Hat & Headwear Definitions — hats, caps, helmets and headwear terms from Apparel Search
Headgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on the head. Common forms include hats, caps, bonnets, hoods, headscarves and helmets. Headgear can serve a variety of purposes, including protection, keeping hair contained or tidy, decoration or fashion, religious purposes, modesty and social convention, hiding baldness, and distinction as a badge of office.
Headgear can serve a variety of purposes:
Main article: Hat.
Hats often have a brim all the way around the rim, and may be either placed on the head, or secured with hat-pins (which are pushed through the hat and the hair). Depending on the type of hat, they may be worn only by men, women or by either sex.
Main article: Cap.
Main article: Bonnet.
Bonnets, as worn by women, were generally brimless hats worn outdoors which were secured by tying under the chin, and which covered no part of the forehead. Some styles of bonnets had a large peak which effectively prevented women from looking right or left without turning their heads. Bonnets worn by men and boys are generally distinguished from hats by being soft and having no brim - this usage is now rare (they would normally be called caps today).
Main article: Helmet.
Helmets are designed to protect the head, and sometimes the neck, from injury. They are usually rigid, and offer protection from blows. Helmets are commonly worn in battle, on construction sites and in many contact sports.
Main article: Turban.
Turbans are primarily worn for two reasons. Firstly due to religious or cultural beliefs and secondly for protection from the elements, especially sun. So you will for example find that the Sikhs are required to wear a turban as a religious necessity while Arabs in the Middle-East wear it for protection and cultural reasons.
Main article: Hood.
Hoods today are generally soft headcoverings which form part of a larger garment like an overcoat, shirt or cloak. Historically, hoods were either similar to modern hoods, often forming part of a cloak or cape, or a separate form of headgear. Soft hoods were worn by men under hats. Women's hoods varied from close-fitting, soft headgear to stiffened, structured hoods (e.g. gable hood) or very large coverings made of material over a frame which fashionable women wore over towering wigs or hairstyles to protect them from the elements (e.g. calash).
Main article: Mask.
A mask is worn over part or all of the face, frequently to disguise the wearer, but sometimes to protect them. Masks are often worn as disguises at fancy dress parties, a masqued balls or at Hallowe'en, or they may be worn by criminals to prevent people recognising them as they commit a crime. Masks which physically protect the wearer vary from bars across the face in the case of ice hockey goalkeepers, to devices which purify or control the wearer's air supply, as in gas masks.
Main article: Wig.
Wigs are synthetic hair which may be worn to disguise baldness or as part of a costume. In most Commonwealth nations, special wigs are also worn by barristers, judges, and certain parliamentary officials as a symbol of the office.
Main article: Veil.
Today a veil is normally a piece of fabric which covers all or part of the face. For centuries up until the Tudor period (1485), women wore veils which covered the hair, and sometimes the neck and chin, but not the face.
The most common use of a hat is as protection for the head and eyes. A baseball cap is used by sports players to keep the sun out of their eyes, and by some chefs to keep the hair out of their food. Traditionally, silk chef's hats are used for this purpose. A rain hat has a wide rim to keep the rain out of the wearer's face. Some traditional types of hat such as the Mexican sombrero also serve this purpose.
Tin foil hats are protective headgear of controversial utility, as the existence of any such threat has yet to be substantiated.
Hats are also an article of fashion; the formal man's black silk top hat was formerly an indispensable portion of the suit, and women's hats have, over the years, attained a fantastic number of shapes ranging from immense confections to no more than a few bits of cloth and decorations piled on top of the head. Recently, the hat as an article of formal wear has fallen out of fashion, though some kinds of hats other than baseball caps may be included in young people's subcultural fashions.
Religious headgear
Similar to the yarmulke is the zucchetto worn by Roman Catholic clergy. Other forms of apostolic head-gear include the mitre, biretta, tasselled cardinal's hat, and the papal tiara.
The term red hat when used within the Roman Catholic Church refers to the appointment of a Cardinal, a senior Prince of the Church who is a member of the electoral college that chooses the Pope. A person on being appointed to the cardinalate is said to have received the red hat or cardinal's biretta.
Men who wear hats would typically take them off in a Christian church, but not in a Jewish synagogue. This points to a difference in philosophy but not motive. In the Christian tradition, removing a hat is a sign of respect, making oneself more humble or vulnerable, much like bowing or kneeling. This is as if to say, "I acknowledge that you are more powerful than I am, I make myself vulnerable to show I pose no threat to you and respect your power."
