This is a great question.
In medieval reenactments, I wear my hair covered with a
linen cloth and it is one of the most comfortable things. It's like my own personal climate control and there's a huge amount of comfort - like a weighted blanket but not heavy.
In the village in England where my family harks from, pretty much all women wore their hair covered until the late 1960s. Even when I went back to visit around the turn of the recent century, about half of the women over 40 still wore hair coverings, usually scarves, while doing daily tasks, but not so much while out and about. But the tradition is only recently deceased and goes back at least to just after the Romans left.
But in Canada, head scarves are seldom seen outside of religious context. And it's this reason why I feel nervous wearing one in my daily life. That and I don't know a good way to wear one or what kind of cloth to get that doesn't look like I came out of the 1940s - although it might not be a bad thing to do a bit of historybounding.
So I have been talking to my Muslim friends. Most of them don't wear head coverings as it's not a big deal in their homeland. From talking with men and women of this tradition, they wouldn't mind if a non-muslim wore a scarf, they wouldn't think it a religious thing, it would just be fashion.
But I also have some friends from a very strict Muslim tradition. The women of the family wear the full black outfit with a veil so we can only see the eyes, and the men have strict rules against interacting with women who aren't family. When I visit their house, the men go to one part of the house, and I get to go to the women's section. In the women's section, they can take off their black outfits and I admit, I didn't realise how much makeup and fashion they have under the black coverings. The most shocking thing for me is how healthy and beautiful their hair is.
So of course, I asked them what they thought if I were to wear my hair covered with a scarf. The response was they would be honoured. I already make sure my arms and legs are covered when visiting as a sign of respect for them, but hair coverings, even as daily wear, would be a wonderful thing and not seen as a religious issue.
The biggest problem I have is with secular friends. I've tried a few times to wear hair coverings and they get weirded out "have you converted?" "what's with the scarf?" and some of the people I would have thought were the least racist friends would say some pretty offensive stuff I won't repeat here.
That last bit takes away my courage - but you know what? Thinking about this and writing this out, it also makes me angry and want to show them that they are being pricks about it. So I think I will start wrapping my hair in a scarf. I just need to find out how and get the right kind of scarf. Although, I will probably look at the traditions where family is from to see what I can incorporate. That 1940s history bounding idea really tickles my fancy.