FashBlog.com

By Simon Woodhouse

Few items of clothing seem to have as much universal appeal as the baseball cap. Weekend Dad wears one when he's taking the kids on their annual trip to the zoo. Sporty Mum wears one when she's out power walking with her friends. Boy Racers wear them when they're racing other boys. Rappers, truckers, golfers - they all wear baseball caps. But where did it all begin?

The first official baseball team to start wearing a uniform were the New York Knickerbockers, back in 1849. But they didn't wear caps as we know them today; instead they covered their heads with straw hats. It wasn't until a few years later they switched to the sort of headgear we'd recognise as a cap, i.e. something with a crown and a visor (called a bill back then). In 1903 Spalding released a hat with a stitched visor, and a crown made up of triangular panels, a cap very reminiscent of what's on millions of heads all over the world today. Then in the 1940s latex rubber was used to stiffen the visor, and hey-presto, the modern baseball cap came into being.

Away from the sports field, baseball caps were primarily seen as the domain of diehard fans who wanted to display their team loyalty, and thus show the rest of the world which sporting tribe they belonged to. Then in the late 80s rappers started to wear baseball caps, and what had been primarily sportswear took on a whole new life.

Since the end of the 1950s, when modern youth culture first started to take hold, young rebels have wanted something to make them look cool by association. The classic black leather biker's jacket did it for a while, then it was long hair, then it was spikey hair (preferably multi-coloured), then it was the turn of the baseball cap. Even in the era of bling, how you wear your baseball cap says a lot about you. Most of us just put the thing on in such away as to keep the sun out of our eyes, but that's not good enough if you're going for maximum-cool. Visor to the back is sort of old school, and ok as a temporary pose, or if there's a bandana underneath. Visor inline with either shoulder is also the mark of someone who's trying a bit too hard. Visor slightly off centre but also tilted at an angle, seems to be the weapon of choice for the ultra-cool of today. Or better still - off centre, at an angle, but also worn high off the top of the head and perching on a bandana.

If you want to be cool and a bit sinister too, then the baseball cap/hoodie combo is the thing for you. This look, however, can lead to the wearer being labelled unfit to be a part of normal society. Point in case being the Blue Water Shopping Centre just outside of London, where in May 2005 entry was refused to anyone wearing the baseball cap/hoodie combination. Another blow to the caps image (or boost to its street kudos depending on how you look at it) came when Burberry, traditionally makers of up-market clothing, announced they were going to stop making chequered baseball caps, as the design had become too closely associated with violent youth culture in the UK. You can still get chequered Burberry caps, but they're usually fakes.

But as a clothing icon, the baseball cap is far stronger than any attempt to marginalize it. And it's going hi-tech too. A Finnish company has several patents pending for a baseball cap with white LEDs built into the visor. These little lights are powerful enough to act as a short-range torch, making this a product bound to thrill any gadget mad dad. If you want something a little more pricey, how about the most expensive baseball cap ever made. Zerino International, a headwear company based in San Diego, has the Elita, a baseball cap with a 22 karat gold button on top and a price tag of $2000. But if you don't want to wear this cap, that's ok, it comes in a mahogany display case and so can also double as an unusual coffee table ornament.

So whether you're Bill Clinton jogging in your Air Force One cap, Tiger Woods being paid b-zillions for sporting a Nike model, or just a weary trucker trying to keep the sun out your eyes, the baseball cap is for you. And like most other fashion accessories, its popularity may ebb and flow, but I'm sure it'll always be with us in one form or another.