Hats and Coats
Among many segments of the European population, it is considered rude to wear hats or other head coverings indoors, especially in churches, schools, private homes and respected public institutions. In churches, however, ladies are often exempt from this rule or even obliged to cover their heads in some Catholic churches.
Wearing coats, boots or other outer garments inside someone’s home is often frowned upon as well. Sitting down to eat at table wearing a hat or coat etc. is even worse. Also one should remove one's hat when showing deference. Removing one's hat is also a form of greeting: the origin of this is that knights were expected to remove their helmets when meeting their king; not to do so would be a sign of mistrust and hostility.
Read more about this topic: Etiquette In Europe
Famous quotes containing the words hats and, hats and/or coats:
“There are several natural phenomena which I shall have to have explained to me before I can keep on going as a resident member of the human race. One is the metamorphosis which hats and suits undergo exactly one week after their purchase, whereby they are changed from smart, intensely becoming articles of apparel into something children use when they want to “dress up like daddy.””
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“My consolation is to think of the women I have known, now that there is no longer such thing as elegance. But how can people who contemplate these horrible creatures under their hats covered in pigeon-houses or gardens, how can they understand the charm of seeing Madame Swann wearing a simple mauve cap or a small hat surmounted by a straight iris?”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 3:11.
John the Baptist.