Opera hat
An opera hat, also called a Template:Lang or gibus, is a top hat variant that is collapsible through a spring system, originally intended for less spacious indoor venues, such as the theatre and opera house.
Typically made of black satin, it folds vertically through a push or a snap on the top of the hat for convenient storage in a wardrobe or under the seat. It opens with a push from underneath.
Name
Its French name Template:Lang is a composition of Template:Lang, which means hat, and Template:Lang, which means Template:Gloss or Template:Gloss. The Template:Lang is thus a hat that folds with a click, and unfolds likewise.
In English, the hat model is usually referred to as a collapsible top-hat, gibus or more often opera hat.<ref>www.silktophats.eu: History of the top hat</ref>
History
The construction may originally have been inspired by a historical hat model called Template:Lang (Template:Gloss), made as bicorne or tricorne to be carried folded under the arm.<ref name=quinion>Quinion, Michael. Why is Q always followed by U? Penguin Books. 2009 Template:ISBN</ref>
On 5 May 1812, London hatter Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for "an elastic round hat" supported by ribs and springs. His patent was described as:
Some sources have taken this to describe an early folding top hat,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> although it is not explicitly stated whether Dollman's design was specifically for male or female headgear. Dollman's patent expired in 1825.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Operating from Poissy, Paris, France, around 1840, Antoine Gibus's design for a spring-loaded collapsible top-hat proved so popular that hats made to it became known as gibus.<ref name="Gibus Opera Hat">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The characteristic snapping sound heard upon opening a gibus suggested a third name, the Template:Lang, Template:Lang being the French word for Template:Gloss.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Clear left
See also
References
External links
- Les Gibus une famille de chapelier (in French)
Template:Hats Template:Headgear Template:Clothing Template:Authority control