Hat & Headwear Definition List Page 7

Headscarves: Cloth, Custom and Careful Names

The final hat page is built from the softest materials and requires the most precise language. A headscarf is the general form — cloth wrapped or tied to cover the hair — and within it the names distinguish cut, coverage and community. The hijab covers hair, neck and shoulders, leaving the face open. The khimar falls longer, over the chest. The dupatta, also called shayla or milfeh in the list's cross-references, drapes over head and shoulders as part of South Asian dress. The chador is a full-length open cloak drawn over the head; the abaya a loose outer garment worn with head covering; the buknuk a rarer regional form. The coif and wimple reach back to medieval Europe, where linen coverings framed the face and covered neck and chin — dress that read as modesty, marital status and respectability at once. These definitions are kept separate and specific because collapsing them into one word would erase exactly the information a reader, retailer or researcher came for.

Veils and Face Coverings

The second family covers the face itself. The veil is the umbrella — bridal tulle, mourning crepe, liturgical cloth and fashion's dotted net all share the name and the gesture of partial concealment. The niqab covers the face leaving the eyes open; the burka covers fully, with a mesh panel for sight; the boushiya is a heavier opaque veil of the Gulf. The balaclava returns here in its face-covering role, and the gas mask stands as the industrial extreme — a covering whose purpose is air itself. Bandana and durag close the page at everyday scale: a square of cloth tied for work, sport or style, and a close cap that protects and smooths hair, each with deep roots in labor and Black hair culture respectively. Visors invert everything — shade without cover — and the tiara, repeated here from page 6, ends the seven pages where the first began: with headwear as statement. From felt fedora to face veil, the hat list is complete.