A cap is a flat

headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's Human head, head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protective clothing, protection against t ...

, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head covering". Over time, the word has evolved and changed its meaning, but it still retains its association with headwear. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal settings, and are seen in sports and fashion. They are typically designed for warmth, and often incorporate a visor to block sunlight from the eyes. They come in many shapes, sizes, and are of different brands.

Baseball cap A baseball cap is a type of soft cap, hat with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front. The front of the hat typically displays a design or a logo (historically, usually only a sports team, namely a baseball team, or names of releva ...

s are one of the most common types of cap.

Types

Ascot cap The Ascot cap, also known as the Coffey cap or Lippincott cap, is a men's hard cap similar to the flat cap, but distinguished by its hardness and rounded shape. Ascot caps are typically made from fur or wool felt and worn in the fall or winter, ...

* Ayam *

Baggy green The baggy green is a cricket cap of dark myrtle green colour, which has been worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century. The cap was not originally baggy as evidenced by photographs of early players. Th ...

* Balmoral *

Beanie (North America) In New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere, a beanie is a head-hugging brimless cap, sometimes made from triangular panels of material joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides. Beanies may be ...

Bearskin A bearskin is a tall fur cap derived from mitre#Military uniform, mitre caps worn by grenadier units in the 17th and 18th centuries. Initially worn by only grenadiers, bearskins were later used by several other military units in the 19th centur ...

Beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

Biretta The biretta () is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three-peaked biretta is worn by Christian clergy, especially Catholic Church hierarchy, Roman Catholic clergy, as well as some ...

* Busby *

Canterbury cap The Canterbury cap is a square cloth hat with sharp corners. It originated in the Middle Ages, and is commonly found in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Catholic Church where it is used by Anglican Ordinariate clergy. It is also soft and ...

Cap and bells The cap and bells is a type of fool's cap with bells worn by a court fool or jester. The bells were also added to the dangling sleeves and announced the appearance of the jester. Forms The cap and bells could be in the following forms:Lucy Bart ...

Cap of maintenance A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

Casquette A casquette () is a peaked cotton cap traditionally worn by road cyclists. With the introduction of compulsory cycle helmets for massed-start racing, casquettes have become less common, but most professional race outfits still have them produce ...

Caubeen The caubeen (; ) is an Irish beret, originally worn by 16th-century Irish men.Terence Patrick Dolan: A Dictionary of Hiberno-English. Gill and MacMillan, Dublin. 1999. Carleton, William (1856) ''Willy Reilly and his dear Colleen Bawn'' Chap. ...

Caul A caul is a piece of membrane that can cover a newborn's head and face. Birth with a caul is rare, occurring in less than 1 in 80,000 births. The caul is harmless and is immediately removed by the attending parent, physician, or midwife upon birt ...

Coif A coif () is a close fitting cap worn by both men and women that covers the top, back, and sides of the head. History Coifs date from the tenth century, but fell out of popularity with men in the fourteenth century."A New Look for Women." Arts ...

Combination cap A peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover, or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It d ...

(also known as a service cap) * Coppola *

Cricket cap A cricket cap is a type of soft cap, often made from felt, that is a traditional form of headwear for players of the game of cricket, regardless of age or sex. It is usually a tight-fitting skullcap, usually made of six or eight sections, wit ...

Deerstalker A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear f ...

Do-rag A durag ( alternate spellings) is a close-fitting cloth tied around the top of the head to protect the hair; similarly a wave cap is a close-fitting cap for the same purpose. Durags may be worn to accelerate the development of long curly/kinky ...

Dutch cap A Dutch cap or Dutch bonnet is a style of woman's hat associated with the various traditional Dutch woman's costumes. Usually made of white cotton or lace, it is sometimes characterized by triangular flaps or wings that turn up on either side. ...

* Dixie cup, an enlisted sailor's cap, also worn by first-year midshipmen at Annapolis * Fez *

Flat cap A flat cap is a rounded cap with a small stiff brim in front, originating in Northern England. The hat is also known in Ireland as a paddy cap; in Scotland as a bunnet; in Wales as a Dai cap; and in the United States as an English cap or Irish ...

(also known as a Kerry cap in Ireland (slang of Paddy cap—see also Caubeen), longshoreman's cap, scally cap, Wigens cap, ivy cap, golf cap, duffer cap, driving cap, bicycle cap, Jeff cap, or in Scotland, bunnet, or in Wales, Dai cap, or in England or New Zealand, cheese-cutter) * Forage cap * Gandhi cap *

Garrison cap A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

* Greek fisherman's cap (also known as a Breton cap or a fiddler's cap) * Juliet cap * Kalpak, a traditional Turkic cap * Karakul *

Kepi The kepi ( ) is a cap with a flat circular top and a peak, or visor. In English, the term is a loanword from , itself a re-spelled version of the , a diminutive form of , meaning . In Europe, the kepi is most commonly associated with French ...

