View source for Sombrero

{{Short description|Traditional Mexican folk hat}}
{{Other uses|Sombrero (disambiguation)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox clothing type
| name          = Sombrero
| image_file    = CharroHatsMAPDF.JPG
| caption       = Various sombreros on display at the [[Museo de Arte Popular]] in Mexico City
| type          = [[Hat]]
| material      = 
| location      = [[Mexico]]
}}

The {{lang|es|'''sombrero jarano'''}},<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gómez de Silva |first1=Guido |title=Diccionario breve de mexicanismos |date=2001 |publisher=Academia Mexicana |location=Mexico |page=113 |isbn=978-968-16-6408-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/diccionariobreve0000gome/page/112/mode/2up?q=Jarano&view=theater |access-date=7 September 2025 |language=Spanish |quote=Jarano hat (or simply "jarano"). (Derived from "jara"," the name of a shrub from which it was originally made.) m. A hard, felt hat with a wide brim; a type of hat worn by charros (Mexican cowboys).}}</ref> also known as {{lang|es|'''sombrero de charro'''}} ('[[charro]] hat', referring to the traditional Mexican horsemen),<ref>{{cite book|author=Valero Silva, José |title=El libro de la charrería |trans-title= The book of the charrería |date=1987 |location=Mexico City |publisher=Gráficas Montealbán |page=222 |language=es}}</ref> and simply as {{lang|es|'''sombrero'''}} in English, is a popular and iconic hat, symbol of Mexican culture. It features, nowadays, an extra-wide [[hat brim|brim]] used to shield the face and eyes from the sun, that is slightly upturned at the edge; a usually high, conical, pointed crown; and a chin strap to hold it in place. Traditionally made of wool felt, hare fur, or wheat straw, it can be adorned with embroidery, decorative trim, or ribbons, with varying regional styles. The crown often has a reinforced band ("pedradas") for added strength in case of impact.

Originally a low crowned hat with a moderately sized brim and an essential accessory of the [[charro]] (cowboy) outfit, the wide-brimmed jarano or charro hat was first crafted and quickly gained popularity in the early 19th century on the [[haciendas]] of [[Puebla]], [[Jalisco]], the [[Bajío]], and other regions of [[Mexican Plateau|Central]] and [[Northern Mexico]], and in what today is the American [[Southwestern United States |Southwest]]; evolving to its current, high conical shape, until the very late 19th century. Today, it is primarily worn by the mounted performers in [[charreria]].

While it is believed that the hat has its origins in Europe or that it arrived in Mexico from there with its design already fully developed,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Huizar |first1=José |title=El origen del sombrero de charro, la insignia por excelencia del mexicano |url=https://oem.com.mx/elheraldodechihuahua/tendencias/el-origen-del-sombrero-de-charro-la-insignia-por-excelencia-del-mexicano-14406174 |access-date=9 September 2025 |agency=El Heraldo |date=16 September 2022 |language=Spanish |quote=there are versions that indicate that what we know today as the typical Mexican sombrero, could have originated in Spain. ... Spaniards already wore hats very similar to charros, mainly in the communities of Andalusia and Navarre, where it was an accessory for the wealthy}}</ref> this is uncertain, as there is insufficient evidence prior to the 18th century that shows how hats worn by vaqueros looked. Pictorial evidence shows that the hat began to take shape during the 18th century, with a wide variety of styles and forms; and it wasn't until 19th-century Mexico that it acquired its most recognizable characteristics, and finally, by the end of that century, its most familiar and stereotypical form. For many, the hat is a [[mestizo]] product of cultural blending, as it is believed to combine indigenous traditions with European elements to suit the needs of Mexican vaqueros.{{r|bender|p=11}}

==Name and etymology ==
Although the proper name for the hat is {{lang|es|jarano}}, derived from "jara", the name of a shrub from which it was originally made,<ref>{{cite web |title=jarano |url=https://tureng.com/en/spanish-english/jarano |website=Tureng Multilingual Dictionary |publisher=Tureng Dictionary and Translation Ltd. |access-date=9 September 2025}}</ref> the hat is simply known as "sombrero" in the United States and other English speaking countries. The term sombrero ({{literal translation|shadower|lk=yes}}) is Spanish for hat, any type of hat regardless of style, design or size.<ref name="slatta">{{cite book |last=Slatta |first=Richard W. |date=1996 |title=The Cowboy Encyclopedia |isbn= 0-393-31473-1}}</ref> But Americans, having first encountered the word in Mexico or what is now the American Southwest, mistook the word to mean the actual proper name of the hat. Thus, for Americans, "sombrero" refers specifically to the Mexican jarano hat. The jarano hat is also known as {{lang|es|sombrero de charro}} or "charro hat", it derived from the [[charros]] the inhabitants and workers of haciendas who performed their duties on horseback, working as [[vaqueros]] or cowherds or "cowboys".

