Deerstalker

Deerstalker
A deerstalker (right) along with typically associated paraphernalia of Sherlock Holmes

A deerstalker is a type of hat that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the hat's popular association with Sherlock Holmes, it is also a stereotypical hat of a detective.

Construction

The deerstalker's main feature is a pair of fore and aft brims and two flexible side flaps. The dual brims provide sun protection for the face and neck of the wearer. The side flaps can be worn down or tied under the chin to protect the ears in cold weather and high winds, or tied up above the crown to keep them out of the way when not in use. The checkered pattern in the twill fabric also serves as camouflage, and modern hunting clothes, including deerstalkers, are often made with either a red-and-black or an orange-and-black check pattern or tweed for both this purpose and hunter safety.

Sherlock Holmes

The most famous wearer of this kind of hat is the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, who is popularly depicted favouring this style of hat. Holmes is never actually described as wearing a deerstalker by name in Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, but in The Adventure Of Silver Blaze, the narrator, Doctor Watson, describes him as wearing "his ear-flapped travelling cap", and in The Boscombe Valley Mystery, as wearing a "close-fitting cloth cap". As the deerstalker is the only hat of the period matching both descriptions, it is not surprising that the original illustrations for the stories by Sidney Paget, Frederic Dorr Steele, and others depicted Holmes as a "deerstalker man", which then became the popular perception of him.

Later uninformed depictions of Holmes that depict him wearing this hat in the city fail to take into account that the fashion-conscious Holmes would never commit such a sartorial faux pas; the deerstalker is traditionally a rural outdoorsman's cap, not the appropriate headgear for the properly dressed urban gentleman. Indeed, Paget and the other contemporaneous illustrators who portrayed Holmes as wearing a deerstalker always placed him in the proper setting for such attire, traveling cross-country or operating in a rural outdoor setting.[1] The character is nevertheless frequently depicted wearing the hat regardless of the setting when referenced in modern works such as Batman: The Brave and the Bold

References

  1. ^ Christopher Redmond (1993), A Sherlock Holmes Handbook, p. 61, ISBN 9780889242463, http://books.google.com/?id=ysMzTLYQI28C 

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Deerstalker — Deer stalk er, n. 1. One who practices deerstalking. [1913 Webster] 2. A close fitting cap, usually woolen, such as is worn in deerstalking, having a low crown and visors both in front and back, and having earflaps which are usually worn tied… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • deerstalker — ► NOUN ▪ a soft cloth cap, originally worn for hunting, with peaks in front and behind and ear flaps which can be tied together over the top …   English terms dictionary

  • deerstalker — [dir′stôk΄ər] n. 1. a hunter who stalks deer 2. a hunter s cap with a visor in front and in back …   English World dictionary

  • Deerstalker — Der Deerstalker Hut ist ein britischer karierter Hut mit Sichtschutz nach vorn und Krempe nach hinten, der in ländlichen Gegenden bei der Jagd getragen wurde. Um den Kragen des Trägers vor dem in Großbritannien häufigen Regen und vor Tropfwasser… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • deerstalker — noun Date: 1870 a close fitting hat with a visor at the front and the back and with earflaps that may be worn up or down called also deerstalker cap, deerstalker hat …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Deerstalker — Chapeau, loupe et pipe de Sherlock Holmes Un deerstalker (littéralement « traqueur de daims ») est un chapeau anglais qui se porte à la campagne. Description Il présente une certaine tendance mimétique avec la forêt automnale et a un… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • deerstalker — UK [ˈdɪə(r)ˌstɔːkə(r)] / US [ˈdɪrˌstɔkər] noun [countable] Word forms deerstalker : singular deerstalker plural deerstalkers a hat with pieces that cover your ears • Cultural note: This type of hat was famously worn by Sherlock Holmes, the… …   English dictionary

  • deerstalker — [[t]dɪ͟ə(r)stɔːkə(r)[/t]] deerstalkers N COUNT A deerstalker is an old fashioned hat with parts at the sides which can be folded down to cover the ears. Deerstalkers are usually worn by men …   English dictionary

  • deerstalker cap — Deerstalker Deer stalk er, n. 1. One who practices deerstalking. [1913 Webster] 2. A close fitting cap, usually woolen, such as is worn in deerstalking, having a low crown and visors both in front and back, and having earflaps which are usually… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • deerstalker hat — Deerstalker Deer stalk er, n. 1. One who practices deerstalking. [1913 Webster] 2. A close fitting cap, usually woolen, such as is worn in deerstalking, having a low crown and visors both in front and back, and having earflaps which are usually… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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