Kosmos

Hats off to headgear! Whether it’s worn for protection or to make a stylish statement, there’s more to a hat than meets the eye!

A heady mix-up

With its elegantly curved brim and as many as three creases in its crown, the Stetson is quite simply THE traditional cowboy hat. But before its invention in 1865, most American cowboys likely wore bowler hats.

The mad hatter

The Englishman who wore the first top hat was allegedly locked up for disturbing the peace, but his headgear soon became a symbol of the elegant class. Now, it’s the hat of choice for steampunks, magicians and doctoral ­candidates in Scandinavia.

An imperial error

The beret – or Basque beret, as it is known in France and elsewhere – is associated with peasants, artists and guerrillas. But it evidently wasn’t invented by the Basques, as Napoleon supposedly thought, but by the Béarnais – though nobody dared to contradict the emperor at the time.

Día de los muertos, Mexico’s Day of the Dead, is not a cause for lamentation: Wearing elaborate costumes and traditional face paint, people parade through the streets of Mexico City every November 2.

The Poster House in Chelsea on the West Side of Manhattan shows historically and artistically compelling posters from the past 160 years.

posterhouse.org