==History and evolution==
[[File:Reproduction of Mural from Structure I, Calakmul.jpg|thumb|195x195px|The use of wide brimmed hats in pre-Hispanic Mesoamérica]]
The origin, history, and evolution of the "charro" hat have been the subject of debate in recent years.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sánchez Mariscal |first1=Carlos |title=Historia del Sombrero Charro |url=https://expresocharro.com/2023/08/29/historia-del-sombrero-charro/ |access-date=9 September 2025 |agency=Expreso Charro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902175627/https://expresocharro.com/2023/08/29/historia-del-sombrero-charro/ |archive-date=2 September 2023}}</ref> The topic has been complex and difficult to research, as there is very little evidence to demonstrate how vaqueros and other rural people dressed before the 18th century, particularly during the early stages of cattle ranching in the 16th century. It is known that in pre-Hispanic Mexico, indigenous people wore wide-brimmed hats, as evidenced by paintings and artifacts from that era. It is also known that Spanish and [[Criollo people|criollo]] people, wealthy individuals not necessarily associated with rural occupations, wore luxurious hats, similar to those worn in Europe; hats that a herdsman or peasant would hardly be able to afford. Although he did not provide his supporting evidence, the American historian [[Philip Wayne Powell]] asserted that one of the prototypes of the Mexican charro can be found in the 16th-century horsemen, mostly vaqueros and foremen of [[mulatto]] and [[mestizo]] origin who made up the unofficial or irregular cavalry that fought in the [[Chichimeca War]], and that these men wore "a wide-brimmed leather hat, reinforced with a steel band".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Philip Wayne |title=Mexico's Miguel Caldera: The Taming of America's First Frontier, 1548-1597 |date=1977 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |location=Tucson |isbn=9780816505692 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ey0VAAAAYAAJ&q=Brimmed |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Grafiti novohispano en Tepeapulco, México, siglo XVI.jpg|thumb| 195x195px|Late 16th century graffiti in a Tepeapulco convent. The horseman appears to be wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a medium sized crown.]]
The only evidence that might indicate what type of hat the first vaqueros or country people wore during the 16th century can be found on [[:es: Grafitis en conventos novohispanos|graffiti on the walls of the convents]] in [[Tepeapulco]], an important cattle-raising center at that time in what is now the state of [[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]]. These graffiti depict some horsemen, who could be vaqueros or similar figures—not necessarily caballeros—wearing a wide-brimmed hat with what appears to be a medium-sized, flat crown. This is perhaps the oldest evidence of what horsemen in the countryside wore as headgear to protect themselves from the elements during the late 16th century.

[[File:Códice «Chapa de Mota» - Jilotepec, México (1703).jpg|thumb| 195x195px|left|"Chapa de Mota Codex" (1703)]]
These wide-brimmed hats were apparently very common among this population for decades, as a similar hat appears again in an image from the early 18th century, in the "Chapa de Mota Codex" of 1703. One of the rustic drawings shows a mestizo or indigenous man, dressed in the attire of the charros of that time, lancing a bull during the festivities in [[Jilotepec de Abasolo |Jilotepec]] to commemorate the centenary of the victory and end of the Chichimeca War. The hat depicted has wide, upturned brims and a low, flat crown. Whether this hat is of the same type as the one depicted in the Tepeapulco graffiti, or an evolution of it, or something entirely different, is difficult to determine. The origin of these hats is also uncertain. They could be local inventions based on indigenous designs or on some narrow-brimmed hats worn by the European elite, but adapted to the needs and circumstances of charros and other rural people; or they could have been an evolution of the French-origin "chambergo" hat, also known in English as [[slouch hat]], introduced to Spain by Marshal [[Charles de Schomberg]] during the [[Reapers' War]] of 1640. In fact, the term "chambergo" became a generic name in Spain for any type of wide-brimmed hat. Based on this limited information, it could be argued that these hats may have served as the basis for the hats that would emerge in the 18th and 19th centuries.

===18th Century===
By the 18th century, we have more evidence regarding the clothing of horsemen in the country. Eighteenth-century iconography shows a wide variety of hats of different styles. All were small, with wide but short brims. As can be seen, they varied in the rigidity of the brim, some appearing to be flexible and drooping, while others were more stiff. The shape of the crown also varied; all were low, but some were flat and others rounded. They came in various colors, but light colors, such as white and gray, predominated. As for their decorations, the only notable feature was a small ribbon or band around the crown. Regarding the materials, it is difficult to know precisely, given the lack of information, but it can be inferred that some were made of palm fiber and others of finer materials such as felt. Due to this lack of more detailed information, the names of each of these 18th-century hat styles are unknown.

