Do any of you guys follow any type of hat etiquette?

[fashion frank]

Could not have said it better !

You take your hat off when you walk inside. That's just common manners. To wear a hat inside of someone's home or while at the table where people are eating or in church or in the office, or any number of places indoors, is simply rude and disrespectful. Period.

"that's just common manner's " and common sense too

All the Best ,Fashion frank

 

[HudsonHawk]

So what, exactly, is inside? Is it any place with a roof overhead? Take these examples, and tell me which you think of as being "inside":
- A subway station ("tube" or "underground" for some readers)?
- The lobby of a large office building?
- An elevator in an office building?
- A common hallway in an office building?
- In the Gents in an office building?
- In a shopping mall?
- On a train or bus?
- In a large department or discount store?

In my view, "inside" is largely defined by social intimacy, and not the presence or absence of a roof.

Lobbies, corridors, elevators, public access, etc are not considered "inside". However, a hat is first and foremost a piece of functional attire, not a fashion statement. Typically, there is no need to wear a hat when your head is already covered. If you're wearing it for fashion first, it's really no different than the kids wearing their ball caps backwards. I guess the same etiquette would then apply.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I’m really curious on this point. What about the post office? An airport terminal? The concourse of a shopping mall? The grocery store? Photographic evidence would indicate that all of the spaces were spots where men typically kept on their hats in the 1950s and earlier.



My partners and I eat out for lunch daily, so I have this problem frequently. It’s ridiculous in a state where we must wear heavy coats from November to March or April that coat hooks aren’t more prevalent. In a casual restaurant lacking coat hooks, my feeling is that the lunch-counter rule applies if seating space is at a premium. Again, golden-era photographs do show men sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in diner and restaurant booths wearing their outerwear and hats.

In more upscale places I will put my hat on my knee or even upside down on the floor under my chair. But often I find this is more inconvenient to my dining companions than simply wearing it. You must use your discretion when balancing the comfort and convenience of your companions versus the image you project to the rest of the restaurant patrons.

I'm not sure how the 1950's or the so-called "Golden Era" somehow became some sort of standard, but there were rude and impolite people during those times as well. Just because someone kept his hat on in 1950 doesn't make it any less gauche today.

 

[David Conwill]

These are not isolated incidents. It's a societal norm.

 

[HudsonHawk]

These are not isolated incidents. It's a societal norm.

Alas, I know.

 

[David Conwill]

Alas, I know.

Well, what better guideline is there for etiquette than the social norms of the era when hat wearing was most prevalent?

 

[Orangegrad]

I work from my home. There are times that I hardly leave the house during the week. I drive so little that I typically fill my car's gas tank once per month.

If I didn't wear my fedoras in my home, I'd probably never wear them.

I guess I'm a heathen when it comes to etiquette, but I paid for the house, so I figure I can do what I want.

 

[Banky]

The old guys in this thread are definitely a trip with their adherence to bygone times. Most people these days neither care nor observe hat wearing etiquette. If you're the only one doing something you're the exception, not the rule. I wear my hat in my car, in elevators, in lobbies, pretty much any public space. I take it off when I reach my desk at work, or if sit down to eat. I'll wear it around my house until I change out of my work attire into my home attire. The golden age is gone, there are no rules anymore despite what anyone will tell. People no longer care plain and simple.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

However, a hat is first and foremost a piece of functional attire, not a fashion statement.

I'd say that if that statement were true, there would be no Fedora Lounge.

A hat is a fashion statement AND a piece of functional attire. If that were not true, then teenagers (and immature adults) would no go around wearing backwards or sideways ball caps. If a hat were first and foremost a piece of functional attire, then there would be no reason to prefer one style, material, or grade ("grade": I use that term in the sense that quality professionals use it, to distinguish between "quality: fitness for purpose and conformance to specifications" and "grade: a category assigned to products or services having the same functional use but different technical characteristics").

 

[HudsonHawk]

Well, what better guideline is there for etiquette than the social norms of the era when hat wearing was most prevalent?

Courtesy? Respect? Just because a lot of people today wear their shirts untucked their shoes untied and their ball caps at dinner doesn't mean I find it appropriate.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'd say that if that statement were true, there would be no Fedora Lounge.

A hat is a fashion statement AND a piece of functional attire. If that were not true, then teenagers (and immature adults) would no go around wearing backwards or sideways ball caps. If a hat were first and foremost a piece of functional attire, then there would be no reason to prefer one style, material, or grade ("grade": I use that term in the sense that quality professionals use it, to distinguish between "quality: fitness for purpose and conformance to specifications" and "grade: a category assigned to products or services having the same functional use but different technical characteristics").

No doubt a hat can be an attractive piece of your attire. After all, if you're wearing it, no reason not to wear one that looks nice. But it should first be functional. I think it's like shoes in that regard. Of course they can, and should, be stylish, but style is not the reason you wear them.

