History Lesson | The Dad Hat

When releasing the StandardCloCo™ || Original Dad Hat || earlier this summer our team started to wonder, when and why is this style making such a comeback? So we looked further into it and are here to teach you a little history on the Dad Hat...

If you compare the popularity and fashion of the unstructured hat to a roller coaster over the past 30 years, then you have the right idea. Loose fitting and oversized on most, unless you’re a Dad of course. Lets take a look back in history on how it originated and how the iconic Dad Hat is now hooked up and climbing back to the top of the fashion boards.

With this roller coaster of the “floppy” hat getting its start as far back as the 1970’s, it fully encompasses why it’s referred to as the Dad Hat as most middle aged men are the ones who still wear them. Before this time it wasn’t known as an everyday hat that was worn off the baseball diamond, but worn more as a comical icon with characters such as Gomer Pyle rocking this style. Considering all aspects, did the Andy Griffith Show bring the broken-in hat style to the everyday person in the early 1970’s?

Gomer Pyle sitting up front and reaching the top of the first climb, it shortly after took the first drop and disappeared as a fashion icon for what seemed decades. Years past until the era of the 1990’s when the washed, beaten down, worn out, floppy Dad Hat style picked up speed and was headed up the next incline. College students and yes still dad’s, created this relaxed fit fade by over washing the already thin hats and forming that brim to make the perfect sun blocking shape.

Boosted by a popular brand, New Era, is when they created the line ‘47 which represents this style in all aspects and sold these broken-in, Casual Cap as its own line. It wasn’t long after, in the year 1996 when Spike Lee joined Gomer up front the roller coaster and pushed it up the next steep climb with his custom red Yankees Dad Hat and re-instilled the status symbol. Spike lee, from yelling at Reggie Miller at Knicks Games to rocking the Red Yankees Hat on the daily brought the short lived hype. In the early 2000’s it was back to another exillerating drop on the roller coaster bringing the fashion icon back to being not much of an icon item at all. A close representation of how the Dad Hat lasted in the early 200o's can be portrayed by Reggie Miller as.....

Through these early Y2K days, we all survived the dreaded change of the century, but where was the Dad Hat now?

Making its way through the music industry was the next roller coaster ride as it climbed the charts with the each and every popular musician but didn’t see a rise in the fashion world. The trend laid low for years until recently in 2016 when trend starters such as Kanye, Travis Scott, Drake, Chance The Rapper (pictured Below) and even Beyonce buckled in to the roller coaster to bring it back to the top. 

From that point forward, the trend has not slowed down as it is still climbing the fashion charts with its unstructured look and small front logo. Now is the time to get on the roller coaster and grab yourself a StandardCloCo™ || Original Dad Hat || as this trend is staying for awhile. 

Released 2018 mid summer, the unstructured, buckled back, perfectly bent bill hat has started to take over our top sales spot. The comfortable fitting Dad Hat with the recognizable Original Logo so discreetly placed on the front, it’s a must have for your hat collection.