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:De Sambaygo y Mulata, sale Canilajo - Pintura de Castas (México, 1760).jpg|The [[zambo]] charro wears a small wide brim sombrero (ca. 1760's)
File:Oficial de Milicianos de Tierra Adentro (México, siglo XVIII).jpg|A tierra-adentro militiamen dressed in Charro outfit with a small sombrero with flexible brim
File:Varias compañias . . . idem, de mangas azules, encarnes y moradas, conmedias lunas y algunas confuciles.jpg |Militiamen dressed in Charro attire with a wide-brimmed hat with the brims upturned (ca. 1770)
File:Lobo con China, Gibaro.jpg |Same type of small sombrero with what appears to be a round crown with a red hatband that drapes behind (ca. 1770s)
</gallery>

===19th Century===
It wasn't until the 19th century that we have a greater amount of evidence, both textual and pictorial, about Mexican hats. This was the century when interest in national customs emerged, especially those of the Mexican rancheros or charros and their attire, as evidenced by the numerous articles, both national and international, on the subject. It was also in this century that the name "jarano" was first recorded, the proper name for the Mexican hat; strictly speaking, it was used to refer to any wide-brimmed hat, regardless of style or construction, and was synonymous with the Spanish word "chambergo" mentioned earlier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salvá |first1=Vicente |title=Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana que comprende la última edición íntegra, muy rectificada y mejorada, del publicado por La Academia Española |date=1847 |publisher=Librería de Don |location=Paris |page=632 |url=https://archive.org/details/nuevodiccionario00salvuoft/page/632/mode/2up?q=Jarano&view=theater |access-date=7 September 2025 |language=Spanish |quote=JARANO, adj. m. (Mexico) Wide, chambergo: used to describe a hat.}}</ref>

In the first decades of 19th-century Mexico, particularly after independence, the preference among charros and the wealthy for small hats continued. The major change was that the brims were now, typically, 6 inches (15 cm) wide and flat, with a very low crown, and the hat bands became more prominent and thicker,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Henry George |title=Mexico in 1827 |date=1828 |publisher=Henry Colburn |location=London |page=228 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t19k4h78f&seq=242&q1=Hat+six+inches |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> a style that would persist in subsequent decades. The most prominent "jarano" hats of this period were those with moderately broad, flat brims, made of wool (felt) or lined, with silver clasps to secure the chin strap. The finest and most prized were those made in the city of [[Puebla (city)|Puebla]], called "Poblanos" or "jarano Poblano", meaning "Pueblan" or "Pueblan-style Jarano",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arróniz |first1=Marcos |title=Manual del viajero en Mejico, ó, compendio de la historia de la ciudad de Mejico |date=1858 |publisher=Libreria de Rosa y Bouret |location=Paris |pages=136–137 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081702056&seq=142&q1=Sombrero+poblano |access-date=9 October 2025 |language=Spanish |quote=The Ranchero is one of the most peculiar types of the country, and, like the Arabs, his life is almost always spent on horseback; […] His hat is commonly from Puebla, with a hatband of silver cord or chaquira, very small colored beads that form a snake, which are placed where the typical ribbon-like hatband would normally be worn. The brim of the hat is large, and on the sides of the crown are placed silver buttons in the shape of an eagle or some other fancy decoration.}}</ref> with a moderately broad flat brim, usually worn slouched,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lugo |first1=Jose del Carmen |title=Life of a Rancher |journal=Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly |date=March 1950 |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=220 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalsociet32hist/page/240/mode/2up?q=Poblanos&view=theater |access-date=9 September 2025}}</ref> and typically of a light, gray, or "aplomado" ("lead-colored" hue) color,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gutiérrez |first1=José Marcos |last2=Martinez Iñigo de Rojas |first2=Joaquin |title=Practica forense criminal, volume 2 |date=1850 |publisher=Imprenta de Juan R. Navarro |location=Mexico |page=21 |url=https://archive.org/details/practica-forense-criminal/page/n349/mode/2up?q=jarano+poblano&view=theater |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> because these colors reflect light and heat. In an 1844 article detailing the customs of Mexican Rancheros in the magazine ''El Museo Mexicano'', Don Domingo Revilla writes that: "The most elegant, sturdy, and suitable hat for charros is the one made in Puebla; it is lead-colored with a wide, flat brim."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Revilla |first1=Domingo |title=Costumbres y Trages Nacionales: Los Rancheros |journal=El museo mexicano o miscelánea de amenidades curiosas e instructivas |date=1845 |volume=3 |page=552 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7vX10wQ9A8C&q=El%20sombrero%20mas%20galán%20y%20fuerte%20charros |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref>

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Insurgentes vestidos de Charro con cuera y manga - Theubet de Beauchamp (1810s).jpg|Mexican Charro patriots during the War of Independence wearing a Jarano hat with short, flexible (slouching) brim, low crown and a thick "toquilla" or hatband (1816)
File:Noble Mexicano (1828).jpg|Mexican nobleman with luxury Charro outfit, wearing a low crown Jarano, with a moderately broad, slouching brim and thick hatband (1824)
File:«Charro Mexicano» - Claudio Linati (1825).jpg|Same type of jarano hat with a very, thick black hatband (1825)
File:Rancheros (1844).jpg|«Rancheros» wearing a low crown, slightly broad, slouched brimmed jarano (1844)
</gallery>

