Witch hat
A witch hat (), in popular culture, is the style of hat characterized by a conical crown and a wide brim (like akubras and gats).
The origins of the witch hat as displayed today is disputed. A common theory is that it is an exaggeration of the edgeless hats associated with the Welsh and later the Puritans, or an exaggeration of the conical hats believed to stimulate the brain of the wearer. These "thinking caps" are the precursors to the modern dunce cap. Church despised pointy hats given that the points were often related to those of the devil's horns. The witch hat is a more brimmed version of the cone-shaped hats commonly worn by male-gendered wizards and magicians, as the hat was more brimmed for it to be female-appropriate. As of the Victorian era, fairy tales began depicting black-colored conical hats and crones as symbols of wickedness in their illustrations. Another possibility is that in Luna, a town of the Etruscan civilization, there were coins on one side depicting a goddess commonly associated with witches, named Diana, wearing a brimless, cone-shaped hat.
Races and creatures in His Dark Materials
In Lyra's world, witches are exclusively female and live in the far north. They worship their own gods and goddesses, who have a particular focus on nature and the earth; they also understand the Judeo-Christian concept of "Mother Eve". Every witch to appear is described as very beautiful, as they stay young for their entire lives, whilst maintaining a mature look of wisdom from their advanced years. No one knows exactly how long a witch can live, but some live to be over 1,000 years old. They dress in ragged black silk and wear no shoes or warm clothing. Witch queens usually wear a crown that they have created for themselves. Serafina Pekkala wears a band of everlasting, red Arctic flowers and Ruta Skadi wears a tiara of Siberian tiger teeth. Their crowns (like their dæmons which are always birds) reflect the witch queen's personality.