In the Jewish tradition, the idea is also to show respect for the superior authority of God. Wearing a keepah or yarmulka means the wearer is acknowledging the vast gulf of power, wisdom, and authority that separates God from mankind. It is the opposite of hubris (to think oneself better than God) to wear a yarmulka. There is a common phrase that explains this, saying that 'there's always something above you' if you're wearing a yarmulka, helping you remember you're human and God is infinite.
In Islamic etiquette, wearing headgear is perfectly permissible while saying prayers at a mosque [1] (http://www.albalagh.net/qa/cap_praying.shtml).
Civilian rules are probably similar to military ones. In the military, there are very specific rules about when and where to wear a hat (also known as a 'cover'). Hats are to be worn only outside, and this includes buildings as well as ships. Removing one's hat is also a form of a salute.
General guidelines are that hats should and can be removed as a form of showing respect to someone deceased, when a national anthem is played, while eating, and at other such occasions.
The hat can be "tipped" (briefly removed, or tilted forward) as a greeting. Women usually do not take off their hats in these situations, but take their hats off in their own homes.
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Headgear, also called headwear or headdress, is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on the head. It is the umbrella term for the whole subject: common forms include hats, caps, bonnets, hoods, headscarves and helmets, and the wider account adds turbans, masks, wigs and veils. Each form answers a different need. Hats often have a brim all the way around and may be placed on the head or secured with hatpins. Caps are generally soft, and often have no brim, or just a peak, like a baseball cap. Bonnets as worn by women were generally brimless hats worn outdoors, secured by tying under the chin, while bonnets worn by men and boys were soft and brimless, a usage now rare. Helmets are usually rigid and protect the head, and sometimes the neck, from injury in battle, on construction sites and in contact sports. Hoods are generally soft headcoverings forming part of a larger garment such as an overcoat, shirt or cloak. Turbans are worn for religious or cultural beliefs and for protection from the elements, especially sun.
Even the borderline cases are instructive. Hair accessories and replacements, such as wigs, may also be included in the category of headgear. A wig is synthetic hair worn to disguise baldness or as part of a costume, and in most Commonwealth nations special wigs are also worn by barristers, judges and certain parliamentary officials as a symbol of office. A veil is normally a piece of fabric covering all or part of the face, while a mask is worn over part or all of the face, frequently to disguise the wearer but sometimes to protect them, from fancy dress and Halloween disguise to devices that control the wearer's air supply. Including wigs, veils and masks shows that headgear is defined by where and why it is worn, not by one material or one shape.
The purposes of headgear are as varied as its forms. Protection covers impact, cold, rain and other precipitation, heat, glare, sunburn, dust, infection, chemicals, noise and insects, and also the simple work of shading the eyes, as a baseball cap does for sports players, or keeping hair out of food, as a chef's hat does. Cold calls for fur hats and the Canadian tuque, rain for a wide-rimmed rain hat, and sun for broad traditional forms such as the Mexican sombrero. Beyond protection, headgear keeps hair contained or tidy, serves decoration or fashion, meets religious purposes, observes modesty and social convention, hides baldness, and gives distinction as a badge of office. Fashion alone has produced an immense range, from the formal man's black silk top hat, once an indispensable portion of the suit, to women's hats in shapes from immense confections to a few bits of cloth and decoration.
Religious and symbolic headgear shows the category at its most meaningful. Observant Jewish men wear yarmulkes, small cloth skull-caps, because they believe the head should be covered in the presence of God. Male Sikhs are required to wear turbans. Forms associated with Roman Catholic clergy include the zucchetto, the mitre, the biretta, the tasselled cardinal's hat and the papal tiara, and the term red hat refers to appointment as a Cardinal. In a monarchy, royalty often have special crowns, and the crown, coronet and tiara are jewels that have evolved from the hat. Etiquette follows significance: men typically take hats off in a Christian church as a sign of respect, while head covering in a Jewish synagogue itself expresses respect, and in the military hats, called covers, are worn only outside, with removal also serving as a form of salute. Headgear, in short, is never only cloth or felt on a head; across its many forms it protects, identifies, honours and distinguishes its wearer all at once.
Common forms include hats, caps, bonnets, hoods, headscarves and helmets. The wider category also covers turbans, masks, wigs and veils, and hair accessories and replacements such as wigs may be included.
Headgear can protect against impact, cold, rain, heat, glare, sunburn, dust and other hazards, keep hair contained, or serve decoration, fashion, religious purposes, modesty, hiding baldness or distinction as a badge of office.
Headgear can have great symbolic significance, as in a monarchy, where royalty often have special crowns. Crowns, coronets and tiaras are among the jewels that have evolved from the hat.