From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A hat is an item of clothing which is worn on the head; a kind of headgear. Hats are differentiated from caps for 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.

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 centimetres, usually rounded up to the next centimetre if the measurement falls between the centimetre marks.

American 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. 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 it will stretch.

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

• 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.

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 gentle use of very fine sandpaper for persistent stains.

a Cowboy Hat on a person

Main Category: Category:Hats

• Akubra Australian hat with similarities to fedoras and cowboy hats
• Boater: Straw hat
• Bowler: The bowler hat is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1850. 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.
• 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 brim style has the effect of lowering the front of the brim to better protect the wearers eyes from the sun.
• Derby: See Bowler
• Fedora: Wider brimmed version of the Trilby
• 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
• Skull cap: A close-fitting cap used as cold-weather protection.
• Slouch: Generic term covering wide brimmed felt crown hat, pupoula with military and ranchers hats
• Snood: A close-fitting hood worn over the back of the head
• Tea Hat: A wide brim hat worn by women and typically decorated with ribbons and/or fake flowers.
• Top hat: A top hat is a kind of 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
• Ushanka: Russian fur hat with fold down ear flaps

• 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 century