Why a hat fashionable in the West was called "meningitis hat" in the USSR: what it looked like

Fashion has always been a means of expressing individuality and social status. Even the USSR had its own trends.

However, like any popular phenomenon, some Soviet fashion trends had haters. OBOZ.UA has prepared a story about a wardrobe item they nicknamed "meningitis hat".

Despite the fact that the USSR had a so-called Iron Curtain, Western trends, including fashion trends, managed to break through it. Soviet women tried to follow them. Of course, it was incredibly difficult to get foreign goods, so they sewed some things themselves, such as hats.

Meningitis hat

In the early 1940s, a hat that barely covered half of the head appeared in Western countries. Its author is generally considered to be an American designer of French origin, Lily Dachet. This hat was popular because it was relatively easy to make in wartime, as fewer materials were needed.

Over time, the fashion for such hats became widespread and spread to the USSR. Half-hats became very popular. In 1953, there was even a movie called Roman Holiday, in which the main character wore just such a hat.

However, some people did not understand this fashion, in particular because it was too cold to wear such open hats in some territories of the Union. Therefore, people began to mockingly call them "meningitis hat".

This name came from the name of the disease meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. In the USSR, there was a myth that if you didn't wear a hat, you could get it.

At the same time, some people called half-hats bonnets, but this name did not catch on well enough.

After 10-15 years, meningitis hats began to go out of fashion and were forgotten, and they were replaced by huge fur hats.

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