So, this is a post I never expected to be writing.
It’s a little embarrassing, talking about the dumb TV shows I watch. Stuff that I only watch when nobody else is around. I’d love for you guys to think of me as someone with impeccable taste, who only takes in thoughtful feminist TV shows and interesting foreign indie films. (Then I remember I wrote about the Bachelor last season, so I guess the “I watch only good TV” ship has sailed.)
Anyway, Riverdale has shown up on my Netflix, and instead of re-watching Parks and Rec for the umpteenth time, I thought I’d give it a go.
It’s… not good. But dang, if it isn’t compelling.
So far (and I’m only 2 episodes in, mind you), there’s murder, catty cheerleaders, a love triangle, a secret affair, and gorgeous 20-something actors pretending to bee teenagers.
It’s a lot.
Now, I never read Archie Comics growing up, so I could be wrong. Maybe all this stuff is in the comic books. But, my impression is that someone thought, “Hey, people liked Archie Comics back in the day. But, these days everyone wants a dark and gritty reboot. I know! A dark and gritty Archie reboot! It can’t fail! It’ll be ratings gold!”
Like I said, it’s not “good” TV, but it’s certainly entertaining.
Anyway, the reason I’ve brought it up here is that Jughead wears a knit cap!
I always thought his hat in the comics was a little weird (or at least what I saw of it when I was a kid while waiting in line to buy groceries with my mom) . Was it a crown? Was it a hat? Why did he wear it? Why didn’t his friends call him out on wearing a weird crown/hat? Did they call him out on it, but he ignored their advice and kept wearing it? Where did the design come from in the first place? I had a lot of questions as a kid.
Anyway, the costume director for the show did a good job making a goofy-looking crown hat look kind of cool. (I even kind of want one now.)
And, it looks like a bunch of knitters seem to have had the same thought! (If you search on Ravelry for “Jughead” almost a dozen patterns show up.)
There are hats with slightly more subtle crowns:
Jughead hat 7 points by Karen Kopper
There are hats knit in worsted wool:
Jughead’s Hat by Alecia Soloveoff
There are even crocheted hats:
Jughead Hat Crochet Pattern by Roxie McCara
Would you wear a Jughead hat?
But, for real though, why is this a hat? Do you guys know where the design comes from? I want to know, but I don’t really want to do any research.
On the Needles 
Don’t feel bad, I watched half of the season and then got caught up in other shows but did see the finale. It isn’t half bad of a show. But the hat I thought was cute and a better way to interpret the original. So are you going to make one for yourself?
Right? It’s super cute! I’d totally wear it, if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s from Riverdale… I don’t know if I want to broadcast that I watch the show. :p
So the hat is actually called a whoopee cap, and you can find the history of it with a quick google search. Juggie’s friends do occasionally call him out on the weird hat, but he takes it in stride and continues wearing the hat, for the same reasons the 11th Doctor continues wearing a bowtie and a fez.
As another commenter said, the hat is originally a “whoopee cap”, a felt hat that kids, delinguents and mechanics crafted from worn out felt fedoras in the 1940s, when the comics started. It was briefly in style, even, among younger folk. Those hats bore a mild to large resemblance to a crown, depending on the specific way it was cut. From his first appearance already, Jughead’s take resembled a crown very closely, but you could still tell it’s a hat. Over time it morphed in the comics to looking more like a crown, with no indication of being a cut up hat.
I’ve personally adopted his signature style of headwear – and I’m not talking about the beanie. Crown Hat NYC makes perfect looking replicas of his comic hat, and I have a gray one. The people making the show found it too weird – and, for a gritty show like Riverdale, I figure it really is – so they gave him the knit beanie, styled similarly (thought they did try giving him a whoopee cap at first, but it looked too silly on Cole).
I guess he just wears it because it’s unique, recognizable, wonderfully weird and is basically his trademark thing. And he just finds it cool, unlike most people in-universe or out. Kinda similar to the 11th Doctor’s fez and bowtie thing, as mentioned.