt every day, people will notice, so a hat is a much better way to be able to show your team spirit whenever you feel like it.
Great Gifts
If you are looking for a fun gift that will not cost a lot of money, an adjustable baseball cap is the ideal gift. If you have a sports enthusiast in your family, they will love getting a hat that has their favorite team's logo on it. The best part is, with a snapback cap, you never have to worry about whether or not you have gotten the right size, because it can be adjusted to just about any size.
Trucker Caps Let Israelis Stand Out, but Not Too Much
TEL AVIV—A craze for trucker cap in Israel this year is allowing people here to finally express themselves sartorially—and at the same time look just like everyone else.
Israelis have an easy-going fashion sense that doesn’t much stick out in a crowd. Thanks to the lasting influence of the state’s founding socialist ethos, many avoid bold fashion statements. Among the nonreligious, plain T-shirts with jeans, or shorts when it’s hot, are the most common uniform. High-powered CEOs shun suits. The fanciest restaurants rarely have a dress code.
ut the mania for the caps—preferably with an animal on the front—is giving Israelis an opportunity to express themselves, up to a point.
Made by San Francisco-based hat maker Goorin Bros., the hats come embossed with different animals, often accompanied by a play on words. People choose which one they wear to offer a hint as to their personality.
“It’s a hat with a presence,” said Amit Deutsch, a 36-year-old Tel Avivi, who sported a cap with a black panther, and had bought five of them at 150 Israeli shekels, or $46. “It’s become a type of icon.”
Hodaya Elkayam, 23, who purchased a blue suede cap with an eagle and the word “America” in a Tel Aviv market on a sunny Friday afternoon, said the hats “have got style, they’re pretty and comfortable. So they’re good for all occasions.”