The chechia, chachia, or chachiya, is a well-known headgear throughout the Mediterranean world. A close cousin of the beret, it is Tunisia's national hat. In June 2018, Tunisian fans honored Tunisia by cheering on their national team engaged in the Football World Cup and promoting Tunisian culture featuring the fez, a red woollen hat, the color of the national flag!
The making of the fez was considered a refined art obeying strict traditional principles. Traditionally, the Tunisian chechia was made from combed wool, then knitted by the women who made the kabbous caps. The wool was generally spun in Djerba or Gafsa, knitted by the expert Kabbasat of Ariana, fulled in the waters of the Medjerda at El Batan, carded in El Alia, where the thistles originate, and dyed in Zaghouan. Finishing and shaping are finally completed in Tunis. At this breakneck pace of production, the fez probably traveled far more than the people who made it...