Julie Made This

This hat was crocheted as a Christmas gift by a good friend.

You can read her blog about here

On her blog it looks decidedly more pointy but it was fresh of the hooks when those photos where taken.

In the photo I'm also wearing a cowl Julie made, which get worn quite often during the winter weather, cowls work for me like a scarf you won't loose to keep your neck warm.

Un Béret

The Beret is a hat I could associate with the French, but that is only a small part of its many roles, this is a hat with many strong associations which I've pointed out below

I started with the French but if you go back to its origins it can be equally be Spanish or Scottish were they are called Scottish Bonnets, notable the Tam-o-shanter.

The hat I'm wearing is one I associate with the French with little pip of fabric in the centre.

The Beret is a round flat, soft hat were the fabric overhangs the headband on all sides equally. 

Berets can be handwoven, made of lightweight wool felt, crocheted, knitted or modern fibres.

The Beret as far as I can tell started with Basque shepherds in the 17th Century and was then mass produced by the French and Spanish in 19th Century.

They are used as military hats, the Blue Berets of Scotland in the 17th Century, The blue berets of French forces in 18th Century, American Special forces called Green Berets, the red berets of the British Parachute regiment and many other military groups.

They are also the hat of revolutionaries, most notably the image of Cha Guevara, The black berets of the black power movement in the United States, The black Berets of the IRA, and one I knew nothing about the brown berets of the Chicano Movement which wants parts of the United States returned to Mexico, and many more.

One Hat Many Styles

From a basic wide brimmed felt hat you can change its look into many other styles. 

The photos below are all the same £5 felt hats from Primark, all created with quick stitch, you can cut and decorate to make many more better looks. 

Below the basic black felt hat as you buy it.

Below a Bicorn

Below a Tricorn

Below almost a Quadricorn, it needed a wider brim really, but 4 points were almost achieved.

Below a Yokel Hat

PS these were all purchased for £1 at the end of the season by my friend Dave who the master of spotting a bargain.

Not a Lamp shade, its a Hat

This is not a lamp shade, its a genuine reproduction medieval straw hat from the 13 or 14th Century, that is in fact very comfortable and cooling in the summer like most straw hats.

This was purchased from a polish trader at the Tewkesbury medieval fair in 2015
See this link 

This style of hat was worn by both men and women probably field workers if you look at contemporary drawings. ( See here )