Modern flat cap made of 100% wild silk with a cotton check lining. Red, blue, white check. 100% wild silk 100% cotton check lining Made in Germany Wild silk is characterized by an elegant sheen and high fabric strength. In addition, silk is particularly skin-friendly and leaves a pleasantly cool feeling on the skin. Wild silk has a temperature-balancing effect and therefore warms in winter and cools in summer. In British popular culture, the flat cap is typically associated with older working-class men, especially those in Northern England,[4] and the West Country, as personified by Fred Dibnah (Lancashire) and comic strip anti-hero Andy Capp (Teesside). The flat cap's strong connection with the working class and the East End of London is illustrated by Jim Branning of the television soap opera EastEnders and Del-Boy Trotter of Only Fools and Horses. Taxicab and bus drivers are often depicted wearing a flat cap, as comedically portrayed by Gareth Hale and Norman Pace's (Hale and Pace) "London cabbies" television sketches. In the BBC show Peaky Blinders, characters show their membership of the Birmingham gang by sewing razor blades into the peak of their flat caps, supposedly for use as a weapon. AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, a native of Newcastle, customarily wears a flat cap on stage and frequently off.[5] The flat cap can also be taken to denote the upper class when affecting casualness. "A toff can be a bit of a chap as well without, as it were, losing face."[6] In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, British public figures including David Beckham, Guy Ritchie, Richard Blackwood, and the Prince of Wales wore the flat cap.[7][8] The flat cap hat is associated in North American (chiefly US) popular culture with city newsboys (i.e., street-corner newspaper sellers), the style sometimes being called a "newsboy" or "newsie" cap, sometimes referred to as a "Kangol hat" due to conflation with the brand that makes certain styles of flat caps. Dick Berggren is known for wearing a flat cap. The style has remained popular among groups of people in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and North America. The cap is sometimes associated with older men, significantly in South Korea, but has been popular (along with the newsboy cap) among some segments of younger people, for example, in cities such as Boston and Pittsburgh with a large Irish-American population. They are also associated with skinheads and the Oi! and punk subcultures. It has appeared in the hip hop subculture, sometimes worn back-to-front or cocked to the side. It is also very common among men and women in San Francisco, California. In Turkey, it is highly popular amongst men, mostly working-class. The English rugby league team Featherstone Rovers supporters' nickname is "the Flat Cappers", because supporters in years gone by attended matches wearing them as did most other teams' supporters. The black leather flat cap is often combined with a patched-up sport coat or leather jacket and dark clothes (sometimes combined with a bee-striped convict’s shirt) in popular culture to depict a burglar, mugger, or robber, occasionally with a domino mask. The comic book character the Goon is based on this archetype of the flat-capped street tough from vintage cartoons and comics. The Canadian team in the 1998 Winter Olympics wore red flat caps designed by Roots in the opening ceremony parade of nations. In addition, the US team in the 2008 Summer Olympics also wore white flat caps designed by Polo Ralph Lauren during the parade of nations. In 2011, the flat cap increased in popularity in the UK possibly influenced by photographs of celebrities—men and women—wearing caps. Clothing sellers Marks & Spencer reported that flat cap sales significantly increased in 2011.[9] It is commonly worn within the gopnik subculture in Russia.
