A rare sighting on eBay was this stunning example of the Gurkha Hat. It seem like a perfect hat for the Banana Republic Travel and Safari Company to sell (especially with all the Gurkha Shorts they sold!) but surprisingly, this hat was only featured once, in the 1983 Holiday catalog.
It was made in England and has the same look with the puggaree band as their Australian made Safari Hat, but it’s wool, not fur felt, and honestly feels flimsy compared to other hats they made.
Robyn's fascination with Banana Republic began in 1984 when her Alaskan adventurer father began buying the clothing and giving her the catalogs. She loved the clothes and as an artist she was drawn to the illustrations. She went on to study illustration at art college in BR's hometown of San Francisco and worked for years as a background artist for animation. She is now based in Oakland, CA as a graphic designer and illustrator with Secret Fan Base . She's been collecting and archiving at Abandoned Republic since 2011. 
Newly Updated! 1985-1988 Available.
Greetings!
I bought one of these in early 1984 from the South Coast Plaza store in Costa Mesa California. I had seen it in the catalog, and was super excited to see it, as I preferred the XIV Army look from WWII Burma, over the Aussie hats that had become so popular.
I still have my Gurkha, (misnamed like so many BR items) even though it is in quite a sorry state currently. We’ve been all around the world, from Europe, to Australia, Japan (twice!), Thailand, and on many adventures in the US.
Thanks for posting this catalog page, along with these great photos.
I recently went about restoring some of my gear, but I think leaving my old pal with it’s well worn patina actually tells its story better.
Here’s an IWM link to the XIV Slouch Hat, which I feel is the actual name: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30106659