sombrero
{{Short description|Traditional Mexican folk hat}}
{{Other uses|Sombrero (disambiguation)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox clothing type
| name = Sombrero
| image_file = CharroHatsMAPDF.JPG
| caption = Various sombreros on display at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City
| type = Hat
| material =
| location = Mexico
}}
In English, a {{langnf|es|sombrero|hat|paren=left}}, {{literal translation|shadower|lk=yes}}; {{IPA|es|somˈbɾeɾo|lang}}) is a type of wide-brimmed Mexican men's hat used to shield the face and eyes from the sun. It usually has a high, pointed crown; an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck, and shoulders of the wearer) that is slightly upturned at the edge; and a chin strap to hold it in place.
In Mexico, this hat type is known as a {{lang|es|sombrero de charro}}{{cite book|author=Valero Silva, José |title=El libro de la charrería |trans-title= The book of the charrería |date=1987 |location=Mexico City |publisher=Gráficas Montealbán |page=222 |language=es}} ('charro hat', referring to the traditional Mexican horsemen).
In Spanish, any hat is considered a sombrero.{{cite book |last=Slatta |first=Richard W. |date=1996 |title=The Cowboy Encyclopedia |isbn= 0-393-31473-1}}
Design
Sombreros, like cowboy hats, were designed in response to the demands of the physical environment. High crowns provide insulation, and wide brims provide shade. Hot and sunny climates inspire such tall-crowned, wide-brimmed designs,{{r|bender}} and hats with one or both of these features have evolved again and again in history and across cultures. For example, the Greek petasos of two millennia ago, and the traditional conical hat widespread in different regions of Asia{{snd}}into modern times{{snd}}incorporate such heat-mitigating features.{{multiref2|1=Peralta, J. T. (2013). "Salakot and Other Headgear". National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) & Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP). UNESCO.|2={{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sacks |first1=David |others=Revised by Lisa R. Brody |title=Clothing |date=2005 |url-access=registration |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-5722-1 |page=87 |edition=Revised |orig-date=First edition published 1995 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World |ref=none |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofan0000sack_l8g9/page/86/mode/2up}}}} Designs specifically for riders on horseback with these details can be seen at least as far back as the Mongolian horsemen of the 13th century.{{r|bender|china hstry}}
Its precise evolution is unknown, but it is usually accepted that the Mexican-style sombrero's specific form arose amongst mestizo cowboys in Central Mexico.{{r|bender|p=11}} One early style believed to be a forerunner of the Mexican sombrero form was a style worn by wealthy Spanish landowners of colonial-era Andalusia and Navarre.{{r|news bundle}}{{bsn|reason=These are general news or magazine articles. Scholarly history sources are needed. |date=March 2025}} Although in English sombrero is usually understood to refer to the traditional Mexican headwear, the term sombrero predates this item of clothing, and has been applied to several differing styles of hat. Other types of hats known as sombrero can be found in South America and Spain. These include: the Spanish {{lang|es|sombrero calañés}} from Huelva, {{lang|es|sombrero cordobés}} of Córdoba, and {{lang|es|sombrero de catite}} of Andalusia; and the Colombian {{lang|es|sombrero vueltiao}}.
Cultural influence
The Mexican variation of the sombrero added an even wider brim and a high, conical crown. These are the hats worn by mariachi musicians and {{lang|es|charros}}. Both types of sombreros usually include a {{lang|es|barboquejo}} or chin strap.
In the Western United States, the sombrero had a high conical or cylindrical crown with a saucer-shaped brim, highly embroidered and made of plush felt.Carlson, Paul Howard (2006). The Cowboy Way: An Exploration of History and Culture. p. 102. {{ISBN|0-89672-583-9}}.
In the Philippines, due to the influence from Spain brought about by the Manila galleon trade, the term has been assimilated into the Tagalog language in the form of {{lang|tl|sumbrero}} and now refers to any hat – from Mexican sombreros (as used in the English language) to baseball caps.{{cite web | title = Hat is Sumbrero in Tagalog | url = http://www.yeepe.com/dictionary/details.asp?id=603 | access-date = 2009-05-22 | archive-date = 2014-02-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140222030042/http://www.yeepe.com/dictionary/details.asp?id=603 }}
The galaxy Messier 104 is known as the Sombrero Galaxy due to its appearance.{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/25522-sombrero-galaxy.html|title=Sombrero Galaxy: Hidden Double in a Hat|website=Space.com|date=16 April 2014 |access-date=2 June 2015}} Similarly, Tampa Stadium was also known as "The Big Sombrero". In mathematics, the Jinc function is sometimes called the sombrero function and in physics, the Sombrero potential is a prescription for the potential energy that leads to the Higgs mechanism.
File:A smile of triumph.jpg|A Mexican Escaramuza charra wearing a sombrero in a chareada
File:Apache chief Eskiminzin.jpg|An Apache chief with a sombrero
File:Pancho villa horseback.jpg|Pancho Villa wearing a sombrero
See also
- Jarabe Tapatío, often referred to as the Mexican hat dance
- Ranch
- Vaquero
- Western wear
Other kinds of hats:
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{Cite book |last1=Dai |first1=Qin xiang|last2=Lu |first2=Qin |last3=Li |first3=Yalin |date=1998 |title=Zhongguo gudai fushi |id= 戴钦祥 [Dai Qin xiang]; 陆钦 [Lu Qin]; 李亚麟 [Li Yalin] |script-title=zh: 中国古代服饰 |trans-title=Ancient Chinese Costume |publisher=Shangwu yinshu guan 商务印书馆 |page=82|ref=none|language=zh}}|3=
{{cite conference|title=Mongol Costume – Historical and Recent |book-title=Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference {{!}} PIAC |last=Cammann |first=Schuyler Van R.|pages=157–166 |conference=Aspects of Altaic Civilization. Held at Indiana University, 4–9 June 1962 |series=Uralic and Altaic Series |publisher=Curzon Press |location=London |editor=Denis Sinor|date=1963|ref=none |quote-page=160 |quote=...{{nbsp}}summer hats with wide brims{{nbsp}}... sometimes split at the sides, so the front could be worn down as an eye-shade, or the back down to protect the back of the neck.}}|4={{cite book |last1=Shea |first1=Eiren L. |title=Mongol Court Dress, Identity Formation, and Global Exchange |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group |location=New York |isbn=9780367356187 |page=89 |quote=According to the Yuan shi,{{nbsp}}... the brimmed hat [was] in response to Khubilai complaining that the sun was blinding his soldiers.|ref=none}} }}
}}
External links
- {{Commons category inline|Sombreros}}
{{Hats}}
{{Folk costume}}