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Headwear

March 3, 2011

The headwear to be seen around the world can be functional, spontaneous, hierarchical, outrageous or driven by fashion. Here are a few examples mainly from East London:

Man with woolen hat, Brick Lane 2009

Man with woolen hat, Brick Lane 2009

In contrast with the functional woolen hat that keeps the man on Brick Lane warm, Solly (below) has a more fashionable fedorah hat. He is staring out across the bottom of Hanbury Street.

Man wearing a  fedorah hat

Solly wearing a fedorah hat, East London 1984

Woman wearing a Burka, Whitechapel 2004

Woman wearing a Burka, Whitechapel 2004

The man and woman (below) would probably consider themselves undressed if they went out without their hats. No doubt the woman above would feel undressed without her Burka.

Man and woman wearing hats on Whitechapel Road 1983

Man and woman wearing hats on Whitechapel Road 1983

The two women crossing Vallance Road in Whitechapel are wearing the Jilbab which is a cloak worn in public. The cloak continues into a head scarfe.

Three women crossing Vallance Road in Whitechapel, 2007

Three women crossing Vallance Road in Whitechapel, 2007

Headwear with a splash of leaf design at the entrance of Whitechapel station.

Two women outside Whitechapel Station

Two women outside Whitechapel Station, 1998

Man wearing a woolen hat with a red shawl

Man wearing a woolen hat with a red shawl, Roman Road 2010

The characters above and below add a mark of eccentricity to the collection. The red shawl seems slightly out of place as does the attire of the boater hat on the old lady crossing Vallance Road; it’s as if she has been transported from the Whitechapel of the 1920’s.

Lady crossing Valllance Road, Whitechapel 1983

Lady crossing Valllance Road, Whitechapel 1983

Below we have a man wearing a turban buying tobacco from a man wearing a cap.

Two men in Sclater Street

Two men in Sclater Street, 1985

The lady below is wearing a functional plastic head scarf, popular a few decades ago. They could be wrapped into a small ball and used for raining emegencies.

Woman in Cheshire Street

Woman in Cheshire Street, 1987

Hazuan wearing a hat

Hazuan in Budapest, 2010

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