Wednesday, January 21, 1998
Hat-thropology
FASHION From bonnets to baseball caps, babushkas to wimples, the
novelty of headgear never fades in influence of celebrity and
nonconformity
By Carol McKay
Daily Bruin Staff
Annie Oakley was known for hers. Jamiroquai is rarely spotted
without his.
And hundreds of students at UCLA sport theirs to class
everyday.
Hats. They started out as purposeful headgear. They blocked the
sun, kept heads warm and identified class status. Now, however,
they’re mostly just for fun.
Besides baseball caps, students seem to be more likely to
experiment with crazy hats, like the kind sold on Third Street
Promenade in Santa Monica.
According to Stephen Benedetti, who works at Heads Up, the hat
cart on Third Street, business is good.
With sales of around 100 hats each week and prices ranging from
$7 to $65, Benedetti said that it is obvious as to what is
influencing current trends.
"Right now, it’s the driving caps made famous by the Kangol
company. Samuel Jackson wore one in Jackie Brown," he said.
"Weather is the most obvious influence," Benedetti said. "Even
though it doesn’t get that cold in Southern California, people
still want to wear wool and polar fleece in the winter. In the
summer, people become a lot more conscious of the sun and UV rays.
We sell a lot of straw hats."
Sports such as snowboarding and skiing also play a role in
determining hat styles, said Benedetti, especially for young
people.
"And we have handmade linens for the older crowd," he added. "A
little bit of something for everyone."
Baseball caps, however, can’t be found at the Heads Up cart.
"They’re just too easy to find," explained Benedetti.
Celebrity often drives fashion trends, he said, but more likely
it’s the hat that is associated with the celeb, not the other way
around. "People used to come up to the cart and say, ‘Oh look, it’s
the Dennis Rodman hat.’ Now they say ‘Oh look, it’s the Jamiroquai
hat.’ And it’s the same hat."
Although the weather, celebrities and sports determine what hats
are currently worn, different aspects of society have left their
mark on headgear in the past.
A History of Headgear
Before the 11th century, headgear was unique to women, who were
expected to respectfully cover their heads at all times. Before
hats, they used veils and kerchiefs. Men rarely wore hats, except
for conical caps with the top turned forward.
As women’s hairstyles grew taller and more elaborate, hats
adjusted to fit the trends. Men experimented with more headgear,
and by the 20th century, styles such as the top hat, fedora and
panama were at the height of fashion.
Earlier this century, women’s hats, known as the art of
millinery, were becoming outrageously large. Feathers, fake flowers
and lots of satin adorned the monstrous things, and hat-wearers had
more styles to choose from than ever before.
Between World War I and the last decades of the century, women
went through pillboxes, berets and the cloche style. Some wore
jersey turbans, snoods made of crochet and the sailor’s hat.
Hats at one point even held political significance. During
Germany’s occupation of Paris in 1940, the flow of fashion was cut
off, and millinery simply recycled the styles of the previous
decade. The citizens, in an attempt to revolt against the
suppression of the fashion capital, choose the turban as their
rallying point. Symbolically, the spirit of fashion was not dead,
and the Parisians maintained their pride.
During the 1960s and ’70s, such influences as the Beatles,
Jackie Kennedy and Doctor Zhivago determined hat fashion. Men and
women more often wore the same styles, and in the ’70s and ’80s the
fedora and beret were two popular styles, later seen in music
videos.
It was not until the ’80s that baseball caps became the most
popular hat worn by both sexes, especially by young people. That
trend continues strong today.
However, other types of hats seem to be filtering away.
It is the celebrity influence (or lack thereof) that makes or
breaks a company, said Michael Douglas, a former representative of
Top This hats.
"Right now the hat business is just so slow," he said. "It
usually takes a Princess Di or a Debbie Gibson to start a hat trend
(like they did in the ’80s). But there just isn’t right now."
Douglas stopped selling hats this year because of low sales.
Benedetti, however, is unfazed, adding one last trend: "It’s
wearing the most audacious thing you can," he said, pointing to the
hats highest on his display, "the funky ones."
Jester hats and top hats in the style of Seuss’ "Cat in the Hat"
– which Benedetti said was recently made official – are the
craziest of the bunch.
But according to Benedetti, they do have purposes.
"Some are actually pretty comfortable and functional. It’s not
total insanity," he said, noting adjustable ear flaps, a chin strap
and a secret pocket perfect for many of his customers who perhaps
"have something to hide. Like razors."
For everyone else, Benedetti says there is a perfect hat. "For
those who say ‘I’m not a hat person,’ I say you just haven’t found
the right one."