Deerstalker

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the train known as The Deerstalker, see Caledonian Sleeper. For the stalking of deer, see deer stalking.

A deerstalker

A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes,[1] it has become stereotypical headgear for a detective, especially in comical drawings or cartoons along with farcical plays and films.[2]

Scottish deer stalker with a deerstalker cap glassing the surroundings with a monocular

Construction

According to Sean M. Wright, writer and member of

tweed, although deerstalkers made of suede, white cotton duck, and even denim are not unknown. "I even made one for the late Los Angeles attorney Robert Landon Kirste," said Sean, "who asked me to make a deerstalker of black velvet for formal occasions. When I asked if he wanted white ribbon to tie the earflaps, he demurred. 'I don't want to stand out,' he explained.”[citation needed
]

The cap is made of six (or eight) triangular panels with rounded sides, which are sewn together. If the sides of the panels are cut in a way giving them slightly rounded shoulders midway, the crown will become more squared and flatter rather than hemispherical. The cap may be deep or shallow, barely touching the tops of the ears, according to the whim of the hatter. Either way, it is usually lined with an inner cap of satin, polished cotton, or similar lining fabrics. Occasionally, one can find a deerstalker with a lightly quilted satin lining.

The deerstalker's defining feature is a pair of semicircular

cardboard, or layers of heavy canvas. For a brief period during the 1970s, some deerstalkers were manufactured with bills stiffened by the steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood-fiber construct called Masonite
. The Masonite tended to crack and break into segments, and over time, was also apt to crumble at the corners.

Along with its visors, a deerstalker often, though not essentially, has a pair of unstiffened cloth earflaps attached to either side of the cap. These are tied together by grosgrain ribbons or by laces or, very occasionally, held together by snaps or a button. The earflaps, tied under the chin, provide protection in cold weather and high winds. They are otherwise tied together above the crown to keep them out of the way.

Deerstalkers may be made of solid-coloured material, but they are most often found with

milliners originally constructed[when?
] this type of cap.

Variations

The "sportsman's deerstalker" is made with a

brim
around the cap, narrow at the sides, but which may be elongated in front or back, omitting the separate double bills. The earflaps are also eliminated. Some types of this cap sport a hatband fashioned from the same material around the crown. The "flapless" version can be easily folded for convenient carrying.

The variants of the "Irish" style deerstalker are minor but significant. The cap is fronted with a cloth panel instead of the usual seam. The earflaps, wide and triangular in the standard version, are narrow with straight sides. The usual semicircular visors may be replaced by short, rectangular bills. George C. Scott wore this type of deerstalker as a jurist who imagines himself to be Sherlock Holmes in the 1971 film They Might be Giants.

Also, a reversible deerstalker is made that looks like the standard, double-billed model, but it can be turned inside out, revealing an entirely different fabric or even suede, with the contrasting earflaps of the original fabric turned backward and tied together. Other caps with earflaps, e.g. "trapper" and "ushanka", are not considered deerstalkers, as they lack fore and aft symmetrical bills, the defining feature of a deerstalker hat.

Alternative names

The deerstalker cap is also known as a "fore-and-aft" cap in reference to its front and rear bills. This headgear is also called a "tweed helmet", due to its resemblance in design to the

balaclava helmet worn by officers in the British army during the Crimean War. It has no connection to the pith helmet
.

Because the detective is often depicted wearing a deerstalker in books and theatrical and television films, some people call the cap a "Sherlock".

Sherlock Holmes

calabash pipe and a magnifying glass, paraphernalia typically associated with Sherlock Holmes

The most famous wearer of a deerstalker is the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, who is popularly depicted as favouring this style of cap.[3] Holmes is never explicitly described as wearing a deerstalker by name in Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, although in "The Adventure of Silver Blaze", the narrator, Dr. Watson, describes him as wearing "his ear-flapped travelling cap",[4] and in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", as wearing a "close-fitting cloth cap".[5] As the deerstalker is the most typical cap of the period matching both descriptions, not surprisingly, the original illustrations for the stories by Sidney Paget (who favored a deerstalker himself) in the United Kingdom, and Frederic Dorr Steele in the United States, along with other illustrators of the period, depicted Holmes as a "deerstalker man", which then became the popular perception of him.

Later, less-informed depictions of Holmes have him wearing this cap in the city, failing to take into account the fact that the fashion-conscious Holmes would be loath to commit such a sartorial faux pas; the deerstalker is traditionally a rural outdoorsman's cap.

The Musgrave Ritual", respectively.[8]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deerstalkers (headgear).
Look up deerstalker hat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  1. ^ Osborn, Michael (25 December 2009). "Sherlock Holmes ditches his deerstalker". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  2. ^ Rich, Sarah C. (26 July 2012). "The Deerstalker: Where Sherlock Holmes' Popular Image Came From". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  3. ^ Jensen, Louise (10 February 2014). "Representations Of Sherlock Holmes" (PDF). Representations of Sherlock Holmes Master's Thesis. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Adventure 1: "Silver Blaze" | The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Lit2Go ETC". etc.usf.edu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Adventure 4: "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Lit2Go ETC". etc.usf.edu. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  6. ^ "The International Exhibition Of Sherlock Holmes - Background Information" (PDF). 6 March 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  7. ISBN 978-0-88924-246-3
  8. ^ The First & Second Sherlock Holmes Illustrated Omnibus, edited by John Murray and Jonathan Cape
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