Headgears have been a symbol of power and were worn by kings, warriors and leaders. Gods or god men in most religion are rarely depicted without headgears, be it a crown made of gold and precious stones, or the Christ’s one made of weeds and thorns or the laurel wreath of the Caesar. Che Guevara made the beret famous, as did the Bicorne of Napoleon.
The army usually sport beret and in the action areas wear a safely helmet, the airmen – a cap with an aero foil shape and the sailors a round cap, often with a visor as they always look down on the waters and rarely have to look up at the sun.
Caps fits smug on the skull and do not have a brim, and hats vary in shape with or without a brim, often grander than the caps. The hats were a social status and a formal wear with suit, tie, often a bow tie, and black shoes was never complete without a hat for the entry. Chefs standout with a tall Toque, which goes with the particular profession. The bishops wear special tall hats called Mitre, the style of which varies from country to country, and certain sects like the Sikhs wear turbans.
The Muslims wear skullcaps, and the Jews, Kippah, the smaller skullcap that barely covers only the back part of the skull. The Red Indians sported colourful headgears with feathers and even beaks of hornbills, as do the Nagas from the Northeastern India.
Sports have its own styles, the cricket and baseball caps being the case. A modified version of beret, ascot cap with a lesser visor goes for golfing. The rebels wear the caps with visor to the backside, and the French sport the Bonnet. Sherlock Holmes made deerstalker hat with brims in the front and behind, which can be tied under the chin famous. The Mexicans used Sombrero, a large brimmed felt hat often seen in western cowboy movies and Montera is worn by the bullfighters. Fez, a rounded red hat are worn in Egypt and Keffiyah by the Arabs.
A fur cap with earflaps is Russian. The Afghans and the Northern Pakistanis use Karakul, made from an aborted sheep’s yet born lamb. Maneka Gandhi a fierce animal lover had de-hatted many leaders of the Karakul. Africa though is out of reach of Maneka, where wild animals, feathers and bones are normal parts of the headgear.
The bowler hat or bob hat, a hard hat with rounded crown is famous in England. More ladies come to the English Derby, the horse races for 3-year colts, to show their magnificent collection of colourful hats than to wager. Straw hats with brims famously known as Panama hats have no relation with Panama, but are made in Equador.
India too has its own offer to the collection with the famous ‘Gandhi cap,’ sported by Nehru and many of his colleagues, as I tried to sport in one as well (in the pic.) I also add a picture of my friend Utpal Chatterjee, a former Sheriff of Kolkata with his trademark beret!
So much for the hats!
Sampath Kumar