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Tweed has been produced in the north of Ireland, primarily in Donegal and Tyrone for many generations. Originally a cottage industry with entire families involved in spinning, dyeing and weaving local wool.  When tweed making later moved away from homes and into mills it became more industrial, but the tweed was still hand-loomed.

The Irish flat cap is a classic flat cap (also called a newsboy cap, paddy cap, cabbie-hat…the list goes on) is a light, floppy cap, traditionally they are tweed hats or made of lightly spun wool. Variations of the flat-cap date back centuries, when wool was the backbone of the English economy. It arrived in its present form (and variations thereof) in the early 1800s. Because flat-caps were cheap, comfortable and durable, they were frequently worn by poorer, working-class people looking for an affordable and effective head-covering to keep their heads warm during outdoor work in cold weather. 

The Irish flat cap style was not only popular in Ireland and Britain, but across Europe and North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among both boys and adult men. As the name suggests, it is now associated with newspaper boys. This gives rise to a misunderstanding. It is true that many newspaper boys and other working boys wore flat caps along with other styles. This style was not, however, worn only by boys. Flat caps were very common for North American and European men and boys of all classes during the early 20th century and were almost universal during the 1910s-20s, particularly among the working 'lower' classes.

Irish tweed hats are back with a vengeance, and this time, they’re here to stay! The sudden re-emergence of the cap’s popularity among men across the globe owes much to celebrities who don the cap with great regularity. The likes of David Beckham, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper and Leanardo DiCaprio are but a few of those in the limelight who share an appreciation for the traditional irish flat cap, and they are all partly responsible for its latest re-birth!

It’s not uncommon for garments to fall in and out of fashion over time, however the flat cap's reinvention of itself is something to behold. Affectionately named by those who wear them, dependent upon your location on the globe as ‘paddy caps’, ‘scally caps’, ‘cabbie hats’ and ‘hanna hats’, they have been through considerable transformation since their inception dating back to the 14^th century. 

A traditional Irish hat is a rounded wool cap with a stiff brim at the front. Modern flat caps are generally cotton, leather or tweed hats. The origins of the flat cap lie with 14th century Ireland yet there are some sources that claim the cap was worn before that in some parts of Itlay and the UK.

We've all tried and tested hats, only to realise that they don't actually work with our face shape. Matching the appropriate hat with one's head can be difficult. For those who are fortunate enough to have an oval or somewhat triangular face, almost any hat will do the trick...for the rest of us, pay close attention as we answer the question 'what cap shape works for me?'