Diary

An essential summer accessory, the straw hat brings a touch of style and elegance to any outfit. Before becoming a fashion accessory, its function, purely utilitarian, was to protect from the sun. Canopea invites you to discover the history of the straw hat, from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The straw hat to protect the farmers

In the Middle Ages, the straw hat was an essential part of the farming outfit of men and women who wore it to protect themselves from the sun during the long hours they spent working in the fields. Their hats were wide-brimmed and woven with straw or reed.

The straw hat and Italy

It was not until the 16th century and the Renaissance that the straw hat changed its status and became a fashion accessory for noble ladies. In Italy, in Tuscany, in the cities of Florence, Fiesole and Signa, new commerce and artisanal industries around straw appeared. The straw industry and the hat industry provided a living for thousands of people. The ladies of high rank personalized their hats by accessorizing them with leaves, flowers and ribbons. The craze for this new accessory is such that the straw hat fashion crosses the oceans to develop as far as the United States.

The straw hat in France

In France, in the 19th century, the straw hat seduced the bourgeoisie. The garden hat became the essential accessory of every elegant woman, not only for her walks in the garden, but also for social events. Nothing is too beautiful to accessorize this element underlining the rank and fortune of the wearer. Flowers, leaves and fabrics embellish it to give it a unique character. The straw hat was so popular that it inspired one of the most famous vaudeville writers of the time. In 1851, Eugène Labiche chose to make it a central element of his play Un Chapeau de paille d'Italie, in which the accessory, devoured by a horse, is the starting point of a series of love misunderstandings of which the author is a specialist.

The straw hat and artists

As early as 1782, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun depicts herself wearing a straw hat in a painting soberly titled Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat. It was not until the 19th century that the straw hat became an accessory in the composition of many paintings. It is found in Cézanne (Man with a Straw Hat and Child with a Straw Hat) and in a series of self-portraits by Vincent Van Gogh.

The straw hat is part of many country scenes of the Impressionists: Auguste Renoir (The Boaters' Lunch, Boaters in Chatou, Ball of the Moulin de la Galette, The swing, The romper, among others). Gustave Caillebotte also seems to appreciate the accessory, which he wears on many of his characters, both female and male (The park of the Caillebotte property in Yerres, The gardeners, Angling, The orange trees, Perissoires on Hyères). In Edgar Degas, we find it as an emblem of La Modiste. The world of the Impressionists is also the atmosphere of the banks of the Marne, the guinguettes and the... canotiers, a world specific to Paris at the end of the 19th century.

The canotiers, a special place in the world of straw hats

In the 19th century in Paris, the canotiers were not yet the hats we know, but the men who maneuvered the sailing boats on the Seine. They wore a straw hat with a flat brim and bottom decorated with a large braid, borrowed from the sailors' outfit, and to which they gave their name. The canotier, first worn by men, is then declined in feminine versions. It was the sportswomen who were the first to adopt it, for hunting, cycling and horse riding. Coming from the men's world, and rid of all the frills that adorned women's hats, the canotier has everything to please Gabrielle Chanel. She made it the emblem of her new feminine silhouette, at the beginning of the 20th century. The canotier becomes thereafter a sign of recognition for artists of music-hall like Maurice Chevalier or Fred Astaire.

Simon Porte Jacquemus and his straw hats

All this brings us slowly to the world of fashion today, and particularly that of the French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus. He has a marked taste for the straw hat and integrates it widely in his collections. His first model appeared in the Spring-Summer 2017 collection, a flat and wide model adorned with a braid, which is reminiscent of Provençal hats, the designer's home region.

Two seasons later, the Spring-Summer 2018 collection unveils a straw hat with extraordinary dimensions, a very large capeline, which covers the head and shoulders. Never seen before. Such a hat can only capture the interest of fashionistas. It became in a short time a very sought after accessory for brides, replacing the traditional veil. It was thought to be relegated to the windows of museums, and here is that the straw hat is back in force with the elegant of this early twenty-first century. Hats off!