Hats Explained: Everything You Need to Know: Case Studies and Examples

The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, with many country, regional Mexican and sertanejo music performers, and with participants in the North American rodeo circuit. It is recognized around the world as part of traditional Old West apparel. The cowboy hat as known today has many antecedents to its design, including Mexican hats such as the sombrero, the various designs of wide-brimmed hats worn by farmers and stockmen in the eastern United States, as well as the designs used by the United States Cavalry. The first western model was the open-crowned “Boss of the Plains”, and after that came the front-creased Carlsbad, destined to become the most prominent cowboy style. The high-crowned, wide-brimmed, soft-felt western hats that followed are intimately associated with the cowboy image. == History == Cowboy hats, like the sombreros of Mexico, were designed in response to the demands of the physical environment. High crowns provide insulation, and wide brims provide shade. Hot and sunny climates inspire such tall-crowned, wide-brimmed designs, and hats with one or both of these features have evolved again and again in history and across cultures. For example, the Greek petasos of two millennia ago, and the traditional conical hat widespread in different regions of Asia – and worn into modern times – incorporate such heat-mitigating features. Key Concepts and Fundamentals Inclusion in headgear for riders on horseback can be seen at least as far back as the Mongolian horsemen of the 13th century. It is not clear when the cowboy hat received its name. European-Americans in the Western United States originally had no standard headwear. People moving West wore many styles of hat, including top hats, bowlers, Civil War headgear such as cavalry and slouch hats, and sailor hats. According to Lucius Beebe, the bowler was the most widely-worn hat in the American West, prompting him to assert, in contradiction to popular belief, that the bowler, not the cowboy hat, was “the hat that won the West”. The working cowboy wore wide-brimmed and high-crowned hats. The hats were most likely adopted from Civil-War-era slouch hats that were commonly worn by Confederate soldiers who lacked the official uniform and kepi hat of the Union army; they may have also been influenced by the Mexican vaqueros before the invention of the modern design. John Batterson Stetson is credited for originating the modern-day American cowboy hat. Understanding the Core Elements The original “Boss of the Plains”, manufactured by Stetson in 1865, was flat-brimmed, had a straight sided crown, with rounded corners. These light-weight, waterproof hats were natural in color, with four-inch crowns and brims. A plain hatband was fitted to adjust head size. The sweatband bore Stetson’s name. There was only one style of hat, but they were made in different qualities ranging from one-grade material at five dollars apiece to pure beaver felt hats for thirty dollars each. J. B. Important Considerations Stetson was the first to market the “Boss of the Plains” to cowboys, and it has remained the universal image of the American West. The charisma of the West was carried back East when adventurers returned in the expensive “Boss of the Plains”-style hat. In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, a hat was an indispensable item in every man’s wardrobe. Stetson focused on expensive, high-quality hats that represented a real investment for the working cowboy and a statement of success for the city dweller. The cowboy hat has been adopted as a regional identifier among Māori tribes (iwi) living in Gisborne District of New Zealand’s North Island collectively called “Ngā Kaupoi” (‘the cowboys’) for their native adoption of horses; one of its resident politicians, Rawiri Waititi, is…