The Odd Historical Origins Of the Witch Hat

Where does the iconic black pointed witch's hat come from? What is the history of the witch hat? Did it come from Medieval European sumptuary laws? British Alewives? Quakers? Let's sit down and unpack the very interesting history of the flat-brimmed, conical, black witch hat.

🧵Learn more about the Burnley and Trowbridge Mantua-Making Workshop Here: http://bit.ly/mantuamakingbt (Again, this is NOT sponsored! I just think this is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who wants to learn about 18th-century mantua making/dressmaking and hand sewing techniques.)

While 2020 has been a wild ride, I think we can all agree that the explosion of interest in the occult, magic, and all things witchy has been a fun bright spot in what has been a rough year. I have seen loads and loads of witchy photoshoots and witch aesthetic videos explode all over TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube. With this surge of interest in all things Witchy™ it got me to thinking about the origins of the witch's hat. Where did it come from? What is the history of this hat? Who originally wore this hat? Is it ok to wear this hat today? So, ever the nerd, and deeply frustrated by the lack of quality internet research, I set out to see if I could find out the actual history of the witch's hat. It sent me down a very long rabbit hole (I got grad school flashbacks, y'all.)

To understand the history of the witch's hat, we first have to understand the history of witches, so our story begins around 1100 CE, with a fun pit stop in the 15th-century and that hot piece of trash known as Malleus Maleficarum (or The Witch's Hammer OR the Hammer of Witches - depending on the translation), through 16th-century women's fashion, a brief chat about Mother Louse and Alewives, and finally ending up with female Quakers and anti-Quakerism in 17th century Britain. Y'all. It was a ride. While I'm proud of the research I present in this video, I am still researching this topic and am working with Kenna Libes (  / kenna.sews  ) on turning this into an academic article. Who knows, maybe in 2021, I'll do a follow-up video where I roast myself on my own conclusions!

✨✨My Biblio/Works Cited is so big that it wouldn't fit in the description so I've put them up as downloadable PDFs on my Patreon:   / witch-hat-images-42866439  
(though most of my images come from the British Museum, Met Museum, British Library, and Wellcome Library)

‪@HeyRowanEllis‬ 's video on Cottagecore:    • why is cottagecore so gay?  

❤️I also want to thank, again, ‪@bernadettebanner‬, Kenna, and Andrew Appel for proofreading my script, finding holes in my arguments, and just generally helping me make the best video possible. Love you all. ❤️

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