The primary distinction between a fascinator and a hat is that a fascinator is a lightweight, ornamental headpiece solely worn by women, made up of feathers, flowers, beads, and other decorative elements attached to a comb or hair clip. In contrast, a hat is a structured head covering worn by both men and women for various purposes.
Key Takeaways
- Fascinators are lightweight, decorative headpieces worn only by women, while hats are structured head coverings worn by both men and women.
- Fascinators are usually worn with formal attire and serve as an alternative to hats, while hats are worn for various reasons, including protection, religious purposes, and fashion.
- Fascinators only cover part of the head, while hats cover the head entirely.
What is a Fascinator?
A fascinator is a light, decorative headpiece typically worn by women. It is usually large in size (often smaller than a hat) and consists of various decorative items such as feathers, beads, and flowers. It is attached to a hair band, comb, or clip. When a fascinator comes with a base that resembles a hat, we call it a hatinator.
Women usually wear fascinators with fairly formal attire, typically on occasions where hats are necessary. Thus, they also serve as an alternative for hats. Fascinators are also popular headwear at premium horse-racing events such as the Kentucky Derby and Grand National.
The fascinator became popular in fashion around the 1960s. At that time, women had to wear hats to formal occasions, especially when entering a Church. Even today, women frequently wear fascinators as a Christian head covering during church services, especially during weddings. For example, many female guests wore fascinators at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in April 2011.
What is a Hat?
A hat is a head covering we wear for various reasons including protection against weather, religious reasons, safety, as a fashion accessory or for ceremonial reasons such as graduation. They are worn by both men and women, and there are various hat styles and designs.
Given below are some examples of common hat styles.
Ascot cap – Hard and round men’s cap
Bowler / Derby – A hard felt hat with a rounded crown
Cloche hat – A bell-shaped women’s hat
Fedora – A soft felt hat with a medium brim and lengthwise crease in the crown
Panama – A straw hat made in Ecuador
Top hat – A tall, flat-crowned, cylindrical hat for men
What is the Difference Between Fascinator and Hat?
A fascinator is a light, decorative headpiece consisting of feathers, flowers, beads, etc. attached to a comb or hair clip whereas a hat is a shaped covering for the head worn for various reasons. So, we can consider this as the key difference between fascinator and hat. Moreover, hats are worn by both men and women whereas fascinators are only worn by women. Therefore, this is a major difference between fascinator and hat. Also, another difference between fascinator and hat is that fascinators only cover a part of the head whereas hats cover the head entirely.
The following infographic summarizes the difference between fascinator and hat in detail.
Summary – Fascinator vs Hat
A fascinator is a light, decorative headpiece consisting of feathers, flowers, beads, etc. attached to a comb or hair clip whereas a hat is a shaped covering for the head worn for various reasons. Moreover, both men and women wear hats whereas only women wear fascinators. Thus, this is the difference between fascinator and hat.
Image Courtesy:
1. “2447678” (Pixabay License) via Pixabay
2. “Kate in Ottawa for Canada Day 2011 cropped” By Pat Pilon (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia
3. “1446383” (CC0) via Pxhere
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