It totally baffles me that there should even be a question of why men should wear hats. When the temperatures begin to fall below freezing in urban/suburban areas of the country, men scurry to put something on their heads that often resemble dead rodents. What’s wrong with wearing something fashionable in cold weather? We wear shoes to protect our feet. Are we dandies if our shoes and boots don’t resemble clumsy clunkers? And in the hot sun, do we not need protection from the harmful UV rays? Believe me, there is nothing macho about skin cancer—or having your skin look like leather before you turn 35. Really, the question is not whether men should wear hats—whether they be baseball, truckers’ or cowboy hats—but whether they should be fashionable hats. If you believe, as I do, that clothes should not only be functional but make you look good at the same time, you’ve come to the right place. So let’s look at some fashionable choices for head-wear.
The Classic Fedora
Nothing conveys elegance more than a classic Fedora, such as this Borsalino below:
This hat with its short snap brim is a killer of a fashion accessory. The fine workmanship exhibited in in this hat by this world famous Italian hat maker makes it perfectly clear why the name Borsalino is to hats what the name Ferrari is to cars.
The Bogart Look
This snappy Fedora by Stetson will allow you to channel your inner Humphrey Bogart. Its wide brim, high crown, and wide ribbon are all reminiscent of the Fedoras that the iconic actor wore in such 1940’s films as The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. Don’t wear this hat if you are uncomfortable with attention, because you’ll get plenty of it.
The “Gatsby” Type Fedora
This hat style was made famous by a 1974 film that Robert Redford wore it in, entitled The Great Gatsby. The film was set in the 1920’s and was based on a novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The defining characteristic of this hat is that both the front and back of the brim snap down. You may find that this style of hat with a wide brim is more flattering in profile than a traditional Fedora.
The Flat Cap
Stylish that they are, Fedoras may not be for everyone. If you have a long, angular face, a Fedora should work well for you. But if you have a round, full face, you might want to consider another style of hat. You may want to consider the “flat cap,” a hat that can be sporty but also complement a dress coat. Below are two examples:
The Straw Hat
No hat is more important for your health than a straw hat that gives you protection from the harmful rays of the sun. The most iconic straw hat is the Panama. A true Panama hat is made from straw worked on by Ecuadorian weavers but finished in other countries. Why a hat essentially made in Ecuador is called a Panama hat is a long and contradictory story that I will not go into here. Suffice to say that a true Panama hat is a work of art (it takes months to make a single hat). But it is a very pricey hat: in the hundreds and thousands of dollars range. Furthermore, it is quite delicate.
You probably will be better off with a straw, Fedora -style hat that is available in department stores for $75 dollars or less, like the one below:
Whatever is your fancy, gentlemen, please wear a hat.