One of the first descriptions of the charro costume by a foreigner, shortly after independence, was written by the British explorer and writer Edward B. Penney. In 1824, he provided a detailed description of the charro attire in Mexico City, noting that the hat was "low-crowned", with a wide brim, similar, he said, to the hats worn by [[Quakers]]: {{quote|The equipment of a charro, the name given to an amateur of the national dress of both himself and his horse, is very curious, and well worth making a drawing of. [...] The sombrero is a low hat, with a wide brim, in the style of the Quakers, made of wool, dyed brown, green, black, or grey; the shade is lined with gold lace; the band is a thick cord of gold, terminating in a gold tassel, which plays upon the brim.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Penny |first1=Edward B. |title=A Sketch of the Customs and Society of Mexico: In a Series of Familiar Letters and a Journal of Travels in the Interior, During the Years 1824, 1825, 1826 |date=1828 |publisher=Longman |location=London |page=57 |url=https://archive.org/details/asketchcustomsa00penngoog/page/n64/mode/2up?view=theater&q=sombrero+low+hat+wide+brim |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref>}}

Between the 1820s and 1830s, another style of charro hat emerged, larger in size, with a medium-height, flat crown, a wider, moderately flexible brim, and a very thin ribbon-like band, ending in tassels that draped over the brim. This style of hat fell out of use around the 1850s.

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Charro Mexicano (1828).jpg|The charro wears a black, broad-brimmed jarano with a golden hatband with tassels that lay upon the brim (1828).
File:Trajes mexicanos rancheros - Johan Moritz Rugendas (1830’s).jpg|Same style, but brown, with golden hatband (1830)
File:Portrait of a Ranchero with Egerton’s horse (Mexico,1833).jpg|Here, the hatband extends over the brim and the tassels hang from it (1833).
File:Salteador de diligencias.jpg |Same type of Jarano with a golden hatband with tassels (1832)
</gallery>

Around the mid-1840s, a new style of Jarano hat became fashionable; this style had a rigid, rather than flexible, brim, a medium sized, flat crown, and a medium-width band resembling a sausage or snake coiled around it.

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Charro Mexicano (1852).jpg
File:Charro y Charra (1853).jpg
File:Vaqueros.jpg
File:«José María Godoy, herrador de caballos, á caballo» - Édouard Pingret (1852).jpg
</gallery>

=== Standardization ===
In the 1850s, another change occurred; the design of the poblano-jarano hats began to be standardized. Until then, these hats had varied considerably in the rigidity of their brims, their colors, and the height and shape of the crown.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reid |first1=Mayne |title=The Scalp-hunters; Or, Romantic Adventures in Northern Mexico |date=1852 |publisher=Simms and M'Intyre |location=London |page=368 |url=https://archive.org/details/scalphuntersorro00reid/page/368/mode/2up?q=sombrero&view=theater |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> The brims became rigid, no longer flexible, and varied only in width, some being of medium width and others very wide. The crowns were low and either rounded or flat, although the rounded ones were more common, and sometimes with a dent. The preferred colors were light or grayish tones (aplomado), abandoning dark or very bright colors. The hatbands were large, thick, either sausage-shaped or braided, sometimes described as resembling a snake coiled around the crown.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McDanield |first1=H. F. |last2=Alston Taylor |first2=Nathaniel |title=The Coming Empire Or, Two Thousand Miles in Texas on Horseback |date=1877 |publisher=A.S. Barnes & Company |location=New York |page=354 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t45q56r4v&seq=362&q1=sombrero+rattlesnake+ |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> This standardization of the charro hat led to the disappearance of the previous designs by the 1860's and, to some extent, influenced the gradual evolution that occurred in subsequent decades, culminating in the major changes that would take place at the end of the 19th century, thus giving rise to the stereotypical charro hat of the last 120 years with the high conical crown.

The French surgeon, Leon Cordet, one of the leading physicians in the expeditionary force during the [[Second French intervention in Mexico| French intervention of Mexico]] (1861-1867) and head of medical services in the [[Veracruz]] hospitals, wrote about the charro hat of that era, its characteristics and benefits, in 1867: {{quote| We are familiar with the jarano hat, with its wide, braided brim and its voluminous hatband; we know that it is usually made of gray felt of varying qualities, and that light-colored felt has an emissivity and radiant power that surpasses its conductivity, thus eliminating solar heat before it reaches the skin through its thickness. From this perspective, this hat is advantageous in the high altitudes of Mexico, where the direct influence of the sun has formidable effects, as we have mentioned several times. Setting this aside, one might suppose that this headpiece is problematic due to its weight; but this is a misconception, since when the felt is thin and free of any superfluous adornments, it weighs little more than our top hats, as being wider, its height is less, which compensates for it. The shape may seem a bit awkward at first, but one quickly gets used to it. For this discomfort to occur, the felt must be very thick, in which case it compresses the forehead, making it uncomfortable to wear. The vents and perforations it usually has allow for easy air circulation over the head. Under these conditions, this hat is undoubtedly better than the wide-brimmed straw hat, which, to be useful in the mountains, must be made of thick material and covered with white canvas. The Mexicans know this well, since when they work in the countryside, they rarely, if ever, fail to line this straw hat with some kind of fabric, and if asked why, they reply that it is for fear of the sun, against which the straw does not offer sufficient protection. The hat protects not only the head, but also the ears, face, and neck. This is an undeniable advantage: for this reason, the officers and soldiers of the French expeditionary force made sure to wear it while marching. In fact, it is in this circumstance that its value can be especially appreciated. In the city, one is less exposed and can better protect themselves from the sun's effects; therefore, a hat like this is not absolutely indispensable; But in rural areas, things are different now, and everyone feels the need to protect themselves from the sun when going out, wearing a large hat for shade. [...] In Mexico, I recommend a light-colored hat, preferably white, which helps to reflect the sun's rays, especially in situations like working in the country, or when walking or traveling.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cordet |first1=Leon |title=Le Mexique considéré au point de vue médico-chirurgical, Tomo primero |date=1867 |publisher=V. Rozier |location=Paris |pages=241–243 |url=https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_35476/page/241/mode/2up?q=Sombrero |access-date=7 September 2025 |language=French}}</ref>}}

