Opera hat which means hat, and "claque", which means "tap" or "click". The "chapeau claque" is thus a hat that folds with a click, and unfolds likewise. In English the hat model is usually referred to as a "collapsible top-hat", "gibus" or more often "opera hat"- The construction may originally have been inspired by an historical hat model called "chapeau bras" ("arm hat"), made as bicorne or tricorne to be carried folded under the arm On May 5, 1812, a London hatter called Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for "an elastic round hat" supported by ribs and springs. His patent was
Top Hat The songs were written by Irving Berlin. "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" and "Cheek to Cheek" have become American song classics. It has been nostalgically referred to — particularly its "Cheek to Cheek" segment — in many films, including "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985) and "The Green Mile" (1999). "Top Hat" was the most successful picture of Astaire and Rogers' partnership (and Astaire's second most successful picture after "Easter Parade"), achieving second place in worldwide box-office receipts for 1935. While some dance critics maintain that "Swing Time" contained a finer set of dances, "Top Hat" remains, to this