History of Hats

While we were wandering historic St Charles MO (one of the first French towns along the Missouri with 1700s buildings still in existence), we came across a monument to Lewis and Clark, who started their western expedition on these shores. I wish I’d had a camera but we were Christmas shopping, not researching at the time (wonderful boutiques and restaurants and everyone dresses up for a Victorian Christmas—but I digress). What struck me was the enormous bicorn hat on the statue—how the dickens did one keep that thing on one’s head? I mean, this is Missouri. The wind blows. Frequently. You could fly this enormous thing like a kite easier than use it to keep rain off. I wondered if it unfastened to let down that enormous brim to keep the coat shoulders dry.  (the image below is from IL not St Charles but the hat is the same.)

Those are the kind of questions that keep leading me down weird pathways. Bicorn led to felt led to hat led to... I shall try to summarize.
Head gear has almost always been available for protecting the head from the elements. Hatmakers might actually be the oldest profession. (Or furriers) Tomb paintings from Thebes show men wearing conical straw hats, which would have been a lot less smelly than animal furs, so that was some progress.

We have depictions of unstructured skull caps and Phrygian caps in ancient Greece and Rome. The Phrygian caps were given to slaves when they were freed, hence the nickname Liberty hat that was sported during the French revolution. The Greeks also show images of the first hats with brims. Women traditionally wore unformed head covers like kerchiefs.

The wonderful structured hats that we see in paintings began about the 16th century. The term “milliner” comes from Milan where quality hats were first designed, using laces, ribbons, etc—for men as well as ladies. The term first came into use around 1529, but at that point might refer to just the hat adornments.

The felt to which the adornments were attached has been available for centuries, discovered in various ways. St Clement—patron saint of felt hat makers—theoretically discovered  felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers. The moisture and pressure of walking presumably compressed the fibers into a crude felt sock. But Native Americans also discovered a form of felt with their fur-lined moccasins, and ancient Egyptians learned to felt camel hair that fell in their sandals. The nomadic tribes of Asia may have used felted sheep’s wools for tents and clothing.
History of hats image: http://www.hatspassion.com/hello-world.html

So—ta-da—the first felt hats were probably just circles of felt that molded to the head. The structured “sugar loaf” Capotain hats date back to the Renaissance and are most popularly known as the hat the pilgrims wore. Tall, with a small brim and a buckle or belt around the “loaf.” The style would return in the late 18th century as a top hat, but the military tricorn and  bicorns that caught my interest were the hat a la mode for most of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The tricorne developed from a broad, round-brimmed hat worn by Spanish soldiers. After war broke out between Spain and France, the French adapted the style, tacking up the brims to form gutters to allow the rain to run down the shoulders instead of into the face. Normally, the point of the hat would be over the face but soldiers might adjust the cock to allow clearance for their weapons.
“Cockades” were added to hold the brim fastened but also to express political alliances. This is the hat most likely to be associated with pirates. It could be trimmed with almost anything that tickled a man’s fancy (and a woman’s since women’s styles imitated a man’s at this juncture). Braid, brocade, silk, feathers, fur—whatever trim came to hand, and I’m sure pirates had a broad range.

And finally—the tricorn evolved into the bicorn. The bicorn originally pinned the broad brim in front to the one in the rear. These were the hats worn by Napoleon and his officers, and later, in military units for years to come. But no one tells me why these silly things were worn, other than for show. And yes, the bicorn known as the chapeaux de bras, which folded flat to fit under the arm, was almost entirely for show. Otherwise, they look like wind catchers to me. (History of tricorne image: http://www.gentlemenoffortune.com/tricorne.htm)

Someone else will have to haunt diaries of the time to explain why anyone would wear towering hats on a frontier expedition. I won’t be doing westerns anytime soon! Do you wear hats? Just in winter or all the time? What's your favorite hat?

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas and has stocked up on a large supply of books for reading! Mischief and Mistletoe is still available as a stocking stuffer.

Comments

[Margot]

I have two hats- one top hat and one large black sun hat. The top hat I wear approximately twice a year (at Halloween and maybe one other day), and the sun hat I wear when I remember I have it (which is not all that often).

I do knit hats for my family members who live in places with snow, although I've slacked off this year. Somehow knitting in Hawaii when it's 70 degrees out just isn't as satisfying as knitting when it's below freezing.

[Patricia Rice]

Margot, you need to learn crochet! Then you can make nice lacy caps. :) But if you're in Hawaii, definitely wear that sun hat. The sun is not kind to our skins. We need pics of you in a top hat!

[Maggie Robinson]

I love hats, but am just not a hat person. I was delirious when I stopped working at an elementary school and no longer had to monitor recess (Maine...snow for months...shudder...shiver) and wear a stupid knit hat that made my hair stick out every which way when we came back in. My coats have hoods in case of emergency.