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:El Mayordomo de Hacienda (Puebla, México 1865).jpg|Large Jarano hat with a wide brim, a low rounded crown and a large, braided hatband (1865)
File:Don Alonso Peón de Regil, Ministro de México en Italia (1865).jpg|Jarano with a medium sized brim, a low rounded crown and a "snake" shaped hatband (1865)
File:Escena campestre - Manuel Serrano (ca.1860).png|Two styles of Jaranos typical of this era, one with a low, round crown and the other with a low, flat one (ca. 1860)
File:«Types de chefs partisans de Juarez» (Tipos de líderes partidistas de Benito Juárez), 1863.jpg|Republican or Liberal military leaders during the French Intervention, dressed in Charro outfits with chaps and large Jarano hats with low, round crowns (1863)
</gallery>

=== Gradual evolution after standardization ===
The jarano hat, with its wide, stiff brim and low, round crown, which became popular in the 1850s, became the "standard" charro hat in subsequent decades. This style of hat underwent a gradual evolution between the 1870s and 1880s. The most notable change was in the crown, which transitioned from being low and round to a more prominent, tall, and pointed shape. This change, as mentioned, was not rapid but gradual, and it began to be noticeable in the late 1870s and early 1880s. By 1890, it had culminated in what would become known as the "piloncillo" (sugarloaf) crown. By 1893, the tall-crowned or "piloncillo" hat was in use among charros in northern Mexico. Further changes occurred in the first decade of the 20th century, when the brim began to be rolled or folded upwards, a practice that continues to this day. This evolution led to the older hat designs being forgotten, and the tall-crowned hat became a stereotypical image of the Mexican, to such an extent that many people today are unaware of the earlier hat styles and their evolution, believing that the tall-crowned hat has existed since time immemorial.

In his book, ''Souvenirs du Mexique: Things about Mexico'' (1908), the French colonel Éloi Lussan discusses this evolution of the Mexican hat, recalling that hats were very different forty years earlier during the French Intervention: {{quote|The "sombrero jarano": a large felt hat with rolled edges trimmed with gold or silver braid, also with a soft, rounded shape, and adorned with a ribbon, or a wide band of gold or silver thread called the "toquilla". The Mexican hat is worn tilted back, leaving the forehead well exposed, and the exposed lower edge is usually lavishly embroidered with gold or silver thread. Its price, naturally, varies according to the richness of the ornamentation. Hats costing 100 piastres are not uncommon; I have even seen some priced at 500. Forty years ago, the shape was low and round, with flat, stiff brims; today, the shape is tall and pointed, and the brims, instead of being flat and stiff, are rolled up and soft, matching the shape of the crown.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lussan |first1=Éloi |title=Souvenirs du Mexique: cosas |date=1908 |publisher=Plon-Nourrit |location=Paris |pages=195–196 |url= https://archive.org/details/souvenirsdumexi00lussgoog/page/n204/mode/2up?q=Jarano |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref>}}

'''The gradual evolution of the Mexican jarano poblano hat (1860 to early 20th century)'''
<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:«El Hacendado» por Louis Falconnet (1865).jpg|Towards the early 1860s, the jarano-poblano is small, wide brimmed with a low round crown.
File:Hombre vestido de charro y una silla vaquera mexicana (México, 1865).jpg|Another variant with rigid brim and a low round crown (1865)
File:«Charros del Interior» - Fotografía Cruces y Campa (México, 1867).jpg|Large, broad-brimmed jarano, with the large, braided hatband around the low, round crown (ca. 1868)
File:Charro (1879).png|By 1879, the crown becomes more prominent as it's no longer low, but it's still round.
File:El famoso charro Ponciano Díaz (1889).jpg|By 1889, the crown was even more prominent, but it still lacks the conical, pointed shape.
File:Charro (Chihuahua, México, 1890).jpg|Towards 1890, the crown becomes conical and pointed in shape.
File:Charro junto a silla vaquera mexicana (ca. 1900).jpg|By 1900, the tall, conical and very pointed crown has become common and standard.
File:Magdaleno Ramos, Mexican vaquero (Calgary, 1912).jpg|The final stage, which would be the base for the current models (ca. 1912).
</gallery>

