Hat

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A hat is a kind of headgear, an item of clothing which is worn on the head for protection or visual effect or for the retention of heat in order to prevent hypothermia. Hats in a narrower sense are differentiated from caps by being more elaborate; hats have a high crown, a brim, or both and are larger than caps. A hat may be either placed on the head or, in the case of some women's hats, secured with hat-pins (which are pushed through the hat and the hair). Many designs of hats are intended only for men or for women, while other hats are fashionable for both sexes. Purveyors of men's hats are called hatters and purveyors of ladies' hats are called milliners.

Contents 1 Hat sizes 2 Hat shapes 3 Parts of a hat 4 Maintenance 5 Varieties 6 External links

[edit] Hat sizes

A hat is generally made to a hat size. Less expensive hats will be a named size such as small, medium, large, and extra large. Such hats with brims have a tendency to blow away, spoiling any dignified effect if not losing the hat entirely! Soldiers carefully shrink their service berets to their head.

Finer hats have a numerical size and may also be carefully made or moulded to the shape of the owner's head.

Metric hat sizes are simply the distance around the person's head measured in centimetres, usually rounded up to the next centimetre if the measurement falls between the centimetre marks.

Numerical hat sizes are the average diameter of the head, determined by measuring the circumference of a person's head about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) above the ears and dividing by pi. In the UK, an equivalent hat size is an eighth inch smaller than in the US, to fit more closely. Some hats will stretch a size or two, but this can not be depended on for sizing purposes unless previous experience with the model of hat in question indicates it will stretch.

[edit] Hat shapes

The hat is formed to a specific shape. This is just as important as the size, as heads vary in length, width, and lumps. Some people have round heads, other elongated ovals. The shape can only truly be measured using specialised tools such as a conformateur. Shapes can include:

• Round oval
• Regular oval
• Long oval
• Square

[edit] Parts of a hat

• Crown - the portion of a hat covering the top of the head.
• Brim - a projection of stiff material from the bottom of the hat's crown horizontally all around the circumference of the hat
• Peak - a stiff projection at the front, to shade or shield the eyes from sun and rain
• Sweatband - touches the wearer's head,inside the bottom of the hat. The sweatband may be adjustable with a cord at the top.
• Hatband - a leather strip, ribbon, or string at the intersection of the crown and brim, to hold the hat's size and for decoration.

[edit] Maintenance

As with any other form of clothing, hats inevitably get dirty, but their prominence requires particular care. Soft cotton or canvas hats can be cleaned like any other clothing. Leather must be cleaned with special leather cleaning compounds. Straw hats can be cleaned with a mild detergent and water. Felt hats can be cleaned with a soft hat brush for dust, a damp towel for dirt, or gentle use of very fine sandpaper for persistent stains. The shape may be maintained by steaming

[edit] Varieties

Main Category: Category:Hats

• Akubra Australian hat with similarities to fedoras and cowboy hats
• Bearskin The tall, fur, full dress uniform hat of the Brigade of Guards designed to protect the footguards against sword-cuts, commonly seen at Buckingham Palace
• Boater: Flat-brimmed and flat-topped straw hat, formally worn by seamen, and now mostly at summer regattas or garden parties, often with a ribbon in club or college colours
• Bowler: The bowler hat is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown created in 1850 by Lock's of St James's, the hatters to Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, for his servants. In the United States, this hat is also known as a derby hat
• Bucket hat: A soft cotton hat with a wide and downwards sloping brim
• Busby: A small fur military hat, not to be confused with the taller bearskin
• Cowboy: Though thought of as a consistent style, cowboy hats are simply highly rugged and utilitarian hats. Made of felt or straw, they feature large brims (as wide as four inches or more) to protect against rain and sun and some are even designed to hold water in the crown. Common styles include a safari style brim (with the brim turned down in the front and back) or a brim sharply curved up on either side. The last style has the effect of lowering the front of the brim to better protect the wearers' eyes from the sun.
• Derby: See Bowler
• Deerstalker: warm close-fitting tweed cap designed for shooting in the wet and windy Scottish climate, with brims in front and behind, and ear flaps which can be tied together either over the crown or under the chin; forever, but anachronistically, associated with Sherlock Holmes.
• Fez: Red felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone
• Gatsby: A New York hat popular after the turn of the century; it has eight quarter panels.
• Homburg: German designed hat
• Mortarboard: Educational hat worn usually to graduation
• Porkpie: Circular shaped blocked inner tip
• Panama: Straw hat made in Ecuador
• Propeller cap:
• Santa Hat: A red hat with white fur traditionally associated with Christmas
• Skull cap: A small close-fitting cap, generally worn in the West to comply with Jewish religious law.
• Slouch: Generic term covering wide-brimmed felt-crowned hats like those worn by the military and ranchers
• Snood: A close-fitting hood worn over the back of the head
• Tea Hat: A wide brimmed ladies' hat, typically decorated with ribbons and/or flowers
• Top hat: A tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn by men throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, now usually worn only with morning dress or evening dress
• Trilby Hat
• Tricorn:
• Tudor bonnet:
• Toque: A Canadian hat worn in winter. It is usually knitted of wool.
• Ushanka: Russian fur hat with fold down ear flaps

[edit] External links

• The Council of Textile & Fashion Industries of Australia
• Different Sizing Schemes
• Hats UK has a Hat Bible and other resources.
• Hat and head sizing
• The History of Felt Hats and Hat Making
• Early (1995) web hat article - pre-wiki, pre-blog, etc.
• The History of Hats from antiquity to the 20th centuryay:Q'aspa

pdc:Hut de:Hut es:Sombrero eo:Ĉapelo fa:کلاه fr:Chapeau id:Topi it:Chapeau he:כובע nl:Hoed oc:Capèl pl:Kapelusz pt:Chapéu qu:K'umpu ru:Шляпа simple:Hat fi:Hattu sv:Hatt tr:Şapka