Editing Toque

{{Short description|Type of hat with narrow or no brim}}
{{for-multi|the modern headwear known in Canada as a "toque"|Knit cap|other uses|Toque (disambiguation)|and|La Tuque (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox clothing type
| image_file = Portrait of Philip II of Spain by Sofonisba Anguissola - 002b.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption    = King [[Philip II of Spain]], wearing the Spanish {{lang|es|tocado}}, late 16th century. Painting by [[Sofonisba Anguissola]]
| type       = Narrow-brimmed or brimless hat
| material   = Knitted yarn, starched cloth, or velvet
}}
A '''toque''' ({{IPAc-en|t|oʊ|k}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Dictionary.com; Meanings & Definitions of English Words |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/toque |access-date=11 January 2014}}</ref> or {{IPAc-en|t|ɒ|k}}) is a type of [[hat]] with a narrow [[Brim (hat)|brim]] or no brim at all.<ref name="merriam">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toque | title=Definition of Toque | access-date=11 January 2014}}</ref>

Toques were popular from the 13th to the 16th century in Europe, especially France. They were revived in the 1930s; nowadays, they are primarily known as the traditional headgear for professional [[cook (profession)|cooks]], except in Canada, where the term ''toque'' is used interchangeably with the French Canadian spelling of ''tuque'' to refer to [[knit cap]]s.<ref name="merriam" />

== Name ==
[[File:Woman's Toque LACMA M.64.85.6.jpg|thumb|left|Woman's toque from England, c. 1860 at the collection of [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]]]]
[[File:Handkolorerad modeplasch från mars 1800. Damerna bär toquer, påsliknande mössor utan brätten - Nordiska Museet - NMA.0032520.jpg|thumb|upright|Young ladies wearing toques in a fashion drawing from 1800.]]
[[File:Tasseled toque of Yo-San silk and chenille embroidery 1917.png|thumb|upright|Tasseled toque from 1917 New York.]]
The word ''toque'' has been known in English since around 1500. It is a [[loan word]] from the [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|tuque}} (15th century), presumably by the way of the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{lang|es|toca}} 'woman's headdress', from [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|*taqa}} طاقة, itself from [[Old Persian]] {{lang|peo|taq}} 'veil, shawl'.<ref name="Harper">{{OEtymD|toque|access-date=1 October 2021}}</ref>

The word {{lang|br|toque}} in [[Breton language|Breton]] means 'hat'. The spelling with ⟨que⟩ is Middle Breton, and the Modern Breton spelling is {{lang|br|tok}}. Old Breton spells the word {{lang|br|toc}}. {{citation needed span|date=October 2021|The word was borrowed into the French language for both the chef's uniform and the knit cap.}}

==History and uses==
A tall, black toque made of [[silk]] or [[velvet]], often ornamented with an [[aigrette]], was fashionable among the [[Spanish nobility]] during the 1500s. This style is seen in a 1584 portrait of [[Isabella Clara Eugenia]] as well as [[Sofonisba Anguissola]]'s 1573 portrait of [[Philip II of Spain]], both in the [[Museo del Prado]]. The style spread across Europe, being adopted in France, England, Germany, and Italy. The toque diminished in popularity in the 1600s as wide-brimmed and [[cocked hat]]s became fashionable, but reappeared as a predominantly young women's fashion in the 1800s, accompanying long dresses and [[Chignon (hairstyle)|chignon]] hairstyles.<ref name="Chico">{{cite book |last1=Chico |first1=Beverly |title=Hats and Headwear Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-6106-9063-8 |pages=449–451 |chapter=Toque}}</ref>

===Culinary===
{{see also|Chef's uniform}}
[[File:William Orpen Le Chef de l'Hôtel Chatham, Paris.jpg|thumb|upright|{{lang|fr|Le Chef de l'Hôtel Chatham, Paris}} ({{c.|1921}}), [[oil on canvas]] by [[William Orpen]]]]
A '''{{lang|fr|toque blanche}}''' ([[French language|French]] for 'white hat'), often shortened to toque, is a tall, round, pleated, starched white hat worn by [[chef]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://blogmybrain.com/scrabble-word-finder/word/toque.htm | title=Definitions for: Toque | access-date=11 January 2014}}</ref>

The toque most likely originated as the result of the gradual evolution of head coverings worn by cooks throughout the centuries.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUdYAQAAQBAJ&q=toque+head+coverings&pg=PA69 | title=So, You Want to Be a Chef?: How to Get Started in the World of Culinary Arts | publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]] | author= Bedell, Jane | year=2013 | page=69 | isbn=978-1582704364}}</ref> Their roots are sometimes traced to the {{lang|fr|casque à meche}} (stocking cap) worn by 18th-century French chefs. The colour of the {{lang|fr|casque à meche}} denoted the rank of the wearer. Boucher, the personal chef of the French statesman [[Talleyrand]], was the first to insist on white toques for sanitary reasons.

