Regency Reader Questions: Hats and Amorous Activities

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As we delve into gentlemen’s hats, a reader had a question: how did men keep their hats on during any activities outdoors or indoors in amorous situations?

Thanks for the question, Susan, and for being a Regency Reader!

Men generally took their hat off when in the presence of ladies or indoors, so it’s likely when they were amorous entangled, the hat was off to the side.

As for sport, I think the answer is varied.

I found one reference that hunting gentleman was advised to either wear a fur cap or no hat at all as not to alert his prey:

be proper to point out the necessity of double Woollen Stockings reaching up to the Middle over which Water proof Boots are indispensibles and a Fur or Skin Cap must be worn as the Fowl are always alarmed at the sight of a Hat The Gun required for this Sport must be of as great Length and weight of Metal as the Shooter can manage with the size of Shot already directed British Field Sports (1818)

In many cases, sports would require speciality hats:

SPORTING HATS Varieties of Hats and Caps for Sporting of peculiar colours qualities and shapes The advantages which FRANKSs and Co possess by their manufacturing their goods in London induce them to state that Gentlemen may have Hats or Caps made of any fanciful shape or colour at six hours notice FRANKS & Co The Edinburgh Review (1828).

That may have included a top hat with a string underneath to keep it on top of the head.  In era books and poems, I have seen lots of references to the hat band as a string and one that could be used to tie the hat under the chin to keep it on.

are easily carried and useful for other purposes besides drying boots The head dress for hunting must be that in use unless the owner is so small or great a personage that he can set fashion at defiance The old high crowned hat was most absurd hunting head dress ever invented it took one hand to hold it on just when wanted two for your reins Many men have heads of shape on which no hat will stick a big jump or in a high wind unless tied under the chin For convenience there is nothing like the shape of the hunting cap which all huntsmen and whips wear whether for on or for riding through brushwood and briars But no young man can set custom at and be eccentric in dress Within my time hats were all but universal in the hunting field at that time it took an hour to get into a pair of new leathers Then caps became the style and were worn by every one who mounted a pink and professed to ride When Prince of Wales took to fox hunting he set the fashion of hats and caps are AD 1878 worn by a few of the old school and horse dealing farmers in black coats which do not well with velvet caps But in the meantime an immense improvement has been made in hats No amount ingenuity will make a tall hat comfortable wear on a windy day but modern hatters have minimised its discomforts by the introduction of soft brims and means of ventilation The silk hat shows no signs of going out of fashion in the hunting field so one must conform to the times A bad hat no one should wear If they are properly washed after hunting they will come out quite fresh and if no one able to iron them is at hand a velvet pad warmed before the fire will impart something like a gloss The Book of the Horse (1892)

The alternative, was to hold it on your head with one hand or, as in Edgeworth’s tale, watch it fly away on the wind.

usual careless habits he had stuffed into his pocket in his hurry O my new ball cried he as he ran after it As he stooped to pick it up he let go his hat which he had hitherto held on with anxious care for the hat though it had a fine green and white cockade had no band or string round it The string as we may recollect our wasteful hero had used in spinning his top The hat was too large for his head without this band a sudden gust of wind blew it off Lady Diana's horse started and reared She was a famous horse woman and sat him to the admiration of all beholders but there was a puddle of red clay and water in this spot and her ladyship's uniform habit was a sufferer by the accident Careless brat said she why can t he keep his hat upon his head In the mean time the wind blew the hat down the hill and Hal ran after it amidst the laughter of his kind friends the young Sweepstakes and the rest of the little regiment The hat was lodged at length upon a bank Hal pursued it he thought this bank was hard but alas the moment he set his foot upon it the foot sunk He tried to draw it back his other foot slipped and he fell prostrate in his green and white uniform into the treacherous bed of red mud His companions who had halted upon the top of the hill stood laughing spectators of his misfortune Works by Maria Edgework (1828)

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One Response to Regency Reader Questions: Hats and Amorous Activities

  1. Agnes says:
    May 29, 2023 at 9:51 am

    Very interesting! I love learning about details of practical life in Regency times! Inspired by these written resources, I made a quick search for contemporary paintings as I suppose those would be more or less faithful records too, and what I found shows gentlemen wearing black hats (some shallow, but mostly high top hats) and occasionally something like black jockey caps too. There are engravings by Cruikshank and paintings by John Nost Sartorius, to mention some examples.