I've always liked to wear something on my head, I'm not the elegant lady-like type and not very courageous fashion-wise, I've never worn a stylish felt creation adorned with feathers and stuff, I'm more a straw hat in summer and woollen cap in winter woman. Some years ago I decided to wear not just any cheap straw hat any more but the real thing, a Panama hat, as it becomes an elderly lady. But it's not only this, I've never been a one for sunbathing and after two cataract operations I've become even more adverse to direct sunshine, I need my hat now. Of course, I don't get a suntan this way, but I won't get skin cancer, either.

The Third World Shop doesn't offer Panama hats any more so I bought the next hat in a hat shop spending more money, but it's done in a better way and fits better, so I don't complain. It has a hat band on the inside of the crown which keeps it in shape and I've bought exactly the size that's right for me, with my hats from the brochure I could only get an approximate size, I always took one a big wider than necessary because they don't get wider with use but can be made tighter with a thread pulled through the base of the crown from the inside.

The big breakthrough, however, came at the beginning of the last century when the workers involved in the construction of the Panama Canal used the hats as protection against the burning sun, from then on the item was called 'Panama hat'. When in 1906 President Roosevelt was photographed wearing a Panama hat when he was visiting the canal under construction its popularity was enhanced even more. In England, royal patronage has helped to make the Panama hat the most fashionable summer hat, in 1985 it was declared to belong to the '100 best designs ever'.

What is the difference between fine and coarse hats? Weaving begins at the apex of the crown, a spiral of rings or vueltas spans out from there, it's the number of vueltas that determines the quality of a hat, the cheaper quality has up to ten vueltas, the expensive one can have as many as forty. From the net: " The greatest weavers work only by the light of the moon or when the sky is overcast. Constantly dipping their sharp pointed fingers in water, they split the fibres razor thin, and with all the virtuosity of a spinning wheel, plait ring after ring of palm into fabric so soft and dense that it equals silk. The hats are then pummelled and trimmed and groomed and scrubbed. . . .

You may have heard that Panama hats can be folded, rolled up and carried around in the breast pocket of a suit until needed, not were we live, though! Our climate is too dry, this can only be done in the tropics where humidity is high, here the fibres would break or the hat would lose its shape completely. If it only has some creases, there is no problem, I've travelled with my hats in a plastic bag, stowed them carefully in the luggage compartment of a plane and then fondled and caressed them until they were back in shape. If that doesn't help and the hat is severely disfigured, one can iron it carefully with a steam iron.

The standard Panama hat has a black band, this has bothered me sometimes because black doesn't go well with a colourful summer dress, only now have I learnt the reason and consider removing the black band and substituting it with a coloured one. Why should I, a German subject living in the 21st century, wear the sign of mourning for the British Queen Victoria who died in 1901? Since then the hat bands of Panama hats have been black, who's responsible for this absurdity I don't know. But if I remove the black band, my hat isn't the real thing any more.