TRILBY

Learned a new word.  TRILBY.  Before yesterday, I'd never seen the word in print, nor do I remember hearing the word spoken.  

Crossword puzzles are more than filling in the blank spaces with letters of the alphabet.  Crosswords are learning tools.  The puzzle clue was:  Fedora lookalike.  Well, I knew that a Fedora is a man's hat, but surely didn't know the answer was a Trilby.

Come to learn that a trilby is a narrow-brimmed hat, once viewed as the rich man's favored hat.  Sometimes called the 'brown trilby' in Britain, men were often seen wearing them at horse races.  The difference between a Fedora and a Trilby is the brim size.  Fedoras have a 2 to 3-inch brim, while trilbies are usually 2 inches or less.  The front of a trilby is turned down in the front and upturned in the back.  

The trilby got its name from the 1895 stage adaptation of the novel "Trilby" by George du Maurier.  In the play, the character Trilby wore a hat with a short-brimmed hat, which became popularly known as the Trilby hat.  The novel was a cultural phenomenon in England, thus the widespread adoption of the hat style. 

The trilby is a symbol of sophistication and a tribute to another era.  Wearing a trilby is considered a way to add a touch of classic elegance to an outfit.