While headgear has been used since times immemorial, hats are a modern version, used for protecting the head from the vagaries of weather, heat, cold, rain, snow. In the olden times, a hat was used as a fashion accessory, for practical and artistic reasons, or even to indicate the social status of the wearer. There have been myriad forms and types of hats available and used since olden times.



The wide-brimmed straw hat is one of really old-fashioned ones having its genesis in agricultural areas when people would weave the straw into a concentric circular braid, make protective hats and use them as a protection against the sun. The straw hat still exists, is relatively cheap, easy to replace, though it has gone through many, more fashionable varieties.

Long ago hats were worn mostly for weather protection. Probably they soon achieved a more symbolic status. In olden times, slaves used by the Greeks and Romans, when freed, could wear the Phrygian cap, which was a kind of skullcap, pointed and curled. Royalty, of course, wore crowns and priests and other religious heads wore different types of headgear, depending on their position in the religious hierarchy.

Hats have been made of different materials throughout the ages and that persists even in modern times. Stiff fabric, felt, leather, straw, fur, cloth were used in early times and now newer materials like plastic, faux leather and others are also used to make hats. Hood-like styles and skullcaps, straw and cloth hats have given way to more elaborate creations with different embellishments.

In the Middle Ages, hats were worn to denote modesty because hair was expected to be covered by a veil or handkerchief. In the later part of the 15th century, hats became more of a part of fashion, got more intricate and had a structured appearance by the 16th century. From being something to cover their modesty, women made them a fashion statement and they came into their own. This was also the time that hat-makers and milliners evolved and took their place in the fashion world, from being merchants who got straw from Milan to weave into hats to designers.

In the middle of the 19th century, it was the women's bonnet which was worn by the majority of women, but soon it came to be associated with older women and more fashionable hats took over. From the small hats of the 1880s to the boaters a decade later, women began to look at hats as a fashion accessory. Sporting wear influenced the advent of the boater. During the Edwardian era hats were huge and at times they were decorated entire flower arrangements or even birds.

After the First World War the cloche became popular; it was small and suited the new hair-style, the bob. In the early part of the 20th century while milliners were still popular, ready to wear hats were more easily available besides being a more practical option, by the middle of the century. After that period, hats have lost their place in fashion and are used only on special occasions rather than an integral part of the wardrobe. You can chose whether or not to wear a hat and what kind you want, the variety is endless. The 21st century is flexible as far as fashion is concerned. You can go with flow of fashion or make your own fashion statement, whatever you want.