You could see the trend at dance parties and electronic music festivals from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to Canada and across the pond. As recently as 2000, Madison, Wis., hosted a Dr. Seuss-themed rave that was no doubt hopping with the tops.

The hats-as-rave-rage got mentions everywhere, from The Washington Post to Newsweek to Women's Wear Daily. But when asked, clubland aficionados couldn't quite say why, nor could they specify where the trend started (though L.A. and the UK are the usual suspects).

Was it the underground embracing its own anti-ballcap? Did the latter-day revelers relate to the feline's audacious attitude? Or, maybe wearing the sky-high hats was a convenient way of making sure your clique could find you in a crowd. Dr. Seuss Enterprises Vice President Susan Brandt explained that the company is aware of the trend but doesn't promote or endorse it, focusing instead on the author's literary legacy.

According to Jeff Marshall, a national spokesman for Hot Topic, a counterculture mall chain which once stocked the hats, the phenomenon basically boiled down to the younger crowd's fondness for "dressing extravagantly in unique get-ups and trying to look as outrageous as possible." Never mind that the hats' popularity made them about as unique as an animal-shaped backpack; every movement's got to have its marker.

— Leigh-Ann Jackson