Headgear

Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for religious or cultural reasons, including social conventions.

Headgear may be worn for protection against cold (such as the Canadian tuque), heat, rain and other precipitation, glare, sunburn, sunstroke, dust, contaminants, etc. Helmets are worn for protection in battle or against impact, for instance when riding bicycles or motor vehicles.

Headgear can be an article of fashion, usually hats, caps or hoods. The formal man's black silk top hat was formerly an indispensable portion of the suit, and women's hats have, over the years, attained a fantastic number of shapes ranging from immense confections to no more than a few bits of cloth and decorations piled on top of the head. Some hats, such as Deep Blue Sea, are showpiece creations created more as works of art than as practical items of fashion, and may be worth thousands or millions of dollars.

Some headgear is worn for religious reasons.

In Judaism, men cover their heads out of reverence for God. Jewish religious headgear for men include small cloth skull-caps, called kippahs or yarmulkes. Some men wear them at all times, others only in the synagogue. In Orthodox and Hasidic Judaism, the kippah may also be additionally covered by hats such as fedoras or shtreimels. Traditional married Jewish women cover their hair in various ways, such as with headscarfs, called tichels, snoods, shpitzels or wigs, called "sheitels", according to the principles and halacha of tzniut.

Traditionally, Christian women are required to wear a headcovering as taught in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 (the same text teaches that men are to pray and worship with their head uncovered), which has been practiced since the time of the early Church and continues to be observed universally in certain denominations, such as in Conservative Anabaptist churches. The style of the headcovering varies by region, though the early Church's Apostolic Tradition specifies that Christian headcovering is to be observed with an "opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen". With respect to Christian clergy, the zucchetto worn by Roman Catholic hierarchs is a skull-cap. Other forms of apostolic headgear include the mitre, biretta, tasselled cardinal's hat, and the papal tiara. Orthodox Christian clergy and monastics often wear a skufia, a kamilavkion, or a klobuk. The term red hat, when used within the Roman Catholic Church, refers to the appointment of a Cardinal, a senior "Prince of the Church", who is a member of the electoral college that chooses the Pope. On being appointed to the cardinalate, he is said to have received the red hat, or cardinal's biretta. In Lutheranism, many clergy wear the ruff and in Anglicanism, the Canterbury cap is popular among pastors.

Male Sikhs are required to wear turbans. Some Sikh women also wear a turban; however it is not a requirement for female Sikhs. Turbans are also worn by Muslims, especially Shia Muslims, who regard turban-wearing as Sunnah Mu'akkadah (confirmed tradition).

In Islam, the hijab, or headscarf, is worn by women because it is considered modest. Muslim men also sometimes wear a skullcap called a "kufi" or taqiyah (cap), especially during prayers. Headgear differs from culture to culture, and some Muslims' headgear is not related to their religion, such as the turbans worn in Saudi Arabia. The doppa, originating in the Caucasus, is worn by Kazan Tatars, Uzbeks and Uyghurs. Muslim men in Indonesia and Malaysia are often seen wearing a kopiah, but its use pre-dates the arrival of Islam in the region.