The modern toque is popularly believed to have originated with the French chef [[Marie-Antoine Carême]] (1784&ndash;1833), who stiffened the {{lang|fr|casque à meche}} with cardboard.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/magazine/who-made-that-chefs-toque.html|title=Who Made That Chef's Toque?|first=Daniel|last=Engber|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 March 2014}}</ref><!-- and [[Auguste Escoffier]] (1846&ndash;1935) -->

===Judicial===
* A toque, or sometimes touge, was the traditional headgear of various French [[magistrate]]s.
* A low type in black velvet, called ''[[mortar board|mortier]]'' (also rendered in English as [[mortarboard]]), was used by the ''[[président à mortier]]'', president of a ''[[parlement]]'' (the royal highest court in a French province), and of the members of two of the highest central courts, ''[[Court of Cassation (France)|cour de cassation]]'' and ''[[Cour des Comptes|cour des comptes]]''.
* A red toque is sometimes worn by German judges, primarily by justices on the [[Federal Constitutional Court]].

===Academic===
The pleated, low, round hat worn in French universities{{spaced ndash}} the equivalent of the [[mortarboard]] or [[tam (cap)|tam]] at British and American universities{{spaced ndash}} is also called a toque.

===Heraldic===
{{see also|French heraldry}}
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2013}}
In the [[Napoleonic era]], the French first empire replaced the [[coronet]]s of traditional ("royal") [[heraldry]] with a rigorously standardized system (as other respects of "Napoleonic" [[coats of arms]]) of toques, reflecting the rank of the bearer. Thus a Napoleonic [[duke]] used a toque with seven [[ostrich]] feathers and three [[Mantling|lambrequin]]s, a [[count]] a toque with five feathers and two lambrequins, a [[baron]] three feathers and one lambrequin, a [[knight]] only one ostrich feather (see [[Nobility of the First French Empire]]).

===Athletic===
Toque is also used for a hard-type hat or [[helmet]], worn for riding, especially in [[equestrianism|equestrian]] sports, often black and covered with black [[velvet]].

==Knit cap==
{{Further|Knit cap#Canadian toque, tuque or touque}}

In [[Canadian English|Canada]], ''toque'' or ''tuque'' {{IPAc-en|t|uː|k}} is the common name for a [[Knit cap|knitted winter cap]]. While the spelling ''toque'' has become the most formally accepted in Canada, as recognized by the ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary]]'' and the ''[[A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles|Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles]]'', the alternate spelling of ''tuque'' is most commonly used in French Canada and often occurs in Canadian media. The spelling ''touque'', although not recognized by the ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary]]'', is also sometimes seen in written English.<ref name=cbc>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/thousands-vote-on-correct-spelling-of-canadian-knit-cap-1.2457737 |title=Thousands vote on correct spelling of Canadian knit cap |date=10 December 2013 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |access-date=22 December 2015}}</ref>

In 2013, [[CBC News|CBC]] Edmonton launched a poll to ask viewers how they spelled the word. The options given were ''toque'', ''tuque'' or ''touque''. Nearly 6,500 people voted, with Edmontonians remaining divided on the issue.<ref name="cbc" /> Though ''touque'' was voted most popular in that instance, there is almost no formal usage to support its popularity.

