The baseball cap is now considered a must-have accessory in the closet, but do you know what its origins are? Well, we can’t exactly credit just one person for making the baseball cap a thing, though most people would recognize Ehrhardt Koch, the founder of the New Era Cap Company, to be the inventor. Baseball caps also gained popularity due to the Brooklyn Excelsiors, later the Brooklyn Dodgers, which were the first team to wear such caps during a game in the 1860s. Fast forward to the 21st century, baseball caps have evolved into a number of styles. In this article, we look at the various baseball cap styles and the ways to wear each of them.
Created in 1934 by the New Era Cap Company, the fitted is the very first style of baseball cap being introduced to the world. It’s due to the fitted cap that we now enjoy a wide range of baseball cap styles. New Era produced these caps for many professional baseball games at a time when baseball was a hugely popular sport in the United States. There’s no doubt that baseball players can be attributed to the rise in demand for fitted caps. A fitted cap is easily recognizable due to its lack of fastening on the back.
Strapback is arguably the most common type of baseball cap at the moment. You’ve no doubt seen it countless times on social media, on your favorite celebrities, and on the runway. The strapback’s distinguishable features include a curved brim and fastening on the back. Usually, the cap would have a sports team logo stitched on the front. The reason is that the strapback can trace its roots to the Cleveland Indians baseball team, which members wore such style of caps for the first time in 1959 for a game in New York. Even though the strapback was initially meant for MLB players, it would eventually become the preferred cap choice for other sports teams as well.
As the name suggests, dad caps are probably the most worn style of caps for dads. Look through your dad’s closet and you might find a dad cap lying around. While dad caps may look similar to baseball caps at first glance, they’re actually different as dad caps feature a straighter brim and are not as firm as compared to baseball caps. In addition, dad caps are purposefully designed to look slightly worn out. Dad caps are gaining popularity today among the younger crowd due to their emergence in the fashion world, thanks to brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, and celebrities like Travis Scott and Rihanna.
Just like dad caps, trucker caps are worn by truckers when they’re on the road. Trucker caps can be easily recognized from a distance due to their mesh back, square-looking front, and slightly larger size as compared to baseball caps. Even though trucker caps are initially designed for truckers, they’re now worn for skateboarding, fitness, and even fashion purposes.