The Checkered Cap

Pattie Boyd photographed in a black and white checkered pattern Cap in a 1962 pose taken by her then boyfriend, Eric Swayne. A few years later John Lennon, who had made the classic Cap his personal trademark, wears a very similar version as the one modelled by Pattie Boyd!

The “John Lennon Cap”, first popularized in pop culture by Bob Dylan in 1962, is associated with the traditional Greek fisherman’s cap and also called a Newsboy Cap (among numerous other “People’s caps” type names - symbolic of the “working class hero”). John Lennon was most famous for his black leather cap - though he also wore several variations in color and fabric.

The fashionable cap had unisex appeal in the early to mid sixties. John bought his wife Cynthia a white fur beret in Paris on their belated honeymoon in September 1963 which she wore to America with John (he in his black leather cap) and the Beatles in February 1964. Paul’s girlfriend, actress Jane Asher, also looked trendy in her black cap at photo shoots in 1964. Diana Rigg and Princess Anne were also fans. Folk singer Donovan favored the denim cap. George Harrison and Ringo Starr wore it too.

Photo of Pattie from Images of Pattie Boyd at the National Portrait Gallery, London, by Eric Swayne. Photo collage from the Pattie Boyd’s Sixties Style group at Yahoo!