Odd Peruvian Hat

[ScottF]

I have a hat similar to the following. My hat is very small and came from Peru. Any idea as to what type of hat this is, use, etc? When I first received mine, I thought it was an anomaly, but the one below has the same shape, brim binding, 2 holes in the side, even the same general type of ribbon treatment (including the small circle):

 

[Marc Chevalier]

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"One of the more striking types of Peruvian and Bolivian clothing is the bowler hat worn by Quechua and Aymara women. Known as a bombin, it was introduced to Peru and Bolivia by British railway workers. It is uncertain why more women tend to wear the bombin than men. For many years, a factory in Italy manufactured bombins for the Peruvian/Bolivian market, but they are now made locally by Peruvians and Bolivians."


It is worn decoratively, as an item of indigenous costume.



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[ScottF]

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"Bowler hats, locally called a bombin, have ... been worn by indigenous Quechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia since the 1920s, when the style was introduced to Bolivia by British railway workers. For many years a factory in Italy manufactured the hats for the Bolivian market, but they are now made locally in Bolivia."


It is worn decoratively, as an item of indigenous costume.



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Thanks Marc.

 

[Aureliano]

In Ecuador, as well as in Peru most indigenous communities from the Andes region make and wear their own hats, usually from wool felt or Vicuña due to the cold. Take a look. The woman in the first image is wearing something similar in shape to Scott's hat.

This other picture is of a community called "Salasacas" they all wear hats too.

 

[hatflick1]

Over the summer I traveled to Peru with my girl friend who was born and raised in Lima. During my visit...Lima, the Sacred Valley, Cusco...I saw many men and women wearing a variety of hats such as bowlers, fedoras, traditional knits and one unlined style that simply looked like a felt cone.
As interesting as the styles were, the quality was generally poor. The wool was coarse. Many straw hats felt like a heavy construction paper and had a plastic sweatband.
I was very disappointed because, as a fedora guy, I was eager to locate a quality Andean hat. The only one that struck me was a fedora worn by a Lima gentleman. When I stopped him on the street and inquired where he purchased it, he told me "LA". It was a Golden Gate 'C' crown, wool.

 

[Aureliano]

Yeah, they are usually very coarse. When my folks were alive and I lived in Quito, Ecuador (we went back & forth from Quito to Buenos Aires but there people wore fine hats) we had a indigenous woman who helped with the garden. She had many hats and I used to play with them. They had, I remember, the feeling of sandpaper!

 

[ScottF]

Yeah, they are usually very coarse. When my folks were alive and I lived in Quito, Ecuador (we went back & forth from Quito to Buenos Aires but there people wore fine hats) we had a indigenous woman who helped with the garden. She had many hats and I used to play with them. They had, I remember, the feeling of sandpaper!

The one I have is high quality felt, but has a faux leather sweatband. I'll clean it up and post pics later. It's also very small, and under the sweat has about 7 signatures of females.

 

[Sam Craig]

Go figure

this was on the opposite side of the continent ...

I was on a mission trip to Honduras a few years ago and we stopped to see the Mayan ruins at Copan and in one of the little shops I bought this nice, cotton duck fedora with "Copan, Honduras" stitched into the front of the crown.

I figured it would make a nice summer wear souvinier.

That evening, after dinner, we were sitting around on the veranda, visiting, and I was looking over my new hat.

In the sweatband I noticed the makers' tag.

My Honduras hat was made in Bangladesh!

Man, they could save money having it made overseas and shipping it across the world to Honduras.

Makes you think ...[huh]

 

[AlterEgo]

A friend of my daughter's was in Peru a few years ago and brought her back a knitted stocking type cap that comes down to cover the ears and has ties to secure it. This style has really caught on here in the states since then and is now widely available, but I've never seen one as nice as it.

It's hand woven by native people and made from 100% vicuna fur, which makes cashmere feel coarse by comparison, and is extremely warm and comfortable. It's one of her favorite possessions, and of course I could not be more pleased that she's getting into hats.

Thanks, Marc, for that info. Bombin--I always wanted to know the proper name for that kind of hat. Though that exact style may have been introduced from Europe, archaeologists have found similar wool headwear in the graves of people of the Andean cultures dating back at least 2500 years. The dry, cold climate has remarkably preserved such textiles.

It appears that virtually all of them wore such hats, and, of course, their descendents still do. Though I think part of the reason is the cold, another reason is that ultraviolet rays are incredbily strong at such high altitudes near the equator, and so hats afford excellent protection from skin damage from the Sun.

Sometimes, I think ancient peoples were a lot smarter than we modern humans.

 

[Panamabob]

The ear flaps hat is a chullo.