A collapsible opera hat, open (above) and folded (below).

An opera hat, also called a chapeau claque 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 chapeau claque is a composition of chapeau, which means hat, and claque, which means 'tap' or 'click'. The chapeau claque 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.[1]

History

French comic book from 1926 that exhibits the advantages with the spring device mechanism of the collapsible top hat.

The construction may originally have been inspired by a historical hat model called chapeau bras ('arm hat'), made as bicorne or tricorne to be carried folded under the arm.[2]

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:

See also

References

  1. ↑ www.silktophats.eu: History of the top hat
  2. ↑ Quinion, Michael. Why is Q always followed by U? Penguin Books. 2009 ISBN 978-0-141-03924-4
  3. ↑ Patents for inventions. Abridgments of specifications. Patent Office. 1874. an elastic round hat.
  4. ↑ de Bono, Edward (1974). Eureka! An illustrated history of inventions from the wheel to the computer: a London Sunday times encyclopedia. London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-03-012641-3.
  5. ↑ Sichel, Marion (1978). The Regency. London: Batsford. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9780713403428.
  6. ↑ Herbert, Luke (1827). The Register of Arts, and Journal of Patent Inventions, Volume 4. p. 64.
  7. ↑ ""Gibus" Opera Hat". McCord Museum. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  8. ↑ "Hat Glossary". Villagehatshop.com. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  9. ↑ "History of Hats". Lock Hatters. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapeau_claque