P109 TWIST YOUR MELON
Fashion designers have gone mad for Madchester-style bucket hats that, until recently, were considered beyond the pale. So, why are they tipping their brim to this retro hit?
Menswear designers are tipping their brims to the bucket hat. Want to give the beanies a break? Here’s how to pull it off (or on)
For men of a certain age, SS19’S fashion shows were noisily resonant with echoes of the 1990s – the refrain being that we should look back, only this time in nostalgia, not anger. Aside from a surfeit of neon and stonewash, this mood was largely down to the abundance of bucket hats on the runways.
“As is so often the case, we have Miuccia Prada to thank for this trend,” says Dean Cook, menswear buying manager at Browns. “What she kicked off with her AW18 show, others have carried into the new year. And with Fendi, Kent & Curwen and River Island all in on the act, you can expect it to be a key piece for the forthcoming season.”
Whether this strikes you as a good or a bad thing depends on which side of the headgear fence you sit on. Pulling on a beanie when the mercury drops might be as far as you’ll go, while others are happy to experiment with baker boy caps or raffish fedoras. Certainly, the bucket hat falls into this more flamboyant category and, as such, is a style that must be approached with caution.
“Liam Gallagher may have made it iconic, but as with all comebacks, you don’t want to look like a carbon copy of what came before,” advises Cook. “Wearing one with an oversized shirt might be too literal a reference to the 1990s. But a fitted knit and a long, smart coat will give it an entirely different direction.”
Think beyond the bucket hat’s stylistically dubious heyday and it can be a surprisingly versatile addition to your look. “Whether dressed down with luxe jog pants or up with tailoring, it will always have a more playful character than the ubiquitous watch cap,” says Cook. In short, it’s a case of being less “as you were” and more “as you want to be”.