Opera hat described as: Some sources have taken this to describe an early folding top hat, although it is not explicitly stated whether Dollman's design was specifically for male or female headgear. Dollman's patent expired in 1825. Operating from Poissy, Paris, France, around 1840, Antoine Gibus's design for a spring-loaded collapsible top-hat proved so popular that hats made to it became known as "gibus". They were also often called "opera hats" due to the common practice of storing them in their flattened state under one's seat at the opera, though the term can also refer to any tall formal men's hat. The
Eugénie hat popular in the 1850s and 1860s, when it was also known as the empress hat. It was characterised by its forward tilt and featured feathers and ribbons. Typically it was made of velvet or felt. Mary Brooks Picken noted that the hat was generally small in its original incarnation, often with the brim turned up on one or both sides, with what were generally ostrich feathers as a trim. It would normally be tilted towards the right. Originally, the hat was worn for horseriding and travelling. The design began in Paris but became known in Britain. It was described in