hats

One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a Thebes tomb painting which shows a man wearing a coolie-style straw hat. Other early hats were the Pileus, a simple skull cap; the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome; and the Greek Pestasos, the first known hat with a brim. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples. Structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century.

Hat design Paris millinery shop, 1822

A hat consists of four main parts:Crown - The portion of a hat covering the top of the head

• Peak (British English), visor (American English), or bill, a stiff projection at the front, to shade or shield the eyes from sun and rain
• Brim, an optional projection of stiff material from the bottom of the hat's crown horizontally all around the circumference of the hat
• Puggaree (British) or sweatband or hatband (American), a ribbon or band that runs around the bottom of the torso of the hat. The sweatband may be adjustable with a cord or rope at the top and is on the inside of the hat touching the skin while the hatband and puggaree are around the outside.  Famous hatmakers

One of the most famous London hatters is James Lock & Co of St James's Street.Another was Sharp & Davis of 6 Fish Street Hill John B. Stetson is a well-known American hat company.[citation needed] Notable Belgian hat designers are Elvis Pompilio and Fabienne Delvigne, whose hats are worn by European royals.