It's Hat Week!

This week we are going to be looking at the impact of hats on fashion. We will explore the history of hats from the early days to present. By the end of the week we will focus on the details of the 20th and 21st centuries, and lastly, the trends that are expected in 2008.

We invite all of you who are hand-crafters of hats to let us see your work. We'd like to know which of the styles we present are most represented by your work and which styles influence your creations.

It's always fun to reflect back on those styles of the past. In the fashion world, today's upcoming styles are often taken from the past with updates on these vintage modes.

Let's get started!

Ancient Egyptians - 1000 BC to 1 AD
The Egyptian hat was a wig. These wigs were made from human hair and were braided or styled in numerous ways. Many were quite elaborate! Hair was very important to the Egyptians. Henna was the dye of choice to cover up graying hair. It didn't matter much if you were rich or poor in ancient Egyptian times, the hair was adorned all the same, it was not considered a luxury but a necessity. The difference between the rich and poor was in the quality of materials you could afford. Much like today, if you can't afford the 24k gold, you go for gold-plate!

Ancient Greece - 800 BC to 500 BC
The women of ancient Greece didn't wear hats. The fashionable way to decorate the head was to carefully arrange their hair. Many hairstyles were elaborate from puffs, to curls, to waves. They adorned their hair with hairpins made from ivory, gold and silver that much of the time was set with precious stones and jewels. These Grecian women often dyed their hair golden-red. False hair was also a common addition and included flowers, leaves and coronets of pearls and precious stones. Long hair was in and the longer and lusher the better! So you could say, the hats of Greek women were the elaborate styling of the hair itself!

The Romans - 753 BC to 393 AD (approximate)
Very much like the Greeks, the Romans were a fairly simple people when it came to fashion. They too, generally, did not wear hats or decorative headdresses. They did, however, have some interesting rituals regarding their hair. They believed if they washed their hair too often, it would disturb the important spirits who watched over them. August 13 was the celebration of the birthday of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, so this was a day when they typically would wash their hair. Like the Greeks, the Roman women wore their hair up.



Middle Ages
The middle ages run from 1000 AD until 1300 AD, and very little had changed in this time period from the previous period due to widespread poverty. But the lack of money didn't keep these women from adorning their heads!
1200 - 1300
The barbette, which is a chin band that a woman attached a headress was common.



Also the coif, was popular during this time, a much simpler type of hat.






The Renaissance period 1400 - 1500 ADDuring this time, it was actually against the law to be out in public without headwear. Hoods were very common for women until the early the early 16th century. These hoods fell in folds with the sides turned back to reveal an under cap. The English hood or gabled hood was a popular style.


During the 1600's and 1700's the head-dress styles went through more subtle changes.

The 1800's fashion trends brought with them a wider variety and more elaborate hat fashions with decorative bows, ribbons and even feathers!











We hope you have enjoyed reading a bit about early hat history! Our next entry will feature the 20th and 21st centuries, and then we can get to the task of featuring some handmade hat artists as well!