Beginnings
There are two types of hats: with brims and without. Necessity and fashion are the reason people wear hats. The first manufactured hats were nothing more than a round piece of leather. A circle of holes about the size of one's head was punched in the leather, and a string was then woven through those holes and pulled tight to hold the hat snugly to the head. The hatband separated the crown from the brim.
The wide floppy brim was tied up with a ribbon, to keep it out of one’s eyes. Some times when the ribbon was off they would see that the brim stayed curled by itself. This led to the hand-curled brim.
Brims were bound with ribbon to keep them from fraying after being trimmed with the knife. Although advancements in materials have eliminated the need for binding the brim, or pinning it up, the custom remains. We must keep our brims curled up because long ago hatters did not know how to stiffen a brim.
When men went off to do battle it was customary to wear a feather from their loved one. Because men were mostly right-handed they lead when sword fighting with the right side. At first they would stick the feather in the adjusting hatband. Unless they wanted to fight blind, surviving duelers moved the feather and knot, to the left side of the hat, where it remains today. As time went on, they would wrap a ribbon around the crown to hold the feather and hide the tie string knot.
When leather turned to velvet some protection was needed to keep the soft fabric from falling on people’s hair, this is where the lining came from. Even though modern hats are stiff enough not to collapse, the custom remains. Individual sizing eliminated the need for the tie string, but the bow remains at the back of the hat, serving as a memorial to bygone hatters. What has evolved from necessity later became fashion.
Hats like the cowboy hat were designed from the fur up, to provide a lightweight all-weather shield from the climatic conditions of the American West. Hats like the baseball cap were designed to provide shade.
Read more about this topic: Headgear
Famous quotes containing the word beginnings:
“These beginnings of commerce on a lake in the wilderness are very interesting,—these larger white birds that come to keep company with the gulls.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The beginnings of altruism can be seen in children as early as the age of two. How then can we be so concerned that they count by the age of three, read by four, and walk with their hands across the overhead parallel bars by five, and not be concerned that they act with kindness to others?”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“The frantic search of five-year-olds for friends can thus be seen to forecast the beginnings of a basic shift in the parent-child relationship, a shift which will occur gradually over many long years, and in which a child needs not only the support of child allies engaged in the same struggle but also the understanding of his parents.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)