Posted on 09/17/2024 3:27:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Image of Yonge Street crowd celebrating the end of the Boer War in 1900, with the majority of people in the image wearing hats. Credits: William James / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain Headwear has been an essential fashion item for almost as long as it has existed, but people these days are not wearing hats as often as they used to in times past.
Since ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, people have worn headwear. Men and women commonly used headwear, and pharaohs wore their iconic Nemes striped headcloth to communicate their status. In the Middle Ages, there were laws requiring everyone to wear hats.
Later, top and bowler hats were used for centuries in English society, where they distinguished men and women of status. In the US, bowler hats were the most used form of headwear, and hats, in general, were commonplace.
For centuries, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who left their home without headwear. However, as the ’60s and ’70s rolled around, hats became less and less common. So, how did hats fall from popular fashion to an item people could do without so quickly?
The disappearance of hat wearing
Rumors circulate about the disappearance of the hat from modern fashion. The most prominent of these relates to President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was always bare-headed, and with his extreme popularity, it is believed that his lack of a hat may have come to represent modern fashion.
Grecian Delight supports Greece
With the rise of a generation known for rebelling against traditional norms in the ’60s and ’70s, it makes sense why caps would be ousted from fashion.
The implications of transportation modes on hat usage However, the most likely reason for the lack of a hat is the rise of vehicles and public transportation. Thanks to advancements in transportation technology, society has rapidly transformed to the point where it is hard to conceptualize how fast the change has taken hold in how the world works today.
In a few decades, man’s primary mode of transportation went from horses and trains to cars, buses, and subway systems. Humanity’s exposure to the elements significantly decreased with the advent of these vehicles. Suddenly, a hat became cumbersome, making one duck when leaving an automobile or a bus. It often got knocked off and became uncomfortable for the user.
Just because hats have disappeared from popular fashion doesn’t mean they are not still utilized. Headwear these days is more focused on protection from the sun, like easily stored baseball caps, arguably one of the more popular forms of headwear. In terms of the top hats of old, they still find their place at British weddings and horse races.
Military personnel worldwide still wear headwear. However, the form of headdress has changed significantly throughout the centuries. Earlier, they would wear large bearskin caps and other more extravagant forms of headwear.
With the arrival of guns, military headwear has changed to more practical hard helmets and berets that can easily be stored when soldiers need to switch to their helmets.
While hats aren’t as popular these days as before, they still find their use in the modern world. However, there will always be those who wish for the old days when hats could be found on every head on the street.
It is only when in formal attire that men have stopped wearing hats. There is no shortage of men wearing them when going about their day to day tasks. What I want to know is how wearing them backwards became so popular. It makes everyone look like they are fixing to do some welding.
Years ago, my wife and I attended an auction .We bought several storage tubs full of wooden hat blocks that were used to form hats back in the day.
We made a pretty penny selling them to some guy in NYC, who makes hats , he said we truly made his day as most people would have chucked them as junk.
They were like wooden puzzles, with interlocking pieces , some were interchangeable , most were custom.
We had to stop the auctioneer from selling them piecemeal, as he would have rendered them useless
They were talked into happily hiking (wearing new dress shoes) on
January ice!
If JFK and Jackie had slipped, the effect would have been that of a domino. Imagine the Soviets looking at that turn of events!
I knew a guy in high school who had one of those.
I wear mostly ball caps but in winter I have my black ushanka Russian hat. I ALWAYS take my hat off when I sit down to eat at a restaurant. I had and older lady come up to me and thank me for having manners as I was the only person who took his hat off at dinner.
Don’t kid yourself. They were naked from the waist down on those Zoom calls.
I have a Japanese work colleague (I am 73 and he is 78). He often says in the summer the worst thing Americans did to the Japanese after the war was suits and ties ;-)
I have a shaved head. I need artificial hair in the sun.
A Beret, a Texas Rangers cap, or a fishing hat.
The first James Bond movie, he is wearing a hat as is everybody. After that, no hats.
I’ve tried to keep the sun off of my head for decades. My hats are getting bigger and bigger.
I admire and marvel at those who can be in the hot all day without a hat. I’d be sick as a dog. Genetics I guess.
“A straw Stetson during Summer and a felt one for Winter.”
Amen.
I disagree
I find that rude behavior has become the norm.
The common use of profanity in public is disturbing, particularly by women.
The garish appearance of young people with facial piercings, tattoos and random bits of metal protruding from their bodies is simply ugly.
Once upon a time a person could be comfortable in public most of the time because there were recognized standards of behavior.
I kind of appreciate that the same way I appreciate that a coral snake is brightly colored, a rattle snake rattles, and stinging insects are so often yellow and black or whatever.
Tells me they are crazy and to stay away from them.
It’s almost as reliable an indicator of idiocy as as wearing a covid mask.
They wear them backwards, or they can't decide whether to wear them on top of, or under the hoodie....
I ‘m a woman and have thin flyaway hair too. And a huge selection of hats for winter, summer, spring and fall.
I have corneal dystrophy and light hurts my eyes, so those brims help keep the sun out along with year-round polarized sunglasses.
I get a lot of compliments on my hats from both men and women..
No one wears a hat except to block the sun.
So it is baseball types of hats with sun blocking bills.
Sun glasses are part of the uniform of the day with sun block ointment/spray.
Seems to me to be no shortage of ass hats these days.
They were Toobin?
I miss men in suits and fedoras
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