Homburg hat
A homburg is a stiff felt hat characterized by a single dent running down the center of the crown and a brim fixed in a tight, upwards curl. It is superficially similar to the trilby or fedora; trilbys and fedoras, however, have soft, "snappable" brims and can have various designs "pinched" into the crown, whereas the shape of a homburg is fixed.
The homburg is typically made from wool or fur felt and has a grosgrain hatband and brim treatment with an optional feather. A variant form is the "lord's hat", which lacks the edge ribbon, and may, optionally, be pinched.
It was popularized by Edward VII after he visited Bad Homburg in Hesse, Germany, and brought back a hat of this style. Like the trilby or fedora, the homburg was once quite popular and is still available in almost any color, but the most common colors are black, grey, and brown. In Britain a black homburg became widely known in the 1930s as an "Anthony Eden" after the Government Minister of that name.
In formality, the homburg ranks just below the top hat, and above hats such as the bowler or fedora. It is appropriate (often with a topcoat) with a stroller, or with black tie.
In American popular culture the hat is often associated with gangsters and is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "Godfather hat," due to its iconic presence in The Godfather film series, where it is the hat of choice of Michael Corleone once he becomes the don of the Corleone crime family.
It was also made famous as a trademark of British comedian Tony Hancock. Flower power pop group Procol Harum had a hit single "Homburg" in 1967 about the hat. The biggest names in the world of hip-hop music brought it back into style in the late 1990s and is still popular with many artists of today. Many of the hats sold as "Godfather homburgs" have a wider brim than a regular homburg, with the brim rolled up more on the sides, like a bowler.
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