Straw wikipedia

A straw hat is a wide-brimmed hat woven out of straw or straw-like synthetic materials.

Plastic straw

Commonly used fibers are: [ 2 ]. There are several styles of straw hats, but all of them are woven using some form of plant fibre. Finer and more expensive straw hats have a tighter and more consistent weave. Since it takes much more time to weave a larger hat than a smaller one, larger hats are more expensive. Straw hats have been worn in Africa and Asia since after the Middle Ages during the summer months, and have changed little between the medieval times and today.

They are worn, mostly by men, by all classes. The mokorotlo , a local design of a straw hat, is the national symbol of the Basotho and Lesotho peoples, and of the nation of Lesotho. It is displayed on Lesotho license plates. At age twelve, she developed a technique for braiding straw, allowing her to emulate the styles of expensive straw bonnets and make them accessible to working-class women.

Rather than patent her technique, Baker taught the women in her community how to make straw bonnets, enabling the development of a cottage industry in New England.