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- For the 1974 Soviet film see The Straw Hat
The Straw Hat is a 1974 Soviet musical comedy film directed by Leonid Kvinikhidze based on a play by Eugène Labiche. Music composed by Isaac Schwartz.-Plot summary:The extravagant life of a charming rentier who thought nothing of consequences...
. For the main character from One Pieceis a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
, see Straw Hat Luffy, often addressed as , is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. He is introduced as a boy who possesses elasticity powers from eating a devil fruit called the Gum-Gum Fruit and superhuman strength....
.
A
straw hat is a brimmed
hatA hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...
that is
wovenBasket weaving is the process of weaving unspun vegetable fibres into a basket or other similar form. People and artists who weave baskets are called basketmakers and basket weavers.Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials•anything that will bend and form a shape...
out of
strawStraw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
or
reedsPhragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
. The hat is designed to protect the head from the sun and against heatstroke, but straw hats were also used in
fashionFashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
and as a decorative element of a
uniformA uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
.
Manufacture
There are several styles of straw hats, but all of them are woven using some form of
plant fibreFiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. The fibers may be chemically modified, like in viscose or cellophane...
. Many of these hats are formed in a similar way to
feltFelt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
hats; they are softened by
steamSteam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
or by submersion in hot water, and then formed by hand or over a
hat blockA hat block, also known as a hat form or bashing block, is a wooden block carved into the shape of a hat by a craftsman known as a block shaper. It is used by hat makers or milliners to produce a hat....
. Finer and more expensive straw hats have a tighter and more consistent weave. Since it takes much more time to weave a larger hat than a smaller one, larger hats are more expensive.
History
Straw hats have been worn consistently in Europe and Asia in the Summer since antiquity, and arguably are the least-changed form of headgear, since many medieval examples would draw no special attention if worn today. Many are to be seen in the famous calendar miniatures of the
Très Riches Heures du Duc de BerryThe Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry or simply the Très Riches Heures is a richly decorated book of hours commissioned by John, Duke of Berry, around 1410...
, worn by all classes, mostly by men.
Types of straw hats
Straw hats are commonly blocked into shapes found in felt hats.
- Panama hat
A Panama hat is a traditional brimmed hat of Ecuadorian origin that is made from the plaited leaves of the toquilla straw plant...
— a fine and expensive hat made in EcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
.
- Conical hat — the distinctive hat worn primarily by farmers in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
.
- Boater hat
A boater is a kind of men's formal summer hat....
— a formal straw hat with a flat top and brim.
Arts
Artwork produced during the Middle Ages shows, among the more fashionably dressed, possibly the most spectacular straw hats ever seen on men in the West, notably those worn in the
Arnolfini PortraitThe Arnolfini Portrait is an oil painting on oak panel dated 1434 by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It is also known as The Arnolfini Wedding, The Arnolfini Marriage, The Arnolfini Double Portrait or the Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, among other titles...
of 1434 by
Jan van EyckJan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
(tall, stained black) and by
Saint GeorgeSaint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
in a painting by
PisanelloPisanello , known professionally as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, also erroneously called Vittore Pisano by Giorgio Vasari, was one of the most distinguished painters of the early Italian Renaissance and Quattrocento...
of around the same date (left). In the middle of the 18th century it was fashionable for rich ladies to dress as country girls with a low crowned,wide brimmed straw hat to complete the look.