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 I-wish-you-may-get-it, carrying nineteen pounds more than her younger rival. Chapeau d'Espagne was retired from racing to become a broodmare at Lord George Bentinck's stud. In 1841 she produced a filly sired by Bay Middleton, named All Round My Hat, who won the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood in 1844. Her other progeny were less successful and she was sold to M. Myslowski in 1847. As a broodmare for Ritter Anton and Myslowski-Koropiec, Chapeau d'Espagne produced five colts and three fillies between 1850 and 1858. There is no breeding record for her after 1858. Chapeau d'Espagne Chapeau d'Espagne (1834 – circa 1858)