Furry hat with ears - who wears them?
December 16, 2011 1:32 PM

What subcultures or what people wear furry hats with ears? What is the cultural context here?

I've seen the odd picture of these (Google search result link), and it looks like fun to wear such a thing, but at my age I'd look like an idiot - plus I do not know the cultural references of these things. Who wears these and what do they mean? *Note, these are _not_ like chapka or the Russian hat with earmuffs that you can tie up.
posted by Listener to Society & Culture (24 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
Furries who want to keep warm in Winter?
posted by Danf at 1:36 PM on December 16, 2011


They've been in furry, anime(sort of) and burner subcultures for decades.

I think SpiritHoods and Ke$ha made them trendy.
posted by sawdustbear at 1:40 PM on December 16, 2011


All the high-school kids are wearing them this year. My 16-year-old is getting one for Christmas (shhhhh).
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:43 PM on December 16, 2011




Five years ago? Anime kids and furries. Now? Anybody. I saw a gaggle of moms in their 50s all wearing them a couple of days ago.
posted by theodolite at 1:47 PM on December 16, 2011


I've never associated any sort of "subculture" to those hats other than "I just feel like wearing a silly hat because why not".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:53 PM on December 16, 2011


In Portland you can wear them at any age! I started seeing these hats online a few years ago. Why popular? They're cute and funny and warm and inexpensive and the world sucks right now so we need this. It probably started in Japan.
posted by amanda at 1:56 PM on December 16, 2011


Me. 'Cause they look funny and I'm childish.
posted by alby at 1:56 PM on December 16, 2011


I agree that this has changed from fans of anime catgirls and other "weird kids" in the 1990s to a much wider audience now. Why? Why not?
posted by filthy light thief at 1:59 PM on December 16, 2011


babies.
posted by zleetle at 2:16 PM on December 16, 2011


They've started selling them at Walgreens this season, which has led to a proliferation of animal hat wearing people of all ages and sorts.

I also saw a gaggle of touristy-looking moms wearing them yesterday (which, seeing that theodolite is also in Chicago, maybe we saw the same ones)!
posted by phunniemee at 2:35 PM on December 16, 2011


Ravers?
posted by GastrocNemesis at 3:05 PM on December 16, 2011


It's Japanesish. There was a store that sold the cat hats you see pix of from time to time, and that store was around about 10 years ago and has been gone for many years by now. That's probably around the first time I remember seeing them (and I do associate the early ones with Keroppi), which was before I went to Tokyo in 2004. So...there's that.
posted by rhizome at 3:10 PM on December 16, 2011


I always thought it was catgirls. Google up some images of "Neko Miku".

Also:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CatGirl
posted by TrinsicWS at 3:25 PM on December 16, 2011


THere are a ton of them around here but only teenagers wear them. I tried one on and felt the effect wasn't good for me, early 40s.
posted by Miko at 3:26 PM on December 16, 2011


Yeah, its certainly not "subculture" material. It's been showing up like mad at school this winter. Just what the youth have glommed onto this cycle.
posted by absalom at 5:02 PM on December 16, 2011


Thanks for all the other replies too. I can sure appreciate the playful/silly/childish aspect of the things.
posted by Listener at 5:07 PM on December 16, 2011


Mainstream youth and student culture this year in the UK.
posted by cromagnon at 6:42 PM on December 16, 2011


Raver culture. Partying in the woods gets cold when you're out of serotonin and it's 4am.
posted by hopeless romantique at 7:20 PM on December 16, 2011


I have one of these with fairly small ears, it's basically a fuzzy bonnet with cat ears and ties to go under the chin with pompoms on the end. It's really warm right around my ears and neck, fits my stupidly small head even when I have a pony tail at the back, and it doesn't come off in the wind. Plus my husband thinks it's cute. I know it's slightly ridiculous but I don't care because it's crazy warm.

I'm a normal person, no subculture, not really fashionable or unfashionable. I wear it when I go walking in the cold, just like everyone else with their winter hats. I bought it in a normal high street clothing store, and I see them all over the place on both adults and children. The really big ears in the top part of the image search you listed are probably still a bit anime-linked and unusual, but fuzzy bonnets with ears are totally mainstream this year.
posted by shelleycat at 4:58 AM on December 17, 2011


Oh actually, I forgot typing that up there but it's in my profile picture. The ears wiggle back and forth when I'm walking.
posted by shelleycat at 4:59 AM on December 17, 2011


Furries and ravers.
posted by richrad at 8:07 AM on December 17, 2011


Do an image search for knit animal hat. Beanies with ears for small children are ubiquitous, and the hats are pretty much too cute for adults to not co-opt.
posted by desuetude at 12:31 PM on December 17, 2011


I bought this beanie at Urban Oufitters. I'm a 32 year old woman. Not a furry and not into anime. I just think it's cute and warm and adds a bit of whimsy to my completely sedate wool winter coat.
posted by Windigo at 3:53 PM on December 17, 2011


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