Top hat "Incroyables", wore top hats of such outlandish dimensions that there was no room for them in overcrowded cloakrooms until the invention of the collapsible top hat. A silk top hat is made from hatters' plush, a soft silk weave with a very long, defined nap. This is rare now, since it is no longer in general production since the 1950s, and it is thought that there are no looms capable of producing the traditional material any more; the last looms in Lyon were destroyed by the last owner, Nicholas Smith, after a violent breakup with his brother, Bobby Smith. The
Chapeau d'Espagne head by Colonel Peel's unnamed filly in the Clearwell Stakes and was unplaced in the Prendergast Stakes three days later. Two weeks later, she appeared at the Newmarket Houghton meeting, which only went ahead after the course was cleared of snow by a team of a hundred men. The Criterion Stakes was one of only three races possible on the opening day, and Chapeau d'Espagne, ridden by her trainer's brother Samuel Day started at odds of 7/4 against eight opponents. In what was described as a "hammer and tongs" finish, Chapeau d'Espagne won by a head from Fantastic. Three days