Hats Head Coverings of Some

Hats

Head coverings of some sort have been a part of universal human fashion. "From ancient Egypt to Ascot, Versailles to the White House lawn, hats have been emblems of style and status, badges of rank and distinction, brilliant signs advertising their wearers," (McDowell, 1997, p. 1). Hats are one of the most ancient forms of clothing, and have been used for various social, cultural, religious, and decorative purposes. Practical purposes such as protection from the elements remain an important component of hat wearing throughout human history. However, decorative uses of hats are equally as important to the history of fashion in multiple societies. In addition to their aesthetic function, hats have also been used to signify one's status, gender, ethnicity, and other cultural or political emblems. It is impossible to say exactly when hats "became fashion," and the evolution of hat wearing has been different in different cultures. For example, the European tradition of wearing decorative hats, hats simply for fashion, came about in the Middle Ages ("The History of Women's Hats," 2013, p. 1). Before that, European headdresses for women ranged from veils to turbans, mingling fashion with functionality (Amphlett).

Women's headwear was often restricted to social function and status rather than to decoration and fashion. However, there were notable exceptions. For example, Amphlett (2003) notes that women in the twelfth century developed a new fashion style involving long plaited hair coupled with a garland. Women's headwear included the German wimple, which was a cloth that flowed around the ears (Amphlett, 2003). "Personal preference" was actually possible, showing that many women were able to choose their hats according to personal taste and fashion sense even among the working classes (Amphlett, 2003). Usually, head wear was, like other elements of fashion, reserved for the wealthier classes.

Women's hats changed dramatically during the Renaissance and Enlightenment. That was when women's headwear became distinct from men's headwear and could be worn as a matter of fashion. In fact, the first overt use of hats in a fashion sense came about in 1529 in Milan (HatsUK, n.d.). The term "millinery" refers to hats that were produced in Milan at that time, but the name became more generalized after that. In England, millinery started to become fashionable around 1700. The word millinery has been used to refer specifically to women's hat making.

Women's hats were different from men's hats in terms of their social function and their appearance. As social norms changed, so too did women's dress and hats were an important part of personal self-expression or fashion (Steele, 1998). Many women's hats became heavily decorated, in comparison to their plainer male counterparts. Plummassiers, for example, were feather designers who provided decorations for hats (Thomas, n.d.). In the nineteenth century, hats were varied and diverse. They included straw hats, hats with feathers, and bonnets. Bonnets ranged in size and were often very large to protect the wearer from the sun but also to preserve the woman's chaste image ("The History of Women's Hats," 2013).