Boater (hat)

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Boater (hat)

A boater (also basher, skimmer, katie, or sennit
Sennit

Sennit is a kind of rope made by braid thinner strands of rope or grass. It can also be used ornamentally in crafts, like a kind of macrame, or to make straw hats....
hat) is a kind of hat

Hat

A hat is a headcovering. It may be worn for protection against the elements, for religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status....
associated with sailing and boating.

It is normally made of sennit

Sennit

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Hat

Sennit

Sennit is a kind of rope made by braid thinner strands of rope or grass. It can also be used ornamentally in crafts, like a kind of macrame, or to make straw hats....
straw and has a stiff or soft flat crown and brim, typically with a ribbon around the crown, which is often in colours representing a school, rowing crew or similar institution. Boaters were popular as summer headgear in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and were supposedly worn by FBI agents as a sort of unofficial uniform in the pre-war

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
years. Nowadays they are rarely seen except at sailing or rowing events, period theatrical and musical performances (e.g. barbershop music

Barbershop music

Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era , is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonance and dissonance four-part chord s for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture....
) or as part of old-fashioned school uniform

School uniform

File:Primary Student of Pakistan.JPGSchool uniforms are common in primary school and secondary schools in many nations. They are the most widely known form of student uniform; other types of which include uniforms worn by students participating in higher vocational training, such as in health occupations....
, such as at Harrow School

Harrow School

Harrow School, commonly known as "Harrow", is a world-famous boys' independent school in United Kingdom. Harrow has educated boys since 1243 but was officially founded by John Lyon under a Royal Charter of Elizabeth I in 1572....
.

Inexpensive foam or plastic skimmers are sometimes seen at political rallies in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.

In Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
the boater is still a common part of the school uniform in many boys schools, such as Shore School, Knox Grammar School

Knox Grammar School

Knox Grammar School is an Independent school, Uniting Church in Australia, Day school and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia....
and Maritzburg College

Maritzburg College

Maritzburg College, known locally as College, is a state school high school for boys situated in the city of Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa....
.

Being made of straw, the boater was and is generally regarded as a warm-weather hat. In the days when men all wore hats when out of doors, "Straw Hat Day", the day when men switched from wearing their winter hats to their summer hats, was seen as a sign of the beginning of summer. The exact date of Straw Hat Day might vary slightly from place to place. For example, in Philadelphia, it was May 15; at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is America's first university and is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States....
, it was the second Saturday in May.

The boater is a fairly formal hat, equivalent in formality to the Homburg

Homburg (hat)

A homburg is a stiff felt hat characterized by a single dent running down the center of the crown and a brim fixed in a tight, upwards curl. It is superficially similar to the trilby or Fedora ; trilbys and fedoras, however, have soft, "snappable" brims and can have various designs "pinched" into the crown, whereas the shape of a homburg is...
, and so is correctly worn either in its original setting with a blazer, or in the same situations as a Homburg, such as a smart lounge suit, or with black tie.