The Fez is the hat of a thousand nights! Is it coming back stay tuned and read more here.
A Fez is a hat that can be described as a flowerpot with a tassel. It’s quite similar to the smoking cap. The Fez has had many sizes and shapes over time and in different geographic regions. According to Wikipedia the Fez gets its distinctive red hue from a dye collected from the bright red berries of the Turkish kizilcik a cousin to the American Dogwood.
The Fez should not be confused with the Checheya, a red cap in the shape of a truncated cone. It was Byzantine Greek in origin but was mainly worn by many groups in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Interestingly the fez was later discouraged and then banned in Turkey through the Hat Law (1925) and the law relating to prohibited garments (1934). I don’t think there is a ban now.
In some references it is said that the Fez comes from the town of Fez in Morocco. I fancy that this may be an Urban Legend. This is the attribution in the Shriners website. I did no further research to verify. The Shriners note that the fez was referred to in the Arabian Nights” in texts from the Middle Ages. Quite interesting perhaps someone should look into this further.
There is a version of the Fez in Indonesia called the “Peci”. That hat is black, elliptical in shape and often decorated with embroideries. The Fez has been used as a military hat in the Ottoman Empire and also in some military units in Colonial Africa over the years.
You may be familiar with the Shriners. They wear the hat as part of their dress and you often see them in parades getting up to various antics such as driving tiny Go Karts.
Here is an old example of a Fez hat as worn by the Shriners. No offence to Muslims this is actually how the Shriners have their hats even today.
The tradition of Fez wearing by Shriners goes back several hundred years (I believe the eighteenth century). This Arabic tradition comes from the Freemasons. In order to qualify as a Shriner you have to be a man who belongs to the Freemasons holding the title of Master Mason. (Yes I know ladies let us not say why do they not admit women remember we do have women only groups -- just as long as business clubs are open to women to allow a level playing field). Shriners do great works and have funded children’s hospitals in particular. Further information can be found on their Website.
The Fez was made popular several years ago by a British Comedian Tommy Cooper. Tommy performed a magic act that was also a kind of stand up comedian. He wore a Fez I am not sure why -- no offence to the Arabic world was intended -- a different time. You can see an example of his work in the following You Tube clip
This is the link.
This is the video
Recently the Fez is often portrayed in popular culture as a sort of relaxation cap worn by men -- somewhat similar to the smoking cap. It may be making a comeback. Again according to Wikipedia the London Street wear label Yes No Maybe, in conjunction with the New Era Cap Company produced a fez cap as a tribute to Tommy Cooper. Then it is only modelled on a Fez.
Thank you for hanging in here with me everyone your patience will be rewarded. I have been extremely busy on a number of projects and I expect to return to a frequent posting about hats again
I was writing this post last night my Virus Protection Norton sent me a flashing message that a virus had hit my computer. This cost me four hours to do a scan quarantine of the virus and a complete back up of my computer on a back up drive. Thank heavens I have all this. If you do not have a lot of virus protection or back up please take my advice and get some. I also back up this and other blog databases. Please ask me if you want more information.
Tonight also my website crashed for 30 minutes. The show must go on and I kept going LOL.
On a positive note I have been studying how to do pod casting and I will start doing some fun recorded posts here very soon.
