Published on 12, July, 2020
Covering ones head and or hair has been something humans have done for a very long time and seems to be about much more than warmth. I remember my Mum always weraing a headscarf, Princess Anne style, when I was a child, my Nan would never go out without a hat, I remember watching her fiddling about with her hat pins, and being convinced that she had had holes in the back of her head to stick the pins in and was wiggling the pins about trying to find them.
In medieval times people rarely went out with thier heads uncovered, loose hair was a sign of being unmarried and hair ups were something you did when married.
People still get in dreadful flaps about things like hijabs, let alone veils and covered faces, and yet this has been one of the longest commonly observed customs in human history accross cultures and countries.
Do you alwways wear a hat or head covering? What sort and why?
I'm always hatless, I'd like to be on better terms with hats, I actually look quite good in hats, but my hair disagrees, I'm sure it has invisible arms that reach up and push off any head covering. Me and my boss used to go to a large dept store of a lunch time to play with the hats as we both found it stress busting.
I am bald so wear a hat most of the time, when outside, in cold weather to keep my head warm and in summer to protect from sunburn. Even hazy sunshine can burn a scalp. I mostly wear flat caps or 'post boy' caps, occasionally a baseball cap, but in very sunny weather, a Panama. As a gentleman I always remove my hat when entering building, but find shopping malls and railway stations a bit of a grey area. I have a traditional black Polish Maciejowska cap, when I wear that and my black overcoat I really do look like Lenin!