A red felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone, typically with a black tassel, traditionally worn in parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
Named after the city of Fez in Morocco, where the distinctive red dye for these hats was originally produced from crimson berries that grew in the region. The hat style spread throughout the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century when Sultan Mahmud II made it mandatory for civil servants in 1829 to replace turbans. Ironically, the fez was later banned in Turkey by Atatürk in 1925 as part of modernization efforts.
This iconic Middle Eastern hat gets its name and distinctive red color from a Moroccan city that had the perfect berries for making crimson dye. The fez went from regional specialty to Ottoman Empire uniform to banned item in Turkey - all within a century of political changes.
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