 

[DesertDan]

It is true that ill manners and disregard for even a modicum of proper decorum are prevalent in our society. Perhaps this is due to acquiescence to our baser human nature. This is neither a good nor a desirable state of affairs as it is toxic on both the personal and societal level.

Nature, Mr. Banky, is what we are put in this world to rise above.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I work from my home. There are times that I hardly leave the house during the week. I drive so little that I typically fill my car's gas tank once per month.

If I didn't wear my fedoras in my home, I'd probably never wear them.

I guess I'm a heathen when it comes to etiquette, but I paid for the house, so I figure I can do what I want.

You may, of course, wear whatever you wish in your own home. If you want to walk around wearing nothing but your undershorts and your Stetson, that's perfectly fine. But your guests shouldn't presume to.

 

[Banky]

Nature, Mr. Banky, is what we are put in this world to rise above.

I'm just speaking as a 26 year old. It's all goods if you older gentleman want to adhere to the guidelines. That's your prerogative. But It does not change the fact you're making yourselves stand out, not fit in. If it were still the way of things to follow etiquette to the letter I'd be right there, but I'm not doing anything but making myself stand out further than just wearing a brimmed hat in my age bracket already does. For example if I were not already in a relationship you can bet I would not be doffing my hat to any lady I was interested in. It wouldn't make me a gentleman it'd make me "The weird guy that just took his hat off at me" I follow what society dictates and society dictates they don't care what I do with my hat so I follow my own loose set of guidelines that fit into my personal life and lifestyle.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm just speaking as a 26 year old. It's all goods if you older gentleman want to adhere to the guidelines. That's your prerogative. But It does not change the fact you're making yourselves stand out, not fit in.

I'm not sure why that's necessarily a bad thing.

For example if I were not already in a relationship you can bet I would not be doffing my hat to any lady I was interested in. It wouldn't make me a gentleman it'd make me "The weird guy that just took his hat off at me"

Is this from experience, or just what you believe the reaction would be? If the former, it's a sad commentary on the ladies you court and the men with whom they've previously interacted.

 

[David Conwill]

Courtesy? Respect? Just because a lot of people today wear their shirts untucked their shoes untied and their ball caps at dinner doesn't mean I find it appropriate.

I'm afraid I just don't understand your position, Mr. Hawk. You are referencing people today and yet you also find it unacceptable to base one's behavior on what was acceptable in the "so-called golden era"? What is your standard? HudsonHawk's Guide to Etiquette? Is that available at Barnes & Noble for the rest of us ignorant slobs can bone up on proper decorum?

My whole point is that the hat etiquette from the '50s and earlier was based on respect for other people, and it still works today. You take your hat off when it is both appropriate and makes others comfortable. Breaking out your own hat hook or asking for an extra chair is the very opposite of taking others into consideration. It inconveniences them and makes the hat wearer the subject of spectacle. Far better to simply wear your hat at the table when no appropriate storage solution exists.

 

[DamianM]

I'm not sure why that's necessarily a bad thing.



Is this from experience, or just what you believe the reaction would be? If the former, it's a sad commentary on the ladies you court and the men with whom they've previously interacted.

True, true

You can not be ashamed of following any form of etiquette.

in a society wear every etiquette is lost there must be an example set.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm afraid I just don't understand your position, Mr. Hawk. You are referencing people today and yet you also find it unacceptable to base one's behavior on what was acceptable in the "so-called golden era"? What is your standard? HudsonHawk's Guide to Etiquette? Is that available at Barnes & Noble for the rest of us ignorant slobs can bone up on proper decorum?

My standard is the function of the device. There is no need to wear a hat when you're sitting at a table with your head covered. It's disrespectful, not to mention potentially unsanitary. It's from this premise that that the "etiquette" evolved. I cringe at the thought of what people are doing today now being the appropriate etiquette just because they weren't taught any better. And if you're willing to pay $49.99, I'm sure I can work up something for sale.

My whole point is that the hat etiquette from the '50s and earlier was based on respect for other people, and it still works today. You take your hat off when it is both appropriate and makes others comfortable. Breaking out your own hat hook or asking for an extra chair is the very opposite of taking others into consideration. It inconveniences them and makes the hat wearer the subject of spectacle. Far better to simply wear your hat at the table when no appropriate storage solution exists.

I disagree. I think following good manners is not about convenience. Displaying them always shows respect, even if, and perhaps especially if, it is not convenienct to do so.

 

[David Conwill]

I'm afraid I will never understand how inconveniencing others is somehow simultaneously respectful.

As for sanitation, is that why hairnets and paper hats have disappeared from food service?

 

[DamianM]

I'm afraid I will never understand how inconveniencing others is somehow simultaneously respectful.

As for sanitation, is that why hairnets and paper hats have disappeared from food service?

Restaurants still ask for the cooks to wear hairnets. If the rule isn't enforced then thats just the case. But then they scramble to get everyone a hairnet when corporate arrives