An Introduction to hats
Hats are items of clothing worn on a person’s head and have been around for a very long time. One of the first men’s hats was found in a tomb painting at Thebes showing a man wearing a straw hat. Other men’s hats include the Pileus, a simple skull cap, and the Pestasos from ancient Greece, the first known hat with a brim.
Women were expected to have their heads covered at an early stage with veils, hoods, caps, wimples and kerchiefs. In fact, women’s hats based on those of male courtiers only began to be see at the end of the 16th century.
Since their invention, hats have become status symbols, uniforms, fashion statements and functional sports and protective headgear. Men’s hats and women’s hats can be made in a range of materials, and include wool hats, fur hats, leather hats and straw hats. Due to the round stiff nature of most hats, special hat boxes were created to store them when not in use. Some straw hats can also rolled up to fit in a tube.
A wide range of men’s hats and women’s hats have been created over the years, including hoods, caps, felt hats, three-cornered hats, straw hats, busbies, homburgs, derbies and top hats. Hats can be individually color coordinated to match your accessories or outfit for little extra cost. Some hats, like baseball hats, are also adjustable.
Cheaper hats come in standard sizes, such as small, medium, large, but authentic men’s hats and women’s hats sizes are generally measured in one of three different sizing scales; British, North American or European/Metric. North American hats use the imperial scale however measurements are an eighth of an inch larger than British hats for the same size hat. Hats are sized to the nearest whole centimeter so it is advisable to size up if your head falls between two measurements.
For more informationon men’s hats, click men’s hats.
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