A Panama hat, also known as an Ecuadorian hat, a jipijapa hat, or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the Carludovica palmata plant, known locally as the toquilla palm or jipijapa palm, although it is a palm-like plant rather than a true palm.
Ecuadorian hats are light-colored, lightweight, and breathable, and often worn as accessories to summer-weight suits, such as those made of linen or silk. The tightness, the finesse of the weave, and the time spent weaving a complete hat out of the toquilla straw characterize its quality. Beginning around the turn of the twentieth century, these hats became popular as tropical and seaside accessories owing to their ease of wear and breathability. The art of weaving the traditional Ecuadorian toquilla hat was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists on 5 December 2012.
The two main processes in the creation of a Panama hat are weaving and blocking. The two most common types of weaves are the Cuenca and Brisa. The Cuenca weave has the appearance of a herringbone pattern and utilizes slightly more straw than the Brisa weave. The Brisa weave has the appearance of small diamonds/squares. This type of weave is less intricate but perceived as finer than the Cuenca weave by some as it is lighter. Other types of weaves include crochet, fancy, torcido, and new order.
Although commonly called ‘Panama hat’, the hat has its origin in Ecuador. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Ecuador in 1526, the inhabitants of its coastal areas were observed to wear a brimless hat that resembled a toque, which was woven from the fibers from a palm tree that the Spaniands came to call paja toquilla or “toquilla straw”. Beginning in the early- to mid-1600s, hat weaving evolved as a cottage industry along the Ecuadorian coast as well as in small towns throughout the Andean mountain range. Hat weaving and wearing grew steadily in Ecuador through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
