The History of the Bucket Hat

To be fair, the bucket hat was not invented with aesthetics in mind.

The original idea

The bucket hat was first conceived in the early 1900s as a purely functional item worn by Irish farmers and fishermen to protect them from the rain, made possible by its wide, downward-sloping brim. The fact that it could be folded to fit in a pocket was also a major attraction. Decades later, in the 1940s and during the Vietnam War from the 1950s to the 1970s, a standard style made of olive-colored cotton fabric was used to protect the necks of troops.

From functional item to fashionable item

But it was at the height of the modern movement in the 60s that the bucket hat transformed from a functional piece to a fashion item, eschewing the traditional cotton or tweed for a felt or rigid fabric that embodied the spirit of the decade.

Fast forward to the '80s, and the hip-hop community saw the huge potential of the bucket hat (some credit the bucket with bringing rappers into the world of headwear), and many adopted the style for album covers and music videos. The first rapper to wear a bucket hat is widely credited to Big Bank Hank of the Sugar Hill Gang, who wore it in 1979 during his "Rapper's Delight" performance on the TV show Soap Factory (which was also the first recorded music video ever) It quickly sparked a phenomenon that prompted others to embrace the hat.

How did the bucket hat get such a bad rap, despite the rapper's loud endorsement? Unlike other types of headwear such as brimless beanies, floppy hats, berets or Greek fisherman's hats (aka the supermodel's hat of choice), the bucket never reached the level of mainstream appeal. Maybe it's because of its utilitarian roots, or because it's inextricably linked to silly, not-so-cool screen characters.

A real shift in attitudes toward bucket hats

Either way, the bucket hat was rejected and ridiculed by the post-90s fashion world. The real shift in attitude towards bucket hats came when a large group of designers collectively decided to use this controversial style. Rihanna expressed her love for the style when she wore a navy cap with pink logo straps when she completed the Slick Woods look at Fenty x Puma. And some designers offered a variety of colors and textiles, including light blue tweed with frayed edges, mauve and white leaf prints, and more.

Men's collections also saw a fair amount of buckets, such as the various colors and prints of bucket hats introduced on the spring/summer runways. Blame it on '90s nostalgia and the hat industry's continued fascination with such products, but after years of understatement, it finally looks as if it's the bucket hat's turn to be in the spotlight.