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 * Ayam * Baggy green * Balmoral * Beanie (North America) * Bearskin *

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 * Busby * Canterbury cap * Cap and bells * Cap of maintenance * Casquette * Caubeen *

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 *

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 * Deerstalker * Do-rag * Dutch cap * Dixie cup, an enlisted sailor's cap, also worn by first-year midshipmen at Annapolis * Fez * Flat cap (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 * Glengarry * Greek fisherman's cap (also known as a Breton cap or a fiddler's cap) * Juliet cap * Kalpak, a traditional Turkic cap * Karakul * Kepi *

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 * Papakhi * Patrol cap *

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 * Stormy Kromer cap * Swim cap * Tam o' Shanter * Taqiyah, worn by Muslim males * Toque * 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

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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