Quote Originally Posted by pdcorlis View Post
I guess I'd need to see the combination to know for sure - but the bowler does have a humble and useful beginning...

The bowler was invented by Thomas William Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester of Holkham Hall in Norfolk ..and his St James hatter. He required a sturdy hat for his Head keeper and some twenty staff to wear that would be hardwearing, easily identifiable and comfortable. It was intended as a riding hat - providing hard hat protection as they rode through his protectorate looking out for poachers. It was only later that the hat found its way into the city being adopted first by street merchants and finally finding its way onto the heads of bankers in pin-striped suits.
The gamekeepers at Holkham Hall still, to this day, proudly wear their bowlers.