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this evolution of the charro hat, and ultimately the adoption of the tall crown or "piloncillo" style. The charro historian, José Ramón Ballesteros, argued that the change in the crown was made to increase air circulation, and the brim was enlarged for greater protection from the sun.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ballesteros |first1=José Ramón |title=Origen y evolución del charro mexicano |date=1972 |publisher=Libreria de M. Porrúa |location=México |pages=19, 106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w09jAAAAMAAJ&q=aumentar |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> Don Carlos Rincón Gallardo, an avid horseman, while not giving specific reasons, mentioned that his uncle, Don Pedro Romero de Terreros y Gómez de Parada, was the first to wear the tall-crowned hat, describing him as "not a great charro", but as an "extravagant" individual.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rincón Gallardo |first1=Carlos |title=El Libro del Charro Mexicano |date=1946 |publisher=Regis |location=México |page=7 |edition=Second |url= https://archive.org/details/el-libro-del-charro-mexicano/page/7/mode/1up?view=theater&q=Copa+alta+tío |access-date=7 September 2025 |language=Spanish |quote=The hat with the high crown and upturned brim was first worn by my uncle, Don Pedro Romero de Terreros y Gómez de Parada, who, while perhaps not a great charro, was a truly remarkable figure, renowned for his unique and somewhat eccentric style of elegance.}}</ref> A study published in the American [[Journal of American Folklore]] in 1896 suggested that the tall-conical crowned sombrero was a Spanish modification of the straw hats worn by the [[Tlaxcaltec]], [[Tarascan]], and [[Otomi]] peoples.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Notes on the Language and Folk-usage of the Rio Grande Valley |journal=Journal of American Folklore |date=1896 |volume=9 |issue=23 |page=83 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044010498350&seq=91&q1=Sombrero |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> The most unusual hypothesis proposed today is that of Humberto Carmona Cobo, director and curator of the Museum of Charrería in Mexico City, who argues, without evidence, that the tall, high crown emerged to signify the social status of ''hacendados'' ([[hacienda]] or ranch owners), as, according to him, it indicated that they belonged to "high society", the higher the crown they wealthier they were.

[[File:«Nuestro Traje Nacional» - El Mundo Ilustrado (México, 1900).jpg|thumb|''El Traje Nacional'' article about the Mexican Charro outfit in the journal ''El Mundo Ilustrado'' (1900)]]
It is difficult to determine the exact reason for this evolution, but it is most likely that, like many other changes in the charro outfit, it was due to fashion and personal preference, rather than any specific practical purpose. A short article published in 1900 in the newspaper ''El Mundo Ilustrado'' about the national costume and its evolution states that fashion has indeed influenced the charro outfit, particularly the hat, which, from a low crown style, evolved by 1900 to the high, "sugarloaf" shape: {{quote|Fashion hasn't spared the charro outfit either, and has led to changes in many details of their traditional attire. These changes are particularly noticeable in the hat: in the past, the crown was low and round, adorned with a wide, heavy band, whereas today it is wide and pointed, resembling a sugarloaf. The way the wide brim is folded not only follows the whims of fashion, but also regional customs: some wear it flat, while others have it raised at the back and flat in the front. Another fashion innovation is that, whereas previously smooth, solid-color felt hats—preferably gray—were preferred, today they favor felt hats with a textured surface and multicolored designs, even some in a bright purplish-red color.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Nuestro Traje Nacional |journal=El Mundo Ilustrado |date=25 February 1900 |volume=1 |issue=8 |url=https://hemerotecadigital.uanl.mx/files/original/1/3638/El_Mundo_Ilustrado._1900._Ano_7._Tomo_1._No._8._Febrero_25..ocr.pdf |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref>}}

These extreme changes, which continued throughout the first two decades of the 20th century, were not always to the liking of all charros. Around that time, very tall, pointed-crown hats with large, stiffened brims, as well as very long chin straps ending in tassels, came into fashion, but none of these were considered stylish. The long chin straps were even considered "anti-charro" because they interfered with winding the [[lasso|reata]] to the saddle-horn and could get tangled with the reata; and during the gallop or run, the tassels would slap against the face, causing discomfort.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murillo |first1=Gerardo |title=Las artes populares en Mexico |date=1922 |publisher=Cvltvra |location=Mexico |pages=243–244 |url=https://archive.org/details/lasartespopulare12muri/page/242/mode/2up?q=Sombrero+ |access-date=7 September 2025 |language=Spanish}}</ref>

