Deerstalker

Did You Know?

• Some people call the cap a 'Sherlock' due to its association with the detective.
• George C. Scott wore an Irish-style deerstalker as a jurist who imagines himself to be Sherlock Holmes in the 1971 film They Might be Giants.

Construction

The deerstalker is most often made of cloth, such as light or heavy wool tweed, though suede, white cotton duck, fur, or denim are also used. It consists of six or eight triangular panels with rounded sides sewn together; if the panel sides have slightly rounded shoulders midway, the crown becomes more squared and flatter rather than hemispherical. The cap may be deep or shallow, barely reaching the tops of the ears, and is usually lined with satin, polished cotton, or similar lining fabrics, occasionally with a lightly quilted satin lining.

Its defining feature is a pair of semicircular bills or visors worn in front and rear, providing sun protection for the face and neck. These bills are typically stiffened with pasteboard, cardboard, or layers of heavy canvas; during the 1970s, some were made with Masonite, which tended to crack, break, and crumble at the corners. The deerstalker often has unstiffened cloth earflaps attached to either side, tied together by grosgrain ribbons, laces, or occasionally snaps or a button. The earflaps, tied under the chin, offer cold-weather protection, or are tied above the crown when not in use.

Variations

The sportsman's deerstalker has a brim around the cap, narrow at the sides, which may be elongated in front or back, omitting the separate double bills and earflaps; some types have a hatband of the same material around the crown, and the flapless version folds easily for carrying. A reversible deerstalker can be turned inside out to reveal a different fabric or suede, with the original earflaps turned backward and tied. Caps with earflaps but lacking fore-and-aft symmetrical bills, such as trapper and ushanka hats, are not considered deerstalkers.

Sherlock Holmes

The most famous wearer of a deerstalker is the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, popularly depicted favoring this cap. Arthur Conan Doyle never explicitly names the deerstalker in his stories, but Watson describes Holmes wearing 'his ear-flapped travelling cap' in 'The Adventure of Silver Blaze' and a 'close-fitting cloth cap' in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'. Original illustrators Sidney Paget in the United Kingdom and Frederic Dorr Steele in the United States, along with other period illustrators, depicted Holmes in a deerstalker, establishing the popular perception.