HOME IS WHERE YOUR HAT IS

The affiliation between headwear and architecture is not a trivial one. Both headwear and architectural structures give shelter and protect against climatological and animal inconveniences (storms, heat, cold, predators or insects) as well as convey sociocultural, economical and aesthetical information about their «inhabitants».

Throughout history and lands, hats have been considered «homes for the head». Here, I am thinking of the Yoruba people (an ethnic group from Western Africa, mainly Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Ghana) and their «Ile Ori», «House of the head» (sort of shrine, usually made in cotton and leather ornated with shells and mirrors, made to honor and guard one’s «ori-inu», «inner head», the essence of one’s being, one’s soul). Within the European geographical context and the language that mothers us all, Proto-Indo-European, the term «kadh», from which the Proto-Germanic term «hattuz» («hat»), the Old English «haett» («hat»), and the Latin «cassis» («helmet») derive, meant «to guard, cover, care for, protect». Interestingly enough, the Proto-Indo-European «káput», «head», shares the same roots : «kap-», «to hold», which evolved to the Germanic «habuda» and the Italic «caput».

The Proto-Indo-European «kadh» is also at the root of those most ancestral and synthetic habitational spaces which are huts and cabbans, which can be traced back to the Neolithic and can still be found throughout Europe. In Spain we call them «chozo», or «choza», built by shepherds to take shelter when grazing their goat and sheep. Even the Spanish term «sombrero», within the Romance (Italic) languages languages, evoques a physical protection. It comes from the Latin «umbra», «shade», joined by the prefix «-sub», «under», and the suffix «-ero», which indicates, among other things, residency, location... A «sombrero» is a place of shade, a place of shelter, made to guard, to hold and protect.

Some of the earliest examples of hats share the shape of those archaic architectural structures. In relatively recent times, we have both the «pîlos», close-fitting brimless conical felt hat, and the «petasos», low dome crown wide brim hat blocked in felt, straw or leather, used by ancient Greeks, then Macedonians and Romans. I find worth noting that these hats were initially worn mainly by freed slaves, commoners and travelers. It is a winged petasos that has traditionally been associated to Hermes, herald of the gods, paradigmatic traveler moving swiftly between the realm of mortals and that of the divine, patron and guard of shepherds and travelers. A pilos is what Odysseus is usually depicted wearing. This made me see anew that appealing couple of roman marbles (copies after Greek originals, aprox. 430 BC) held at the Museo Chiaramonti (Musei Vaticani) depicting both Hermes and Odysseus, «voyagers par excellence», under their pilos. They are still voyaging, but also at home. Hats are home for the head indeed. And home... home is where your hat is.