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are the hat makers who make summer hats and winter caps for gondoliers.

The summer hat, considered the ‘traditional’ gondolier’s hat, is large, made of stitched straw and is similar to other European maritime hats. It first came into wide use relatively recently: after the Second World War.

The winter cap originates from an earlier maritime tradition dating back to the beginning of the 19^th century. Its appearance reflects that of the fèlze. In fact the colour and the ball of tufted wool are similar to those of the rassa (the cover of the fèlze), which was adorned with 24 large pompoms and 26 small ones.

Today’s gondolier is a recently created figure. Until the end of the 1970s, gondoliers were poorly paid and had to do other work during the winter such as transporting bags of coal. The advent of mass tourism provided the gondolier with a better and more reliable income, so that the job became more specialised. This encouraged greater care in the choice – and coordination – of the gondolier’s clothes, shoes and hats.

Before this recent evolution, the term ‘gondolier’ referred to the gondolier de casada (employed by wealthy families), for whom the ceremonial authorities prescribed a sober dress code, making precise references to, for example, the required number of buttons. In Venice, in 1281, the baretèri and capelèri were already associated with other mariegole or guilds of craftsmen who made clothes: marzeri (haberdashers), sartòri (tailors), varotèri (furriers), guantaie (glove makers)… They became independent in 1677.