The dad cap has been around for years, but itвЂ™s only recently that it got its name. Pick out the right one, team it with the right gear and it might just be possible to make this mesh-panelled pariah palatable once again. In fact, thanks to Von Dutch, Ashton Kutcher and, well, truckers, itвЂ™s quite the opposite. We know the trucker cap isnвЂ™t exactly a must-have in the hat world. Favoured for its rounded, low-profile shape, the five-panel was immortalised by skate stalwarts like Supreme and Danish minimalists Norse Projects, both of which made the style its headwear calling card, sparking thousands of imitations. With its roots in performance cycling, the five-panel cap became an unlikely skateboarding icon in the 1990s, before finding its spiritual home in the the streetwear world. If you were looking for a classic, this is it. Its name comes from the snap-closure to the back of the hat, but adjustable вЂstrapbackвЂ™ versions are also common. With its flat peak, six-panel construction and structured design, the snapback cap has become uniform for Major League heavy hitters, hip-hop heroes, hairy hipsters and countless others in between. So, when it comes to picking one out, stick to these tried and tested favourites to guarantee yourself a home run. However, this modern essentialвЂ™s wide range of variations mean itвЂ™s a famously tricky item to style. вЂњCombine this with the influence of hip-hop figures like Jay-Z and his much beloved New York Yankees cap, celebrities wearing them incognito, and even Gucci adding upscale versions to recent catwalk shows, and itвЂ™s plain to see why the baseball cap will always have a place as a staple menswear accessory.вЂќ вЂњ it plays to the wider trend of sportswear infusing contemporary wardrobes,вЂќ says Nick Paulson-Ellis, founder of online sportswear store The Sports Edit. The idea of only ever wearing one on the field was now вЂ“ pun fully intended вЂ“ old hat. Suddenly, the piqued interest in the peaked accessory saw it become a part of the everyday manвЂ™s casual uniform. The explosion of television sports in the 20th century brought the baseball cap into peopleвЂ™s homes and onto their heads. But it was another half a century before the concept fully took off.ДЄfter 1900, the baseball cap became an important means by which to identify teams, as well as offering the practical benefit of keeping the sun out of playersвЂ™ peepers while pitching and hitting their way around the diamond. That team was the Brooklyn Excelsiors and the year was 1860.

Unless youвЂ™re completely oblivious, it probably wonвЂ™t come as much of a surprise to learn that the baseball cap was first brought into existence by a baseball team.

Backwards baseball cap