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
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