zulu-hathttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zulu-hat_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZulu hat, n.
Revised 2023

Zulu hatnoun

  1. 1879–
    (Originally) a kind of straw hat with a wide brim, fashionable in the late 19th cent. (now rare); (later) a tall, brimless hat which widens towards a flat, disc-shaped top, traditionally worn by married Zulu women.
    The traditional hat is called isicholo in Zulu.
    1. 1879
      Hyam's stock of Straw Hats for men, boys, and Children, is very large and varied in styles; his Zulu Hats, at Threepence halfpenny, are astonishing.
      Freeman's Journal (Dublin) 31 May 1/3
    2. 1893
      She had managed, while seizing a Zulu hat, to divest herself of the apron.
      C. M. Yonge & C. R. Coleridge, Strolling Players viii. 54
    3. 1941
      Both [children] wore what were then known as Zulu hats, plaited of rushes and very wide brimmed.
      F. Thompson, Over to Candleford x. 144
    4. 1994
      The vivid red Zulu hat also tells us to see something about the wearer.
      Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 29 March b6
    5. 2012
      A middle-aged woman, a formidable-looking Rasta in a giant Zulu hat, joined her.
      Z. Smith, NW (2013) (e-book edition)

Originally published as part of the entry for Zulu, n. & adj.

Zulu, n. & adj. was revised in March 2023.