Hat from Siam

This particular hat was from a set of theatrical hats being sold on eBay from a production of the King and I 

There is no label in the hat so it could be a courtier or one of the Kings children.

I think it makes an excellent oriental courtiers hat.

Kabuto

Kabuto or Samurai Helmet 

This is Kabuto is a theatrical mock-up made of lightweight plastic-like materials.

kabuto was made by combining dozens of thin iron plates around a central dome, usually iron but sometimes moulded and lacquered paper

Like medieval helmets they were often decorated with a crest, this one is themed around a rabbit.

Kabuto 1st appeared in the 10th Century

Chinese Novelty Hat

You normally can't beat a chinese novelty hat to create a quick oriental fancy dress look 

These are almost throw away cheap, they fit in your pocket and look the part from a distance

This particular hat is however right at the bottom of pile when it comes to novelty hat quality, relying unsuccessfully on thinnest bit of fabric to create a bit of stiffness to brim.

This hat was so cheap you get change from £3 after postage, but you get what you pay for and would not pay much more.

The more I look at the photos of this hat, the more I believe it should go into the bin and never be seen again

Cheap Chinese Style Hat

 This hat is about as cheap as they come and even as a novelty hat not recommended

Mimicking some other watermelon style oriental hats, this is made of some cheap fabric over some thin foam, that both makes it uncomfortable and a poor fit. The shiny fabric is slippery and this makes it readily just fall off your head, no matter how tight you pull it down

I have a similar hat here and although also a novelty hat far more comfortable and better made

Chinese Wedding Cap

This Chinese hat or cap is more like fascinator than an actual hat.

 The cap come up in images under Qing and Han Dynasty, I can only assume it was worn across both periods.

Used by nobles, emperors and as a modern wedding headpiece.

This hat is held in place by a tie, although it's more likely to have been pinned through and over a bun of hair, but I don't have anywhere near enough hair for that.

Also seen listed as a Chinese landlords hat

Oriental Evil

This Hat as the look of a Mongolian hat but is a medieval European hat.

This is felt hat I believe copied from a woodcut of the period

Now many images of Mongolian hats can also be very similar to this and they would also wear a hat made of felt, it perhaps decorated with trims and maybe beads. The Mongolian did invade Europe in the 13th century so who knows perhaps ideas got swapped.

Dragon Hat

This hat is sold as a Qing Dynasty Chinese Landlord Hat also a Dragon Cap

Hat wearing in China as mentioned in previous posts was an important part of China's ancient costume code.

As part of the code when a man reached the age of 20 he began wearing a cap, this included in a ceremony called the "Guanli" (The Ceremony of the Cap) which indicated he had grown up.

The rules on cap wearing did change between dynasty's and so did the definition of what was a cap as opposed to head covering like the bamboo hat.

Caps also had social status, the poor in some dynasties were not allowed to wear caps

in other news
Although this is my 210th post THIS IS THE 200th unique hat or other headgear I've blogged about

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.

Emperors Hat

Coronet, worn by emperors of the Han Dynasty.

This hat was worn by both emperors and empresses and actually 

I have listed this hat a from Han dynasty period but it continued on into later dynasties as well.

The Han Dynasty ran from 206 BC to 220 AD and is considered a golden age of China, it started Hanfu a written dress code which included hats, headwear and hairstyles.

This similar to the hat I previously blogged about is part of a wedding costume and made of mixture cardboard tube and shiny fabric and beads.

Qing dynasty Hat

This is a reproduction of Chinese Qing dynasty Emperors hat

The hat is seen in a painting of Kangxi Emperor in court dress wearing his dragon robes.

The Qing Dynasty ran from 1636 (or 1644 depending on what you count as the start) to 1912.

This hat is actually part of a wedding costume.

The hat is made from mixture cardboard, felt, shiny fabric, beads and what look like Christmas baubles

Party Fu

This is another Chinese novelty hat.

Looking through the odd hat book or two and websites, I can't really find anything historically like this.

The best I can come up with is novelty costume makers mixed Asian conical rice paddy hat with some oriental looking fabric and inventy this themselves. 

I as always may be proved wrong

Can be found Amazon, E-Bay and many other places for about £5 just search for Chinese hat