Top Hat Gibus Hat Silk Collapsible Opera Hat Chapeau Claque M 7 1/8

This is a quality silk top hat in exceptional condition. These top hats, due to being collapsed and then put back in form, often have "popped" seams, creasing or wear.

This hat has no pronounced wear and has been well stored over the years. The interior is lined in silk and the top interior is gold stamped as described above with a graphic of Trafalgar Square.

The hat measures 22 1/4" around the opening, so this should fit a size 7 1/8.

The hat comes with a Lord Biltmore carrying case, although this case is not original to the hat - I bought this hat probably about 30 years ago and it came in this case.

Antoine Gibus was a Parisian hat maker. During the early 19th century, it was customary for a gentleman to wear a top hat when going out at night, but it was not permitted to wear one's hat inside of a club or bar, so one would tuck the hat under the arm, not a very comfortable proposition. Antoine Gibus solved this by introducing, in 1812, a collapsible hat that used a system of steel springs embedded into the sides of the hat. Because the hat could be collapsed or "topped" up, it could be brought anywhere, even the opera, hence the term "opera hat"

Label: Gibus. 27 Chandos Street, Trafalgar Square London.

This is a fabulous hat by the inventor of the collapsible top hat....rare collapsible in great shape....