Today, any old, pre-high crown hat, with a low, round, or flat crown is mistakenly referred to as a "chinaco" hat, due to a historical misconception about what a "chinaco" was. People mistakenly believe that "chinacos" were a type of horseman different from the charros, and that they were their predecessors of or gave rise to them. This is due to the fact that the charro outfit, like the hat, has evolved and changed greatly in the last 250 years, something that is unknown to many; since the old styles of the outfit don't resemble the one used today, they assume is something distinct. But "Chinaco" was actually just a derogatory term for republicans or liberals who fought against the French and the Mexican conservatives or monarchists who supported them during the French Intervention; in that era, the costume, including the hat, looked very different. Because of this misconception, the ancient charro costume is called "chinaco costume", and all its components are referred to as "chinaco style".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aquino Sánchez |first1=Faustino A. |title=¿Qué fue primero: el charro o el chinaco? |journal=Revista BiCentenario |issue=63 |url=https://revistabicentenario.com.mx/index.php/archivos/que-fue-primero-el-charro-o-el-chinaco/ |access-date=15 September 2025 |language=Spanish |quote=It is often considered that the Mexican type called chinaco is the ancestor of that other equestrian type called charro; however, what is not known is that thinking this way is the product of historical confusion. [...] The confusion, that is, the erroneous belief that the chinaco was a type of Mexican horseman, was reinforced because the painter Manuel Serrano made beautiful oil paintings of riders from the time of the French intervention and titled them Chinaco. [...] The guerrillas who fought for the rights of the people—the ragged ones, the populace, the masses—against the privileges of the upper classes were called chinacos. The appellation had nothing to do with their attire, as they wore the charro style of the first half of the 19th century. However, the title of chinaco became so closely intertwined with that of charro that it ended up replacing it during the civil wars, and only during those periods, for it is a fact that, once peace was established, no one again called the Mexican horseman a chinaco.}}</ref>

== Cultural influence ==
[[File:1800s Boss of the plains 5.jpg|thumb|The "Boss of the Plains" based upon the Mexican jarano-poblano from the city of Puebla]]
The term ''sombrero'' is Spanish for hat, any type of hat regardless of style or size. But Americans, having first encountered the word in Mexico or what is now the American Southwest, mistook the word to mean the actual proper name of the hat. Thus, for Americans and other English speaking people influenced by American culture, "sombrero" refers specifically to the Mexican jarano or poblano hat.

Many early Anglo-Texan cowboys and other Anglo-Americans moving west or those returning from Mexico after the Mexican-American War, adopted the Mexican {{lang|es|jarano}} hat, which served as their first "[[cowboy hat]]". One of those Americans was [[John B. Stetson]], who encountered the Mexican sombrero jarano and, most noticeably, the higher quality, fur felt {{lang|es|jarano poblano}} imported from [[Puebla (city) |Puebla]], which served as basis for his new idea. In his [[Philadelphia]] shop he began making hand crafted, fur-felt jarano-poblanos at a much reasonable price. He named his first pattern as "Boss of the Plains", the first American cowboy hat. The Boss of the Plains became a success, and made Stetson synonymous with sombrero and {{lang|es|jarano}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=(Bob) Robertson |first1=Wallace I. |title=The Stetson Story |journal=Nevada Highways and Parks (Spring 1973) |date=1973 |pages=27–29 |url=https://archive.org/details/nevadahighwayspa33neva/page/28/mode/2up |access-date=9 September 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Officer of the 2nd Regiment of African Chasseurs dressed in Mexican Charro attire (ca. 1864).jpg |thumb| 150px|Officer of African Chasseurs dressed in Mexican Charro attire wearing a sombrero jarano (1864)]]
When fashion and taste changed the low-crowned jaranos to the "sugarloaf", conical jaranos in the 1890's, they too became fashionable and influential in the United States. According to a 1906 article in a Mexican newspaper, the broad-brimmed, high-crown jaranos were all the rage in Texas among both, the working class and upper classes, and people were flocking to buy them, regardless of their price.<ref>{{cite journal |title=El Sombrero Ancho |journal=El Mundo Ilustrado |date=4 February 1906 |volume=1 |issue=6 |url=https://hemerotecadigital.uanl.mx/files/original/1/3994/El_Mundo_Ilustrado._1906._Ano_13._Tomo_1._No._6._Febrero_4..pdf |access-date=9 September 2025 |language=Spanish|quote=Mexican-style hats, known as "charro" hats, are becoming very popular in Texas, especially those with wide brims and tall crowns. People, it is said, are flocking to hat stores to buy them at any price, without haggling; their use is spreading not only among the working class but also among the upper class.}}</ref> This new style of jaranos would serve as the basis for the high-crown, "Ten-Gallon" hat, also manufactured by Stetson. In the [[Western United States]], the sombrero had a high conical or cylindrical crown with a saucer-shaped brim, highly embroidered and made of plush felt.<ref>Carlson, Paul Howard (2006). ''The Cowboy Way: An Exploration of History and Culture''. p. 102. {{ISBN|0-89672-583-9}}.</ref>

During the second [[Second French intervention in Mexico|French intervention]] in Mexico, the French expeditionary forces, the Belgian Voluntary Troops, the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] Voluntary Corps and the [[Chasseurs d'Afrique]] adopted not only the jarano hat but also the Charro outfit. Emperor [[Maximilian I of Mexico]], also adopted the Charro outfit and hat and would regularly wear it, even in formal events.

