A top hat or top-hat (sometimes also known by the nickname "topper") is a kind of tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn by men throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, now usually worn only with morning dress or evening dress. The first top hat was made by John Hetherington in 1797; the hats became popular in the 1820s. Men commonly wore top hats for business, social events, and pleasure.