The [[Canadian English]] term was borrowed from [[Canadian French language|Canadian French]] word ''[[wikt:tuque#French|tuque]]'', and first documented in [[Canadian English]] in that form in 1865; by 1880 the spelling ''toque'' is documented.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Dollinger |first1=Stefan |last2=Fee |first2=Margery |date=2017 |title=toque |url=http://apps.plotandscatter.com:8080/dchp2/entries/view/toque |website=Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, Second Edition |publication-place=Vancouver |via=UBC}}</ref> The fashion is said to have originated with the {{lang|fr|[[coureurs de bois]]}}, French and [[Métis]] fur traders, who kept their woollen nightcaps on for warmth during cold winter days.  This spelling is attributed to a number of different sources, one being the Breton ''toc'' or ''tok'', "meaning simply 'hat'"; another suggesting that it is a Francization of the Spanish ''tocar,'' to touch, as the long "end of the sock cap" of the Voyageurs hung down and touched their shoulders;<ref>{{Cite book |author=Casselman, Bill |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/40940496 |title=Casselman's Canadian words : a comic browse through words and folk sayings invented by Canadians |date=1999 |publisher=McArthur |isbn=1-55278-034-1 |oclc=40940496}}</ref> and another source adamant that the word is borrowed from "the old Languedoc dialect word ''tuc''" meaning "summit" or "the head of a mountain".<ref>{{Cite book |first=Wayne |last=Grady |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/937943426 |title=Chasing the chinook : on the trail of Canadian words and culture |date=1999 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-027787-0 |oclc=937943426}}</ref>

The spelling of ''toque'', on the other hand, is borrowed from the original usage as described elsewhere in this article. ''Toque'' also appears in the 1941 ''Dictionary of Mississippi Valley French'' as a "style of hair-dressing among the Indians" which was a tall, conical fashion not unlike the shape of the Voyageur-style cap described above.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-05 |title="toque" in Mississippi Valley French, eh? |url=https://chinookjargon.com/2019/01/05/toque-in-mississippi-valley-french-eh/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Chinook Jargon}}</ref>

Dictionaries are divided on the matter of spelling, with the ''Gage Canadian'' preferring ''toque''<ref>{{Cite book |last=De Wolf |first=Gaelan T. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/734052878 |title=Gage Canadian dictionary |date=1998 |publisher=Gage Educational Pub. Co |isbn=978-0-7715-1981-9 |oclc=734052878}}</ref> and the ''Nelson Canadian'' listing ''tuque''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39032668 |title=Nelson Canadian dictionary of the English language : an encyclopedic reference. |date=1997 |publisher=ITP Nelson |isbn=0-17-604726-3 |location=Scarborough, Ont. |oclc=39032668}}</ref> (the ''Nelson Gage'' of a few years later would settle on ''toque''). The first ''[[A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles|Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles]]'' lists separate entries and definitions for both ''toque'' and ''tuque'' which cross-reference each other, though an illustrative line drawing is presented with the latter.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/60266 |title=A dictionary of Canadianisms on historical principles |date=1967 |publisher=W.J. Gage |oclc=60266}}</ref> Perhaps most importantly, the ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary|Canadian Oxford]]'' chose ''toque'',<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2004-01-01 |title=The Canadian Oxford Dictionary |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195418163.001.0001 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195418163.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-541816-3 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and as the ''[[Canadian Press Stylebook]]'' bows to the ''Canadian Oxford'' as the final word in spelling, most Canadian publications have followed suit.

Though the requirement of the ''toque'' to have a pom-pom or no can be a hard line for some Canadians, for the most part the country agrees: one of these three spellings must be "correct" no matter what the specifics of shape. As the ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia|Canadian Encyclopedia]]'' claims, "We all know a tuque when we see one, [we just] can't agree on how to spell the word."<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Tuque {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tuque |access-date=2023-04-08 }}</ref>

In recent years knit ''toques'' have resurfaced as an extremely popular fashion item. They are used all year round, seen not only used outdoors for weather but as an indoor fashion accessory.

Such hats are known in other English-speaking countries by a variety of names, including ''beanie'', ''watch cap'' or ''stocking cap''; the terms ''toque'' and ''tuque'' are unique to Canada and northern areas of the United States close to the [[Canada–United States border]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Fashion}}
* [[List of hat styles]]
* [[List of headgear]]

; Similar hats
* [[Capotain]]
* [[Fez (hat)]]
* [[Kalimavkion]]
* [[Kofia (hat)]]
* [[Kolpik]]
* [[Kufi]]
* [[Skufia]]
* [[Smoking cap]]
* [[Tam (women's hat)|Tam]]
* [[Taqiyah (cap)]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=toque&searchmode=none EtymologyOnLine]
* [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/napolher.htm Heraldry.org Napoleonic heraldry]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Toques (headgear)}}
*[http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/ Index to French Heraldry]

{{hats|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Academic dress]]
[[Category:Canadian fashion]]
[[Category:Cooking]]
[[Category:French heraldry]]
[[Category:Hats]]
[[Category:History of clothing (Western fashion)]]
[[Category:History of fashion]]
[[Category:Judicial clothing]]
[[Category:Sportswear]]
[[Category:Winter clothes]]