Hat

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For other uses, see Hat (disambiguation).

There are many different styles of hats.

A hat is an item of clothing which is worn on the head – a kind of headgear. Hats 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 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.

1 Physical attributes
2 Hat Sizes
3 Hat Size Shapes
4 Parts of a hat
5 Maintenance
6 Major hat styles
7 Types of hats
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Physical attributes

Image:Nishi tribal lightened.jpg

Hats are made from a variety of materials, including twill, canvas, leather and straw. Fabric, leather and straw hats are specially constructed to be a certain shape. Most felt, straw, and some fabric hats differ only by cosmetics, determined by how the hat is blocked, or shaped by a mold or by hand. Blocking the hat shapes the crown by applying steam to the material to soften the fabric and, once finished and dried, fix the shape of the hat. If the hat's material is strong enough, it often can be reblocked to another shape. They also come in many sizes.

Felt hats also vary by stiffness, depending on how much shellac is applied to the felt. Additionally, many soft wool felt hats are crushable or packable, meaning that the material can return to and hold its original shape even after being folded and put in a suitcase. Hats that are not explicitly advertised as such should never be folded as they may be permanently damaged. Some straw hats can also rolled up to fit in a tube. Such a rolling practice was done for unblocked Panama hats, resulting in a distinctive crown with a narrow outward lengthwise crease.

Due to the round stiff nature of most hats, special hat boxes were created to store them when not in use. They are simple cylindrical cardboard boxes with a fitted lid and are often covered in colored printed paper. Several hats may be stacked upon each other if they are of similar sizes and styles. It is important to support the hat by the sweatband to prevent distortion of the brim by either stuffing the crown with tissue paper or using something to approximate a head.

A hat may also have a "snap" brim. In this case, the brim is constructed so that the front or back can be turned up or down or in alternate directions and hold this shape. Some hats may also feature a wire in the edge of the brim so that the wearer may shape the brim in any way possible.

[edit] Hat Sizes

When a hat is made, it is also blocked to a certain hat size. Generally, less expensive hats will be a named size such as small, medium, large, and extra large. Finer hats are more strictly fitted to a person's head and have a numerical size.

Metric hat sizes are simply the distance around the persons head measured in centimeters, usually rounded up to the next centimeter if the measurement falls between the centimeter marks.

American hat sizes are similar, but the distance is measured in inches and then divided by pi. More specifically: the American numerical hat size is merely 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, dividing by pi, and rounding to the nearest centimeter or eighth inch. Also note that in the UK, an equivalent hat size is an eighth inch smaller than in the US. 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 that it will stretch.

[edit] Hat Size Shapes

The hat is also formed to be 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
X-Long oval
XX-Long oval
XXX-Long oval

[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
Sweatband - the inside part of the hat, this is the part which touches the top of the wearer's head
Hatband - a leather strip, ribbon, or string at the intersection of the crown and brim to hold the hat's size.
Peak or visor - A projection of stiff material on the front of some hats to shade the eyes.

[edit] Maintenance

As with any other form of clothing, hats inevitably get dirty. Soft cotton or canvas hats can be cleaned as if they were regular 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 ginger use of very fine sandpaper for persistent stains. Note that excessive use of sandpaper will permanently damage the hat.

[edit] Major hat styles

Image:A boy wears a hat made of leaves in the countryside near Jomba, Democratic Republic of the Congo.jpg

Cowboy hat: 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 brim style has the effect of lowering the front of the brim to better protect the wearers eyes from the sun.
Sun hat: Generally made from straw, cloth, or both and featuring an excessively large downturned brim, this style is simply designed to keep the sun off for gardening, yard work, or lounging.

Urban wear hat: Hats found in urban or suburban areas are intended to be more fashionable than functional. They have smaller brims of three or fewer inches and are flashy and made to stand out. A typical hat found in the city has an upturned back and downturned front, a wide grosgrain hatband, neatly tied, and an optional feather. The upturned back is an innovation to prevent the collar of the wearer's coat from hitting the hat.

Additionally, if the wearer often uses a rifle, pickaxe, or shovel, the side that the implement is used on can be folded up and pinned or clipped to the crown to avoid knocking one's hat off.