Oriental War Hat

This metal conical hat or Jingasa is a mix of fantasy and fact.

The feudal Japanese foot soldiers wore for battle what is called a Jingasa.

Jingasa can be many shapes including conical and are made from many different materials iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather, some were conical, some more curved.

This Jingasa, in this case, is not made from any of the material of feudal Japan as its a repurposed spun aluminium cone.

Sprayed and decorated with strips of cloth.

Red Beret

Red Beret of this style is mainly worn by military police, commandos & paramilitary. 

Red beret is also a term used to refer to British Parachute regiment although they wear a maroon coloured beret.

Green Pith Helmet

This Pith, although it doesn't look it in these photos, is green or dark Khaki.

It also had a 5 pointed star badge on red background originally making it a replica of an NVA helmet worn in the Vietnamese war. 

(NVA = North Vietnamese Army)

These helmets continued to be used in Vietnam until early 21st Century

Gifted to my hat collection as Christmas present.

Ushanka

Ushanka comes from a Russian word meaning ears.

This fur-lined cap comes with fold-down ear flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the cap, or fastened under the chin to protect the ears lower face from the cold. 

The Ushanka cap or hat is winter wear worn any from the USA to Russia but is very popular with Soviet naval officers

Traditionally made from rabbit or sheepskin and used in all sorts of extreme cold climates

This could also be called a trapper hat, but a trapper hat is not necessarily fur lined or designed for extreme cold.

This hat is a tourist variety with cheap soviet style badge and artificial fur but is still a practical hat that not just novelty wear.

Czapka

This helmet called a Czapka is in style used typically by 19th C Royal Russian, German and the Polish Uhlan Cavalry Regiments.

Made of pressed leather.

The Czapka origins lie in the very late 18th Century when a square-topped (4 pointed) Shako was used by Austrians infantry. 

Czapka is Belorussian words translate to English simply as a cap.

The helmet in the shape shown here was adapted by various cavalry regiments after the Napoleonic wars, mainly those of Poland, Russian, Prussia, Germany and Austria. Although the British and French did have a version for some of their cavalry regiments without the square top.

The helmet continued to be used by Cavalry regiments right up to first few weeks of world war one, before becoming a helm just used for parade grounds only.

This is a theatrical quality copy, not reenactment copy.

Shako

This leather shako is part of our crew kit

I have no idea if its a reproduction of genuine helmet or just something made for the theatre.

It's solidly made with a steel badge so could be a re-enactment helm, but the elastic headband and overall finish make me believe it is from a theatre production, where close up inspection does not occur.

2 years ago above

below is today after losing 5 stone

General Plumage

This Shako hat is another theatrical hat

A Shako is a tall cylindrical military hat with a visor, the cylinder can be parallel or tapered in or out at the top.  

They are usually decorated with plumes and a plate or badge on the front of the cylinder.

The Shako was popular in the 19th Century, initially, it was a practical improvement on the military hats of the time offering a little bit of protection, but by the end of the Napoleonic wars, it became a showy parade ground hat.

In the UK a stovepipe version of the hat was first worn by military units from around 1799 but by the mid 1820's it's importance to show off the unit took over from its practicality, attempts were made in the mid-century to return it to practical use, but by 1870 it was no longer considered for actual battlefield use at all and in the UK by 1905 it was no longer worn by units for any use.

Some countries continue to use Shako for their showy military parades even today.

This hat comes from a theatrical production and is not a reproduction of an actual Shako worn by soldiers.

Greeky Fez

This hat reminds me of one worn by Greek soldier in full dress uniform, look up Evzones and you will see what I mean.

The hat is halfway between a fez and a smoking cap, with a very long tassel.

This is a theatrical hat, one made for use in a theatre production I don't know what production, only it was sold as such on e-bay.

Made of soft red felt, I would put it the head of small Greek curiosity shop owner.

GI Side Cap

This is reproduction WW2 American GI side cap 

Apparently GI originally meant military equipment made from galvanised iron in WW1, but eventually became anything that was army general issue or government issue and on from that became a word to describe a soldier from the United States of America.

This cap sport 3 stars which means I'm a commander.

This style of hat in the US can also be known as a Campaign cap, flight cap, garrison hat, fore-and-aft cap, envelope cap, overseas cap. It also has some less polite names one being piss-cutter. 

Side Cap

A side cap is a fold-able military cap with straight sides, no brim and hollow crown which when worn forms a very distinctive shape.

In the UK its officially known as field service cap, in the US its called a garrison cap or flight cap.

The best feature of this cap is can easily be folded into a pocket, over the belt or under the shoulder strap of a military uniform. 

This cap sports a Russian badge so probably from a Russian unit but since I found it at cat boot I no idea for sure.