Joseph and sushibagel: No one is disputing the fact that we always dressed differently than the goyim
Sam seems to not accept this fact.
were really copied from Goyim. Making a slight change doesn’t negate that fact… If you google pictures of Russian Noblemen and see their streimel like hats and then find pictures of streimels from the same era, you’ll find any difference, if there is one at all, to be negligible.
Making a change isn’t slight and is notable. To take your example, the Russian noblemen’s headgear wasn’t closely similar to the common shtreimal and in pictures of the nobleman you will not find them wearing something on their head that could be mistaken for a shtreimel.