Knit cap

A tuque

U2 guitarist The Edge

A bright green tuque

A tuque is a knitted cap, originally of wool though now often of synthetic fibers, that is designed to provide warmth in winter. Most tuques are tapered, they sometimes have ear-flaps, and may be topped with a pom-pon, this style of tuque is sometimes referred to as a sherpa. Tuques may have a folded brim, or none, and may be worn tightly fitting the head or loose on top although the latter is considered more standard. The term originated in Canada.

History

The precursor to the modern tuque was a small, round, close-fitting hat, brimless or with a small brim. In the 12th and 13th centuries, women wore embroidered toques, made of velvet, satin, or taffeta, on top of their head-veils. In the late 16th century, brimless, black velvet toques were popular with men and women. Throughout the 19th century, women wore toques, often small, trimmed with fur, lace, bows, flowers, or leaves.

Pronunciation

The word is etymologically related to the name of the chef's toque, although it is sometimes spelled toque instead of tuque (still pronounced /tuk/) by assimilation, or occasionally touque, although the latter is not considered a standard spelling by the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

Style

In some sections of Canada a tuque with a brim on it, commonly worn by snowboarders, is nicknamed a bruque (a brimmed tuque). The tuque is similar to the Phrygian cap and, as such, during the 1837 Patriotes Rebellion a red tuque became a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism. The symbol was revived briefly by the Front de libération du Québec in the 1960s.

Popularity

Tuques are indispensable in cold climates, and are worn worldwide in various forms. They have become the common headgear for stereotypical dockworkers and sailors in movies and television. The most famous media characters to sport this kind of hat are the SCTV characters Bob and Doug McKenzie. Michael Nesmith of The Monkees also wore this hat in his television series, as did Jay from the Kevin Smith movies Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, etc., Robert Clothier's character "Relic" in the long-running Canadian TV series The Beachcombers, and Hanna-Barbera's character Loopy de Loop wore a tuque as well. Bill Murray wore this type of hat in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, possibly as a parody of the tuque worn by Jacques Cousteau. The guitarist for the Irish band U2, The Edge, is also known for wearing a tuque while performing, or during interviews to cover his baldness. Jayne Cobb from the TV series Firefly famously wore an orange sherpa knitted and sent him by his mother in "The Message". Canadian Daniel Powter also wore a blue tuque during the music video for "Bad Day." Tuques are also worn commonly by hiphop artists. There also is a town known as La Tuque, Quebec, named after a nearby hill that resembles a tuque. Masao Inaba from Revelations: Persona wears one. The character "Compo" on the British TV show "Last of the Summer Wine" is almost always seen wearing a tuque.

Other names

In other parts of the anglophone world, this type of hat is more commonly referred to by other names: knit hat or knit cap, sock cap or stocking cap, watch cap, skull cap, snow hat, snow cap, ski cap, tossle cap, woolly hat, chook, or beanie. In Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the UK, the term beanie refers almost exclusively to the knitted tuque-style hat, although that word is also used elsewhere to denote a more rigid cap that is not knitted but rather made up of joined panels of felt, twill or other tightly woven cloth. The lack of a consistent term outside Canada for the tuque is a popular source of material for Canadian comedians.

See also

• Beanie