Kippah A (plural: ''kippot''), , or is a brimless Jewish cap, skullcap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that the Head covering, head be covered. It is the most common type of head-coverin ...

(also known as yarmulke or skull cap)—worn by Jewish males *

Knit cap A knit cap, colloquially known as a beanie, is a piece of knitted headwear designed to provide warmth in cold weather. It usually has a simple tapered shape, although more elaborate variants exist. Historically made of wool, it is now often mad ...

(also known as a Tuque, stocking cap, wool cap, watch cap, ski cap, bobble hat) * Kufi (also known as a kofia; an African cap worn with a dashiki) * Lika cap * M43 field cap * Mao cap * Meyrick Helmet * Monmouth cap *

Newsboy cap The newsboy cap, newsie cap, gatsby, jeff cap, or baker boy hat (British) is a casual-wear cap similar in style to the flat cap. It has a similar overall shape and stiff peak (visor) in front as a flat cap, but the body of the cap is rounder ...

* Nightcap * Nurse cap * Ochipok *

Pakol The Pakol or Pakul (, , , Pashto: پکول) is a soft, flat, rolled-up, round-topped men's cap, usually worn in eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is typically made of wool and found in a variety of earthy colours, such as brown, black, grey, ...

* Papakhi *

Patrol cap A patrol cap, also known as a field cap or soft cap, is a soft kepi constructed similarly to a baseball cap, with a stiff, rounded visor but featuring a flat top, worn by military personnel of some countries in the field when a combat helmet is no ...

Peaked cap A peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover, or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It d ...

Phrygian cap The Phrygian cap ( ), also known as Thracian cap and liberty cap, is a soft Pointed hat, conical Hat, cap with the apex bent over, associated in Classical antiquity, antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and Asia. The Phry ...

* Rastacap *

Sailor cap A sailor cap is a round, flat visorless hat worn by sailors in many of the world's navies. A tally, an inscribed black silk ribbon, is tied around the base which usually bears the name of a ship or a navy. Many navies (e.g. Germany) tie the ta ...

Shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or Cap badge, badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, hackle ...

* Shower cap * Sindhi cap * Sports visor *

Square academic cap The square academic cap, graduate cap, cap, mortarboard (because of its similarity in appearance to the mortarboard used by brickmasons to hold mortar) or Oxford cap is an item of academic dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upo ...

* Stormy Kromer cap *

Swim cap A swimming cap, swim cap or bathing cap, is a tightly fitted, skin-tight garment, commonly made from silicone, latex or lycra, worn on the head by recreational and competitive swimmers. Swim caps are worn for various reasons: they can be worn to ...

* Tam o' Shanter * Taqiyah, worn by Muslim males *

Toque A toque ( or ) is a type of hat with a narrow brim or no brim at all. Toques were popular from the 13th to the 16th century in Europe, especially France. They were revived in the 1930s; nowadays, they are primarily known as the traditional hea ...

* Tubeteika *

Ushanka An ushanka (, , from , ), also called an ushanka-hat (, ), is a Russian fur hat with ear-covering flaps that can be tied up on the crown of the cap, or fastened at the chin to protect the ears, jaw, and lower chin from the cold. An alternativ ...

* Utility cover *

Zucchetto The zucchetto (, also ,"zucchetto"
(US) and ,< ...

Baseball caps

* Fitted cap * Snapback *

Trucker hat A trucker hat, mesh cap or netback cap is a soft hat with a rounded crown and a stiff flat bill projecting in front. It is also sometimes known as a "gimme s in 'give me'cap" or a "feed cap" because this style of hat originated during the 1970 ...

Present day depictions of caps

Caps might have started off as a way to keep people shaded from the sun, but now they are much more than that. Caps have been made a staple in both the sports and fashion industries, one leading into the other.

Sports

As stated earlier, caps are typically designed with a visor which makes it perfect for keeping a person cool from the heat and sheltering a person's eyes from the sun, so it was a matter of time before they made it to the sports industry. The first sport to adopt wearing caps was baseball, the hats were made out of straw and were worn on April 24, 1849, by the New York Knickerbockers. However, within a few years time the team began to wear a cap made of fine merino wool, that featured a crown and an attached visor. This design became the prototype for caps of that time and still the most popular in present day. It's also not the only design for baseball hats but other sports as well, such as cricket, golf and tennis.

Fashion

Sportswear found its way to fashion in the nineteenth century and on the contrary to what many believe it began to actually cater to the wants and needs of women. Sports cap however made an impact on the fashion industry around the 1980s when the company New Era, who had been designing hats for sports teams, began designing and selling hats to the general public. Baseball caps, fitted caps, snapback caps and truckers hats would then be seen in music videos, films, runways and even on Princess Diana's head, which helped nurture her appearance as the "people's princess." Along with hats, sports jerseys also became available in the 1980s as well, and now licensed apparel is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Gallery

File:Cap MET 26.231.8.jpg, Italian cap, c. 17th century.

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

References

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