KARACHI: The weather report for the coming week in the city predicts hot and sunny weather.

The many shops selling caps here can look forward to doing some good business now.

There are the roadside shops selling second-hand caps and the shops selling new ones, which can be quite expensive as well.

There are also the freebie caps with logos of some company or the other which you can wear to save yourself from the sun while also advertising for the company. Some caps are also part of uniforms like those worn by policemen and security guards or the military, armed forces, etc. Some schools, too, especially nursery schools have made caps a part of their regular uniform to protect little ones from the sun.

There are various types of caps. The common varieties include the baseball cap, the German-style field cap and the flat cap all of which have a visor or peak in the front for shade.

The baseball cap is the one that is very much in style these days more out of need than fashion. Besides giving protection from the sun some people also wear them to keep their hair set and in place in the windy weather. Then there are also a few who may wear them to hide baldness. The cap is made by stitching four or five panels with eyelets together that usually have a button at the top. The better varieties also have taping and a sweatband stitched inside. At the back there is almost always an adjustable strap to fit all sizes.

You can buy a baseball cap from as cheap as Rs30 or Rs50 on the streets of Karachi to as expensive as Rs1,000 and more even in case you are after the branded variety. Mind you, the ‘Made in China’ copies are also branded. Those you can buy from Rs350 to Rs500 and telling the difference between them and the real branded stuff is very difficult.

The other cap that is almost as useful as the baseball cap is the soft German-style field cap with a buckle or two in the front for adjusting size. Instead of panels stitched together they have flaps stitched together to go around the head which are then attached to a round piece of material to serve as cover on the top followed by attaching a visor in the front. All these are usually given a woollen lining too. So these caps are also good headgear for winters. For summers and especially in places such as Karachi they have a cotton lining.

The flat cap, meanwhile, has a smaller visor. The vintage variety is usually tweed or woollen with chequered design or made of leather and considered quite stylish. It is usually preferred by older men and not really something to be worn in hot weather as it is a rather warm headgear. Some people also like to accompany it with a matching scarf.

Quite frankly, caps are a more recent development in headgear as earlier the best thing to keep the head cool under the harsh sun was the sun hat or cowboy hats but they became associated with the English or Americans both of whom we refer to as ‘gora sahibs’.

The hats were made of cloth as well as straw and instead of having a front visor they had an all-round brim to shade the entire face and the back of the neck. The bonnet sun hats with a rounded crown cover and narrower brim were also a variation of the sun hats.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2018