In the Philippines, due to the influence from Spain brought about by the [[Manila galleon]] trade, the term has been assimilated into the [[Tagalog language]] in the form of {{lang|tl|sumbrero}} and now refers to any hat&nbsp;– from Mexican sombreros (as used in the English language) to [[baseball cap]]s.<ref>{{cite web | title = Hat is Sumbrero in Tagalog | url = http://www.yeepe.com/dictionary/details.asp?id=603 | access-date = 2009-05-22 | archive-date = 2014-02-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140222030042/http://www.yeepe.com/dictionary/details.asp?id=603 }}</ref>

The galaxy Messier 104 is known as the [[Sombrero Galaxy]] due to its appearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/25522-sombrero-galaxy.html|title=Sombrero Galaxy: Hidden Double in a Hat|website=[[Space.com]]|date=16 April 2014 |access-date=2 June 2015}}</ref> Similarly, [[Tampa Stadium]] was also known as "The Big Sombrero". In mathematics, the [[Jinc function]] is sometimes called the sombrero function and in physics, the [[Sombrero potential]] is a prescription for the potential energy that leads to the Higgs mechanism.

== Design ==
Sombreros, like [[cowboy hat]]s, were designed in response to the demands of the physical environment. High crowns provide insulation, and wide brims provide shade. Hot and sunny climates inspire such tall-crowned, wide-brimmed designs,{{r|bender}} and hats with one or both of these features have evolved again and again in history and across cultures. For example, the Greek [[petasos]] of two millennia ago, and the [[Asian conical hat|traditional conical hat]] widespread in different regions of Asia{{snd}}into modern times{{snd}}incorporate such heat-mitigating features.<ref>{{multiref2|1=Peralta, J. T. (2013). "Salakot and Other Headgear". ''National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) & Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP)''. UNESCO.|2={{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sacks |first1=David |others=Revised by Lisa R. Brody |title=Clothing |date=2005 |url-access=registration |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-5722-1 |page=87 |edition=Revised |orig-date=First edition published 1995 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World |ref=none |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofan0000sack_l8g9/page/86/mode/2up}}}}</ref> Designs specifically for [[equestrianism|riders on horseback]] with these details can be seen at least as far back as the [[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongolian horsemen]] of the 13th century.{{r|bender|china hstry}}

== See also ==
* [[ Charro outfit]]
* [[Jarabe Tapatío]], often referred to as the Mexican hat dance
* [[Ranch]]
* [[Western wear]]

Other kinds of hats:
* [[List of hat styles]]
* [[List of headgear]]
* [[Cap]]
* [[Chupalla]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="china hstry">{{multiref2|1={{Cite book| last1=Huang |first1=Nengfu |id=黄能馥 [Huang Nengfu]; 陈娟娟 [Chen Juanjuan] |last2=Chen |first2=Juanjuan |date=1995|ref=none |language=zh |title=Zhongguo fuzhuang shi |script-title=zh:中国 服装史 |trans-title=History of Chinese Clothing |publisher= Zhongguo lüyou chuban she 中国旅游出版 社 |at=p. 249, pl. 8}} |2=
{{Cite book |last1=Dai |first1=Qin xiang|last2=Lu |first2=Qin |last3=Li |first3=Yalin |date=1998 |title=Zhongguo gudai fushi |id= 戴钦祥 [Dai Qin xiang]; 陆钦 [Lu Qin]; 李亚麟 [Li Yalin] |script-title=zh: 中国古代服饰 |trans-title=Ancient Chinese Costume |publisher=Shangwu yinshu guan 商务印书馆 |page=82|ref=none|language=zh}}|3=
{{cite conference|title=Mongol Costume – Historical and Recent |book-title=Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference {{!}} PIAC |last=Cammann |first=Schuyler Van R.|pages=157–166 |conference=Aspects of Altaic Civilization. Held at Indiana University, 4–9 June 1962 |series=Uralic and Altaic Series |publisher=Curzon Press |location=London |editor=Denis Sinor|date=1963|ref=none |quote-page=160 |quote=...{{nbsp}}summer hats with wide brims{{nbsp}}... sometimes split at the sides, so the front could be worn down as an eye-shade, or the back down to protect the back of the neck.}}|4={{cite book |last1=Shea |first1=Eiren L. |title=Mongol Court Dress, Identity Formation, and Global Exchange |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group |location=New York |isbn=9780367356187 |page=89 |quote=According to the Yuan shi,{{nbsp}}... the brimmed hat [was] in response to Khubilai complaining that the sun was blinding his soldiers.|ref=none}} }}</ref>

<ref name="bender">{{Cite book |last=Bender |first=Texan Bix |year=1994 |title=Hats and the Cowboys Who Wear Them |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=Gibbs Smith, Publisher |pages=10–11 |isbn=1-58685-191-8}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Sombreros}}

{{Hats}}
{{Folk costume}}

[[Category:Hats]]
[[Category:Mexican clothing]]
[[Category:Western wear]]
[[Category:Spanish words and phrases]]