As much as I love the whole English garden party/wedding look, I resemble a mushroom when I put a hat on. Not to mention I've got a BIG head (all those brains) and find it difficult to wear something that doesn't strech. I am fascinated by fascinators but since I wear glasses, I feel I already have enough going on. :)

[Donna]

I love hats! I try to remember to wear a straw hat in the summer (I'm very fair and I freckle), and I'm a big fan of my custom-made wool hats (http://ouisha.com/chenille_hats.php) in the winter when the temps are freeeeeezing!

P. S. Not affiliated.

[Patricia Rice]

Maggie, I hear you about hat hair. A lot of people complain about that.Does make one wonder how our Regency heroines managed it! Did they keep the hats on until they made it to their chamber?

the link doesn't work but I found the ouisha site and the chenille hats. Very colorful!

[Louis]

Interesting history. I lost a felt hat in a windstorm. Blew it right off my head. I've worn "cowboy" type hats at horse shows. Mostly I wear a baseball type cap or none at all.

[Susan/DC]

I do love hats but some styles are far more flattering than others. To some extent it depends on how long, and therefore how curly, my hair is which hats look best.

One of the reasons I love to see costume dramas is to see the clothing and accessories. I saw "A Royal Affair" last week. The film is set in the 1770s in Denmark and has some beautiful dresses and lovely hats. The movie is well worth seeing, and not just for the clothes. The actors are all excellent, the story both true and tragic, and there are lessons to be learned. It is a love story, a story of friendship and betrayal, and of idealism versus self-interest. I do recommend it.

[Patricia Rice]

I love hats as costume as much as for shelter from the elements. But keeping them on in a wind is a real problem! How did our Regency gents keep those top hats on while racing their curricles?

Will look up "Royal Affair," Susan. Thanks for the tip!

[Kay]

I love hats! I wear baseball hats in the summer and knit hats in the winter. I have a wonderful Jane Austin/Regency felt hat. I also want a riding habit with the hat and all that gauze. I don't know why, because I don't have a horse. Wouldn't some of those hats have chin straps on them? I think I've seen men in British military regalia that have the straps right below the lips. Nice look. Maybe that was Carol Burnett.

[Margot]

I can crochet potholders, but I never got much farther than that. And I think I'd probably look pretty silly with a potholder on my head.

And, ah, picture. http://i46.tinypic.com/dpeoli.jpg

[CassiaDeWarren]

I love hats in Winter and cannot stand them when it's hot because they create a sort of greenhouse effect on my head :-)
What kind of hat depends on how long is my hair. This season, my fave is beret.

The post today is very interesting. What about C19 gentlewomen? How did they cover their lovely curls?

[Patricia Rice]

LOL, Kay, I do believe chin straps were de rigeur for certain male chapeau but that's another level of research, maybe for another time. I just wanted to figure out that blamed bicorne. I adore the riding habit look but I'm from thoroughbred country so it's part of my culture.
Margot, LOVE the top hat, thank you! That's very striking and it's a pity you can't wear it more often!
Greenhouse effect, yes, but I require that in a/c. :) Looks like I'll need to move my research to the next century, but I'm betting no one mentions hat hair in context. May need to write about a milliner...

[Ella Quinn]

I look horrible in most hats, so I don't wear them. Though when I was young, every year for Easter I got a new dress and a hat. I only where them now when I must.

I'd also love to know how they kept the things on.

[Donna]

Patricia,
I perked up at your response to Kay that you were "from Thoroughbred country". I'm writing this from a Thoroughbred sales agency in the heart of the Bluegrass! Greetings to a fellow Kentuckian. :-)
Best wishes,
Donna

[Diane Sallans]

I like hats but I don't wear them much except to shield from the sun or stay warm in the cold. I haven't had much luck finding hats that I really like the way it looks - or maybe it's just that when no one else is wearing them I feel like I stand out & I don't want to.

[Patricia Rice]

I remember Easter hats! May be where my fascination with hats started. I loved mine, although they were usually little more than fancy hairbands.
Hi, Donna, waving! My father-in-law used to train yearlings at Calumet. My husband grew up there. Hats and racing go together!

Diane, these days, I think you need the right attitude to wear hats. I'm used to people noticing me (no idea why, they just do) so I just plop on a hat and let them notice me more. Besides, it hides the messy hair. ;)

[Anne Gracie]

Fab post, Pat. I like hats, but I don't wear them very often — mostly I wear something like a beret for warmth in winter, and occasionally I'll remember to wear a sun hat. But usually they're a bother and I don't.

Aussie men sometimes wear an akubra — a rabbit-fur felt hat that's shaped a bit like a cowboy hat, and was used in similar conditions - rural, hot, dry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akubra
And our army guys were a slouch hat — a broad brimmed felt hat with one side pinned up, I don't really know why. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Australian_Army_ceremonial_slouch_hat.png

[Anne Gracie]

wear, not were. sorry.

[Patricia Rice]

The Akubra looks a lot like our Stetson. My husband has several, although he favors the lower crown and not the ten-gallon version.

I've always adored the slouch hat. I've seen many forms, less structured and more casual, for travel and explorers, usually with a string tie, though, to keep it on.