Shaman Eats Straw

This hat or more accurately headdress, came from a theatre production

It makes an ideal headdress for tribal shaman or witch doctor.

The only clue to its origin is a label which says 'Tumji' which make it sound like it was for a African based character.

Made of a mix of leather, artificial plant life and straw.

The jackal/fox eyes are painted.

This headress found its way to me via my favourite trader Chows Emporium.

I went past it at several markets before, eventually deciding it had a use.

Nón lá

A simple straw hat.

This hat is a typical Asian farmers Coolie Hat, Rice Paddy hat, Non-la, used as an evaporation cooling device when dipped in water and sun protection. 

The conical shape is mainly Vietnamese, but still worn in other Asian countries.

The bamboo in this one woven to create a raised pineapple skin texture

Peasants Summer Hat

Falling apart straw hat, perfect just the thing

The ideal sunny weather hat. 

Wet them and they help cool the head even more

This one has seen better days but for playing the part a beggar or poor peasant its perfect

Straw Boater

Leading on from the school hat theme to a straw hat theme we have the boater which was a common part of the British, United States and South Africa and a few others boys school uniforms.

The Straw Boater is also known as the simply the Boater, plus the Skimmer, the Cady, the Canotier, the Basher, the Katie, the Somer and the Sennit.

Also worn in Japan were can be called the Can-can Hat or the Suruken.

The straw boater is equally a fashionable women's hat.

Straw boaters are a great summer hat, they were popular in the 19th and early 20th Century but have since gone out of fashion except for rowing events or barbershop music groups.

The Straw boater is normally made of a stiff sennit straw and has a flat crown and brim, usually with a ribbon around the crown.

A fact from Wikipedia says they were supposedly worn by FBI agents as a sort of unofficial uniform in the early 20th Century.