Hat

:For the H.A.T. TLAs, see HAT.

Physical attributes

Hats are made from a variety of materials, including wool and fur felt, twill, canvas, leather and straw. Fabric, leather and straw hats are specially constructed to be a certain shape. Most felt, straw, and some fabric hats differ only by cosmetics, determined by how the hat is blocked, or shaped by a mold or by hand. Blocking the hat shapes the crown by applying steam to the material to soften the fabric and, once finished and dried, fix the shape of the hat. If the hat's material is strong enough, it often can be reblocked to another shape.

Related Topics:
Wool - Fur - Felt - Twill - Canvas - Leather - Straw - Mold - Steam

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Felt hats also vary by stiffness, depending on how much shellac is applied to the felt. Additionally, many soft wool felt hats are crushable or packable, meaning that the material can return to and hold its original shape even after being folded and put in a suitcase. Hats that are not explicitly advertized as such should never be folded as they may be permanantly damaged. Some straw hats can also rolled up to fit in a tube. Such a rolling practice was done for unblocked Panama hats, resulting in a distinctive crown with an narrow outward lengthwise crease.

Related Topics:
Shellac - Suitcase - Panama hats

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Due to the round stiff nature of most hats, special hat boxes were created to store them when not in use. They are simple cylindrical cardboard boxes with a fitted lid and are often covered in colored printed paper. Several hats may be stacked upon each other if they are of similar sizes and styles. It is important to support the hat by the sweatband to prevent distortion of the brim by either stuffing the crown with tissue paper or using something to approximate a head.

Related Topics:
Hat boxes - Cylindrical - Cardboard - Paper

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A hat may also have a "snap" brim. In this case, the brim is constructed so that the front or back can be turned up or down or in alternate directions and hold this shape. Some hats may also feature a wire in the edge of the brim so that the wearer may shape the brim in any way possible.

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When a hat is made, it is also blocked to a certain hat size. Generally, less expensive hats will be a named size such as small, medium, large, and extra large. Finer hats are more strictly fitted to a person's head and have a numerical size. A numerical hat size is merely the average diameter of the head, determined by measuring the circumference of a person's head about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) above the ears, dividing by pi, and rounding to the nearest centimeter or eighth inch. Also note that in the UK, an equivalent hat size is an eighth inch smaller than in the US. Most hats can be stretched by up to two hat sizes.

Related Topics:
Diameter - Circumference - Inch - Cm - Pi - UK - US

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