Sailor or Boater Hats

This type of hat is commonly but not necessarily made from straw. It might be the hat most often associated with the Gibson Girl, even moreso than the Merry Widow. In fact, it was considered such an American hat that a series of 1902 illustrations about "If London Were Like New York" portrayed the inhabitants of England's capital donning this style of headwear.

Boater hats are still considered good all-around hats: dressy enough for formalwear but casual enough for everyday; and probably the most dressy of all straw hats. Nowadays they are considered to be men's hats, but at the turn of the 19th century they were unisex. Many of C. D. Gibson's famous pictures showed the girls wearing this style.