A black top hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn prior to and including the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now, it is usually worn only with morning dress or white tie, as servants' or door attendants’ livery, or as a specific rock culture fashion statement.
Top hats started to take over at the end of the 18th century. Within twenty years, black top hats had become popular with all social classes, with even workers wearing them. At that time those worn by members of the upper classes were usually made of felted beaver fur, while those worn by working men were made of rabbit fur; the generic name "stuff hat" was applied to hats made from fur.