The origins of the witch’s hat go back centuries

With Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked, upon which the hit Broadway musical and now a duo of feature films were based, The Wicked Witch of the West was given a name – Elphaba – and a backstory that evokes sympathy for an outcast who is branded evil for standing up for those less fortunate. In reclaiming the witch as a misunderstood figure, alongside aspirational pop culture representations like Samantha and Prue from Bewitched, and Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell from the 1990s Charmed series, the cone hat has become far less sinister.

It’s also thanks in part to Oscar-winning villain costume designer Paul Tazewell, who reinterpreted the “hideous” hat, as Glinda calls it, to better reflect Elphaba’s relationship with Earth. “It’s a reflection and nostalgia of the silhouette that we recognize, but it’s made into something of its own by how it rotates,” Tazewell told The Cut.

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While Wicked re-examines the evil witch trope, it can be largely credited with toning down the horror of the cone hat. After all, as Kunin asserts, there is nothing inherently terrifying about this. It’s just something open to interpretation, given meaning by centuries of myths passed down through art and stories – and the meanings of these myths change over time.

Some modern Pagans see the hat as a conductor of energy, while children still demand it during the spooky season. In fact, a witch’s hat was the most popular Halloween costume on Google in 2021 – ahead of Wicked The mania began. Just as woodcuts, portraits, and fairy tales influenced modern material culture of the conical hat, today’s reiteration will also benefit the understanding of future generations.