BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: We celebrate this week an African-American tradition that blends high fashion, deep spirituality, and respect for ancestors. It is the practice by many women of wearing elaborate hats to church. A recent book called CROWNS told the hats story, and it has become a stage musical now on tour. Our correspondent is Bob Faw, of NBC News. He begins his story on stage.

Unidentified Woman (From Play, "Crowns"): Fur hat, velvet hats. You name it -- I like them all.

BOB FAW: Remembering, understanding, and honoring hats. You know, those artful concoctions -- of fabric, feathers, and whatnot -- celebrated in the play "Crowns," off-Broadway and in regional theaters.

Unidentified Woman (From Play, "Crowns"): Hats should be simply decorated. Now some women think the more stuff you can fit on your head, the better.

FAW: Fussed over, treasured, even coveted, by women of all ages.

Hats do conceal. But mostly they reveal a great deal about those who wear them -- and their world.

Every Sunday, in scores of American churches, faith and fashion unite.

On display are hats of every description -- from the demure to the why'd-you-have-to-sit-down-in-front-of-me variety. Like other women here, Andrea Young doesn't just wear a hat to church -- she continues the tradition of making a statement.

ANDREA YOUNG (Parishioner): Hats have been a wonderful expression of black women's beliefs in themselves even when the messages from society were quite different.

FAW: Hats are so prominent, so vital here because it's the heritage: the African tradition of adorning the head for worship. Slave women, for example, would cover their heads with bandanas, giving them that special touch by decorating them with wildflowers.

Unidentified Woman (From Play, "Crowns"): After slavery, there were whites-only signs everywhere. So if you'd have something to show off -- and be in style -- you'd wear it in church!

FAW: Especially after Emancipation, says the author of the book CROWNS, Craig Marberry.

CRAIG MARBERRY (Author, CROWNS): Hats became an instant symbol that you have arrived, that you are on your feet. The hats became more and more flamboyant because the more trinkets and adornments that you could add to your hat, you were really saying, "Look how God has blessed me."

FAW: In the book, which inspired the play, Craig Marberry interviewed 53 women who described how they wear hats to honor tradition -- and God. Women like Margaret Ginyard.

MARGARET GINYARD (Parishioner): My grandmother told us, God said cover your head with a hat -- doesn't necessarily have to be a hat -- just cover your head when you come into the house of the Lord.

FAW: Respecting God and asserting oneself, says the proud owner of 60 hats.

CAROL GARDNER (Parishioner): Hattitude. It's the way it makes you feel when you walk in. You're not properly dressed unless you have a hat on.

FAW: The play "Crowns" honors that tradition. And others.

Unidentified Woman (From Play, "Crowns"): Mama would make hats from the same material as our dress. They were plain. But I was very proud to wear what Mama made.

FAW: Just the way Margaret Ginyard's mother did 70 years ago in Talladega, Alabama.