Hat & Headwear Definitions — hats, caps, helmets and headwear terms from Apparel Search
A conical hat is a pointed hat, and conical simply means having the shape of a cone, a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base, frequently though not necessarily circular, to a point called the apex or vertex. Pointed hats have been distinctive headgear in a wide range of cultures throughout history, and the family includes the practical Asian conical hat kept on by a chin strap as well as the tall pointed hats associated with witches, wizards and magical dwarfs.
A conical hat is a pointed hat.
They are most often worn by the magical dwarfs, witches and wizards. However, you are welcome to wear them as well.
Essentially, "conical" means having the shape of a cone. A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Though often suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, the Japanese, the Mi'kmaq people of Atlantic Canada, and the Huastecs of Veracruz and Aztec (illustrated e.g. in Codex Mendoza). The Kabiri of New Guinea have the diba, a pointed hat glued together.
The Asian conical hat, commonly known as an Asian rice hat, coolie hat (in the UK), or farmer's hat, is a simple style of conical hat originating in East, South, and Southeast Asia; and notable in modern-day nations and regions of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, parts of Russian Manchuria and Vietnam. It is kept on the head by a cloth (often silk) chin strap.
A gugel was a type of hood with a trailing point, popularly worn in medieval Germany. It was tailored to fit the head and shoulders, and was usually made from wool or loden. Originally worn by commoners, it became fashionable with the nobility from the 14th century. In the fashionable style, the gugel was worn on top of the head like a hat, with the head-part inverted inside the collar, which then hung over the ears.
The Phrygian cap or Liberty cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, worn by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia in antiquity.
Don't get caught wearing a dunce cap? A dunce is a person considered incapable of learning. Dunces are often comedically shown wearing paper cone hats, known as dunce caps with the word "dunce" or "dumb", or simply a capital D, on them. Schoolchildren were sometimes compelled to wear a dunce cap and to sit on a stool in the corner as a form of humiliating punishment for misbehaving or for failing to demonstrate that they had properly performed their studies.
An alien couple known as Beldar and Prymatt with cone-shaped heads from the planet called Remulak is mistakenly ditched on earth, during a scouting mission for planet conquest. The coneheads would look fabulous in a well designed conical hat.
The headgear of most self-respecting witches and wizards is usually in the shape of a cone.
The pointed hat is far older and wider than any single costume. Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear in a wide range of cultures throughout history, often suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, and they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, by the Japanese, by the Mi'kmaq people of Atlantic Canada, and by the Huastecs of Veracruz and the Aztec, who are illustrated wearing them in the Codex Mendoza. The Kabiri of New Guinea have the diba, a pointed hat glued together. Two medieval and ancient relatives show how flexible the cone can be. A gugel was a type of hood with a trailing point, popularly worn in medieval Germany, tailored to fit the head and shoulders and usually made from wool or loden; worn first by commoners, it became fashionable with the nobility from the 14th century, when it was worn on top of the head like a hat with the head-part inverted inside the collar, which then hung over the ears. The Phrygian cap, or Liberty cap, is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, worn by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia in antiquity — the same cone, softened, with its point flopped forward instead of standing upright.
The most practical member of the family is the Asian conical hat. Originating in East, South and Southeast Asia, it is notable in modern-day Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, parts of Russian Manchuria and Vietnam. Its wide cone does two jobs at once: it shades the face and shoulders, and its sloping sides shed rain away from the wearer, while a cloth, often silk, chin strap keeps it in place in wind and while working. At the opposite pole stands the imaginary hat. The headgear of most self-respecting witches and wizards is usually in the shape of a cone, and conical hats are most often pictured worn by magical dwarfs, witches and wizards — a tall, exaggerated point that reads instantly as magic. Between work and fantasy sits the dunce cap, a paper cone used as a punishment, and popular culture keeps the joke alive: Beldar and Prymatt, the alien couple with cone-shaped heads from the planet Remulak in the Coneheads sketches, are mistakenly ditched on Earth during a scouting mission for planet conquest, and would look at home in a well designed conical hat. The lesson of the whole family is that a cone is never just a cone: height, stiffness and material decide whether it signals a farmer, a scholar, a penitent schoolchild or a spellcaster.
Reading a conical hat well means asking three questions. First, how tall is the cone? A low, wide cone, like the Asian farmer's hat, is a roof for one person, built to shade and shed weather; a tall, narrow cone is a signal, built to be seen and recognised. Second, how stiff is it? The soft Phrygian cap lets its point fall forward, the gugel trails its point behind as part of a hood, while the dunce cap and the wizard's hat hold their points upright because their meanings depend on the shape staying unmistakable. Third, what holds it on? A working hat answers with a chin strap, often of silk cloth, because hands in a field are busy; a costume hat answers with fit alone, because it is worn for an occasion rather than a working day. Those three answers, taken together, place almost any pointed hat in its right family — practical, ceremonial, penitential or magical — across cultures as different as Lapland, Atlantic Canada, Veracruz and New Guinea.
Conical means having the shape of a cone, a three-dimensional shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base to a point called the apex or vertex. A conical hat follows that geometry, rising from a round or flat base to a single point.
The Asian conical hat, also called an Asian rice hat or farmer's hat, and in the UK a coolie hat, is a simple conical hat originating in East, South and Southeast Asia. It is kept on the head by a cloth, often silk, chin strap.
A dunce cap is a paper cone hat, sometimes marked with the word dunce or dumb or simply a capital D. Schoolchildren were sometimes compelled to wear one and sit on a stool in the corner as a humiliating punishment for misbehaving or failing in their studies.