Flat Cap - Current Situation

Current Situation

The style has remained popular among certain groups of people in Europe 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 with a large Irish-American population. They are also associated with skinheads and the Oi! and punk subcultures. The flat cap has appeared in the hip hop subculture, worn back-to-front. It is also very common among men and women of a variety of ages in San Francisco, California.

Rugby league team Featherstone Rovers supporters' nickname is "The Flat Cappers", due to the fact that supporters in years gone by used to attend matches wearing them.

The black leather flat cap is often combined with a patched up sport coat or leather jacket and dark clothes (sometimes combined with a striped sailor's undershirt) 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 United States team in the 2008 Summer Olympics also wore white flat caps designed by Polo Ralph Lauren during the parade of nations.

As of late 2011 Britain saw an increased popularity in the flat cap, possibly as a result of recent photographs of celebrities wearing the cap. Marks and Spencer's noted flat cap sales to have risen to eleven times the number of 2010, suggesting that the flat cap will play a strong part in styles for winter 2011/2012.

Although the history of the flat cap in Australia is not well-documented, it appears the bunnet is making an antipodean come-back. It has been spotted in the Sydney spring of 2012.