Decline of hat wearing - What Makes a Man Wear a Hat? - Article

[DanielJones]

Personally I wear hats for basic reasons. One, I feel naked without one when I'm outdoors. I like the "shelter" & protection it offers my head, neck, face & especially my eyes. Secondly, they just look so darn good. The fedora & flat cap seems to transcend 'fashion' and make one look 'stylish'. If you feel confident, it shows, and the hat just completes the picture.
I think that the main reason that the hat has lost favor, except for the obligatory ball cap, has nothing to do with cars & being indoors, but because the majority of society around the world has lost their sense of 'style'. They, (the masses of neurotic little me monkeys) go for the latest fashion & think nothing of individual style. The rare few are the folks that frequent these forums celebrating style & things that are vintage in nature. We are those rare few. Even if we are several thousand, in the wide world we are just the 1%'ers.
Now, that is not to say that all here wear hats, and back in the Golden Era, the one we enjoy the style of, not all folks wore hats as general practice. They were the 1%'ers back in the day. Times changed and so did the roles we played. Not all folks feel that they look right in a hat or just haven't found their particular muse to inspire hat wear. And that is all well & fine.
Like I said before, I wear my lids for simple reasons. Practicality & style. Need I more reason?
Anyway, that's just my thought on that for what it is worth.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[mmccabe]

I think I agree with the 60's and 70's theory of rebelling. The hats came off and we wore our hair long and got the bell bottoms, just like everyone else, to show our rebellion. Now it's tattos and piercings to show individuality. Personally, I don't feel a need to add extra holes to myself, so I'll go with fedoras and a sport jacket or a full suit. It's funny, a ball cap and windbreaker get no notice, but a fedora and sport coat used for the same purpose and suddenly you're "dressed up".

 

[ScionPI2005]

I have to admit that I first started wearing my fedoras back in high school as an expression of my hobbies and interests, and hardly for the practical reasons of protecting myself from the outdoors. However, over the years, as I have gotten used to wearing a hat, I realize that I now wear them also for the reasons of protecting my head. If I'm outside in the sun, I like the shade that the brim provides me.

 

[leo]

The surgeon said it has to be a wide brim.

He didn't say it had to be ugly.

Bill

 

[cookie]

It hit 7 degrees C last night in Sydney and then windchill on top. If I did not have my new Campdraft on I would have got swine flu IMHO...

 

[Wolfwood]

As for the car, I had heard it had to do a lot with the changing styles and lower roof lines. Simply not enough room for the hat. At least, that's what I had heard.

Doesn't really compute. I drive a Mazda3, which is not a large car by any means, and I'm over 6'2" and wearing a hat while I drive with no problems.

Of course, it may be that the modern cars allow you to adjust the seat a bit more than they used to (it goes pretty low on the Mazda, giving more vertical room).

 

[PADDY]

The irony of today's fedora wearing...

Is that 'today' it bucks the mass trends and by default has 'us' cast as the rebellious ones!

The denim, ballcap, tee-shirt, hoodie wearing crowd have all but unwittlingly chosen a rather poor looking 'uniform' and in that very uniformity have washed their hands of any real individual self expression[huh] They are the BORG, the DRONES of the High Street.

'We' are the pioneers ironically who in the eyes of these Denim clad drones, look 'oh so different.' Rebels with a cause

 

[cookie]

Is that 'today' it bucks the mass trends and by default has 'us' cast as the rebellious ones!

The denim, ballcap, tee-shirt, hoodie wearing crowd have all but unwittlingly chosen a rather poor looking 'uniform' and in that very uniformity have washed their hands of any real individual self expression[huh] They are the BORG, the DRONES of the High Street.

'We' are the pioneers ironically who in the eyes of these Denim clad drones, look 'oh so different.' Rebels with a cause

Put in such a succinct and powerful way Patrick!:eusa_clap

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Our 57 Chevy - Tons of Hat Room, same with our 52 Ford and 58 Chevy.

Our pickup truck has decent head room. The worst would probably be my 87 Caprice Wagon, it doesn't allow for much head room, but the headliner is also sagging indoor/outdoor carpeting. I have to put my seat leaned way far back in order to get my hat on in there.

Doesn't really compute. I drive a Mazda3, which is not a large car by any means, and I'm over 6'2" and wearing a hat while I drive with no problems.

Of course, it may be that the modern cars allow you to adjust the seat a bit more than they used to (it goes pretty low on the Mazda, giving more vertical room).