There are various reasons for wearing a hat. We had the weather reason yesterday. But we could wear hats for ceremonial reasons, religious, safety or fashion. Social status was an important determinant in hats in the Middle Ages. Status increased as the height of the hat increased.
Hats communicated visually - and at a distance. They clearly indicated what status, what type of work, how important a person was, all kinds of things. Think of the headwear of the Roman Catholic church and its complications. Women were required to wear chapel veils to Mass while men were required to remove their headwear. So many rules for what was on the head.
I wondered about hats - a bellboy appeared in my dream last night. Bellboy hats seem particularly demeaning to me. Is that the case?
It is part of the uniform of a 'bellhop' The bell-boy hat is based in the 19th century military drummer boy's cap. This hat has a long history in the military.
Similar to me are the forage caps - also peakless caps in the military. They were considered undress, fatigue or working headwear.
And what about sailor hats? They seem close to bellboy hats. I looked at pictures of them. They still have a brim, which seems to have more status. Even the dixie cup hat of the U.S. shows a 'peaked' sort of edge.
Back to our bellboy. In comparison, doormen had peaked hats, wore special coats and even the buttons could distinguish which hotel they worked at. Quite a lot was said by the hotel right at the door.
Let's see what our weather brings us today. Yesterday, I cooked dinner on the stove in the dark due to a power outage. Today's advisory has freezing drizzle, fog, wind, and rain in the evening. Something of everything today.
