28 August 2013

About The Bucket Hat

By Beverly Gillespie


Also called fishing hats, the bucket hat is hard-wearing although they are typically made from a soft fabric, such as denim or canvas. They are a bell-type shape with a constant round rim that points outwards. They are popular with fishermen due to their sturdiness, shape and design, as the rim assists keep the sun off the face of the user, and the small metal circles at the sides of the hat assist the head cool down on summer days.

Their tough make-up suggests that the container hat lends itself effectively to numerous outdoor activities and not just fishing. This might be sports such as tennis or golf, or it can be more general outdoor pursuits like mountain or hill trekking. They are normally made from easy fabrics such as cotton, but in some cases Gore-Tex may be made use of, and this variation of hat is specifically preferred by outdoor pursuit types as they are multi-purpose for the differing seasons. The bucket hat, and its slight variations, is decorated all over the world, by all kinds of people, and for a variety of reasons. Container hats are often worn by glider aviators as they shade the face from the sun, however still permit the pilot to have a near 360 degree view. Australians call them the giggle hat, and in Tanzania they are popular with the Iragw individuals senior citizens.

Referred to as an ispoti in South Africa, they are very popular with black youths, and are seen as an important part of metropolitan fashion. Rafael Eitan, the Israeli basic and political leader, was frequently seen putting on one, and thus, in Israel they are known as "Rafael hats". The tembel hat is regarded as the nationwide hat of Israel, and the bucket hat is extremely comparable in style to this kind of hat.

The bucket hat has actually had a feature in popular culture across the years. In the US, they were associated with the popular TELEVISION show "Gilligan's Island" throughout the 60s, as the primary character put on one in almost each episode. For more than 30 years they have been welcomed by hip-hop culture and fashion. This began when the Sugar Hill Gang's Big Bank Hank was initially seen using one in the music video to Rapper's delight, and continued in 1983, when LL Cool J, at the age of 16, was visualized using one. They were popularized further when they were seen used by Run DMC in the mid/late 80s, and Jah Policy in the 90s.

A bucket hat is frequently referred to as "Reni hats" in the UK, as Alan Wren, The Stone Roses drummer, seemed to use his continuously at the height of the band's popularity in the late 80s/early 90s. He typically selected a plain color one, however was also seen wearing a multi-colored, paint splattered variation, motivated by the artist Jackson Pollack. Throughout the 90s, in the UK, container hats made an additional return when the music/fashion link was experienced once again, with the introduction of the band Oasis. They were a favorite of diva Liam Gallagher, implying they were a fashion staple of the festival-going Indie crowd, in the mid-late 90s.




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