What's in a Name, Bowler

English nobleman Edward Coke went to a London-based hat-making company, requesting a hat that was better suited for the gamekeepers who worked on his family estate, because top hats were often knocked off by tree branches when they were on horseback. In response, the company's Thomas and William Bowler came up with the sturdy and stout piece of headgear that we know as the Bowler hat.

Incidentally, the fedora hat originated in 1891 after the stage play Fedora. Princess Fedora, the cross dressing heroine of the play, wore a center creased and soft, wide brimmed hat and this is how the fedora hat came to be. Also, the trilby hat name also comes from a play, an adaptation of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby, performed in London, a hat of this style was worn and so the trilby hat was born.