A hat is a type of head covering. Many different styles of head coverings fall into the hat category.
Men have always warn hats, but until the late Middle Ages women have preferred veils.
Sometimes a hat is worn to indicate the status or rank of the wearer in some cases. Here are a few of the different styles of hats that exist. The sombrero is a high-crowned hat of felt or straw with a wide brim rolled up at the edges. The cowboy adaptation of this style is usually fashioned of beaver felt to repel rain and known as a 10-gallon hat. The fez is a brimless, cone-shaped hat, usually of red felt with a flat crown and a long tassel.