During My research into head-wear I begun to look at hats that are for wearing in church. Hat wearing in church is common among the African American community and in a book by Micheal Cunningham and Craig Marberry called 'Crowns' which explores the history of the church hat in the African American culture.
The traditional use of hats in church is said to have originated from the apostle Paul which declares that all women should cover their heads while in worship this ... most with African American women who embraced this with flamboyant church hats. Their church hats would compliment their elaborate outfits as a way to honor God and stood as a sign of respect for the church, Also the bigger and more flamboyant your church hat the more status you hat inside and outside church it stood as a sign you had an good job and could afford nice hats. In recent decades church hats have been largely worn by the older members of the congregation and less so with the younger members, this displayed the authority of the elders.
I then went onto construct my own church hat using tape and card. I kept in quite conventional i wanted people to know it was a church hat but i went against the common pastel colours and went with red and dark blue to give the hat a evil twist to it. I think it worked well as a church hat however it was very difficult to get it to stay placed on the head as inside the hat was too small, therefore i need to decide on whether the hat is for someone specifically to wear so i can make the hat with measurements in mind.
