Tonight:
5°c
It is called a "shapka", but it is probably best known by the clumsy but richly descriptive term, "big furry Russian hat".
Once the province of superannuated Politburo members on Red Square parades, the big furry Russian hat has now become not just fashionable but truly ubiquitous, as likely to adorn the bonce of the Queen or Jack Straw as Agyness Deyn and Madonna.
The big furry Russian hat crosses social, political, generational and sartorial boundaries: Lily Allen wore one to go tobogganing with her mates this week, while George Bush Snr donned another for Barack Obama's inauguration. It is practical, in the cold weather, whether it is made out of real fur or the more popular and ethical fake version.
Since it turns your head into a giant furball, it also makes you easier to spot in a crowd. Unless, as may increasingly be the case, the other members of that crowd are wearing big, furry Russian hats too.
According to the men's fashion website Morphosis, the shapka owes its existence to Russia's winter war with Finland in 1939. Noticing that their troops were dying of exposure, and also that their pointy felt budyonovka caps made then a handy target for snipers, Russian commanders promptly commissioned a new fur cap which was both warm and capacious enough to accommodate a helmet. These hats were then unofficially adopted by German troops, then by the post-war Russian and Eastern Bloc public to cope with harsh winters.
After the collapse of communism -indeed, as soon as a chink appeared in the Berlin Wall - real and fake versions of the military hats became must-have mementoes of the Cold War. The shapka's continued proliferation owes as much to its practicality as to the increasingly globalised, magpie nature of fashion.
These days, women with more staid or classic tastes, such as Her Majesty or Natascha McElhone, favour the version generically known as the "Cossack", which is shaped like a big furry pill. Edgier types like Agyness and Lily opt for proper shapkas which have the advantage of ear and neck flaps that can be untied from the crown. This makes the wearer look like the bear from Bo' Selecta! and is only really permissible for women. As George and Jack clearly knew when they donned their shapkas, it is a sign of virility in Russia to expose the ears to the cold.
Reader views (5)
Clearly, you've NEVER been to Russia. Shapkas (also known as Ushankas, if they have flaps to cover the ears) are worn throughout Russia by both women AND men, and BOTH are smart enough to know that, if the weather demands, the flaps should come down to cover your ears. Nothing worse than a self-proclaimed "fashion" expert that questions both the ethics of a necessary item of clothing used primarily in extremely harsh weather and yet is prone to such a ridiculous gender-biased atavism as to claim that wearing a shapka with the flaps down is only acceptable for women.
- Emil, Germany, 26/12/2009 11:34
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Well Pat, the majority of folk in this country walk with the skin of dead animals on their feet. I say, "don't let ugly people wear shapkas"
- Donald Massey, macclesfield, 26/12/2009 10:34
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A lot of people walk about with dead animals on their feet, round their waist or hanging from their shoulders. Many also actually eat dead animals every day.
- Exnewsgatherer, Oxford. UK, 26/12/2009 10:34
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What, walk about with a dead animal on your head?
- Pat, Essex, 26/12/2009 10:34
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Pat - Most people wear dead animals on their feet (leather) put bits of them in their stomachs (meat) so what is the problem with putting them on your head???? Has kept me warm in Russia and Central Europe.
- Jeremy E, London, 26/12/2009 10:34
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