Hat box collapsible version for evenings, known as a gibus. They might also include storage space for items such as a hat brush. Designs became quite large during the Victorian era. A letter to "The Times" in 1844 warned travellers that Blackwall Railway's porters had charged a 1d to carry a hat box onto the train and a further 6d for transporting it to the London terminus, with the traveller himself paying only 4d for the journey. He recommended that travellers with luggage should go by steamboat. While traditionally hat boxes are circular or square in shape, some versions may follow the
Top hat standard covering is now fur plush or "melusine" as (the London hat merchant) Christys' calls it. A grey flat fur felt top hat is the popular alternative. It is common to see top hats in stiff wool felt and even soft wool though these are not considered on the same level as the silk or fur plush or grey felt varieties. The standard crown shape nowadays is the 'semi-bell crown'; 'full bell crowns' and 'stovepipe' shaped toppers are rarer. Because of the rarity of vintage silk hats, and the expense of modern top hats, the vintage/antique market is very lively,