Women’s hats have been turned on their head by pop culture’s latest ‘it’ girl, Lady Gaga. Today we can get away with Victorian Berets or even lobster inspired Gaga headgear as long as it’s worn with buoyancy and attitude.

The History of the Hat

No one knows how long hats have been around. I mean, it would be pretty hard to pinpoint the moment that some innovative caveman put an animal skin over his head to protect himself from the elements. But somewhere along the line that happened.

In terms of the female hat, throughout the ages due to many religious customs, women have often been required to cover their hair. Veils, hoods, caps and wimples were used to do so up until the end of the 16^th century when female structured hats began to emerge.

With this newfound fascination with female headgear, the milliner was born.

The Master Milliner and Changing Styles

A maker of women’s hats is known as a ‘milliner’. The term refers to products such as ribbons, straw and gloves, for which Milan was well known and the haberdashers who imported these popular products became known as milliners, and thus the term was born.

Throughout the ages it was often the fashionable hairstyles that determined the style and shape of a hat. When hairdos were large, think 80’s or the Victorian Era, hats became large enough to swallow the hair or small enough to perch on top of it.

As fashion changes, as society morphs through different stages of consciousness, so too does the milliners art.

Hats Throughout the Ages

Throughout the ages women (and men) have loved and worn hats to complete a fashionable ensemble; making them the ultimate accessory. In the 1860s bonnets and Polk bonnets were the ultimate accessory for women and often determined their social status. Today bonnets are only seen on Amish and orthodox Jewish women.

From 1872–1900 women were lavish and overtly glamorous. They showed off their bosoms in tight dresses and corset’s, created full heads of hair and topped it off with little hats (well, little in comparison of their colossal hairstyles).  Something reminiscent of the 80s, I would say.

And in the 1900s hair became even more oversized and this time the hats followed suit. Massive hats were worn atop large upswept hair with the soft brim of the hat falling softly over the side of the face.

Feathers & Beading

The hats were also accessorised with feathers and beading to make them even more elaborate. These were beautiful, over-the-top creations that have become fashionable amongst the elite at the Kentucky Derby in the States or even the Durban July here in good old South Africa.

Then came the fabulous 1920s when the bobbed hairdo became the ‘it’ hairdo. With this beautiful pixie style emerged the magnificent cloche. The cloche hat is a tight, close fitting hat with a floppy brim which is worn low on the forehead.

The cloche is a ‘sexy’ hat, often making the wearer appear to be a temptress, with her head tilted to one side to peak out from the tilted rim. The cloche will look striking with every generation, adding sex appeal to even the dullest of outfits.

Hats began to fade away in the 60s when the beehive hairdo overtook the place of the hat. It has been a rough run for the hat since then.

The Reemergence of the Hat

These days a hat isn’t a ‘must’ for every outfit like it was for the women of the Victorian Era. However, things seem to be changing; and changing quite rapidly. With the escalation of avante guarde stars such as Lady Gaga and Imogen Heap, hats seem to be making a grand comeback.

The hat that has made the greatest fashion outbreak this generation has got to be the bowler hat. It was devised in 1849 by Thomas and William Bowler who had been commissioned to design a close fitting, low crowned hat that protected gamekeepers’ heads from low hanging branches.

The bowler hat was made relevant to pop culture again thanks to Stanley Kubrik’s cult film A Clockwork Orange; so it seems only fitting that the hat would hit the youth subcultures first. The bowler hat is rarely seen on business professionals, but its vintage appeal is sometimes worn by Punks, Goths, Mods and, of course, the Indie Kid.

Now with celebrities like Katy Perry and Rachel Bilson, who are both donning the bowler hat, it seems that it will slowly emerge from the subcultures and infiltrate modern culture.

The Fedora

Just like the Bowler, the fedora has gained huge momentum in the fashion scene amongst the Indie Kids and other youth cultures. It started in the early 1980s when pop stars like Michael Jackson began wearing black and white fedoras.  

Now in the 2000s, or whatever you want to call this generation, the fedora has gained retro appeal and is associated with the indie rock, bohemian or hipster scene. And just like the Bowler, celebrities have begun to embrace this retro style and it is slowly slipping back into modern culture.

Then there is Lady Gaga…

 Lady Gaga first emerged onto the scene with a giant bow made out of tresses adorning her bleached blonde hair, and she sent shock waves around the world with her wild style and over-the-top fashion. Then came the Poker Face singers’ outrageous headgear. 

A hat made of hair, metal headgear consuming her entire face and neck, a Kermit the Frog headpiece, a nest, a hat made out of porcelain, a red hat swallowing her entire face… these are just a few that she has worn to music events as well as for everyday wear. Lady Gaga seems to be bringing back the hat single headedly.

With her emergence onto the scene, a slew of copycats have followed, such as Christina Aguilera. Many fashion houses have taken the lead from her and have added what some would describe as ‘excessive’ hats to their fashion lines; like the great Thierry Mugler, who is as much of an inspiration to Gaga as she is to him.

No Longer the Humble Accessory

With Gaga on the scene, it is inevitable that hats will be charming their way down runways the world over – and the more extravagant the better. Hats shall no longer be just a humble accessory, but rather a fashion piece in and of itself.

I’m pretty sure that in time the bigger, the stranger and the weirder the hat, the better. And always remember to enjoy your hats, screw what fashion trends say and wear what you want when you want with the best of accessories – confidence.

Or just be like Julia Roberts and think about hats logically. As she says, ‘I enjoy hats. And when one has filthy hair, they are a good accessory.’