Do women hate men's hats?

[Horace Debussy Jones]

My dad was a Golden Era man - born in the '20s, childhood in the '30s, etc., and he dressed like it was the '40s/'50s (when he was a young man) until he passed away in the early '90s. That said, he hated hats and, in my time, never wore them and said he only wore them "back in the day" when he "had" to for some event.

It's funny as, other than the hat, on most days, he looked like he just walked off the set of a Classic Hollywood movie except for the hat, which effectively was a good thing as it kept his look slightly less dated as time went by.

Showing the influence of your parents, I've never worn a hat (other than a wool knit one for warmth in winter or a baseball cap occasional). Today, IMO, away from said baseball or weather-type caps, it's the rare man that can pull off a traditional hat with ease and confidence.

My father was born in 1920 and also "Golden Era" I suppose, however he never wore a hat of any kind that I recall. Certainly not a dress fedora. Maybe a winter hat with ear flaps for shoveling snow, etc. He was just not into fashion, but very down to earth and practical. He didn't even own an actual suit, just some dress slacks and a sports jacket from Sears with a clip on tie for "special occasions". So I grew up not really knowing much about fashionable clothing or hats, but I had a sort of innate curiosity and appreciation for the clothing of the era from watching guys like James Stewart, James Cagney, etc. dressed to the nines in film rolls. I've always had a great appreciation of fine suits, ties, and other accessories, but I can't for the life of me accept the look of any hat on my noggin. I've owned, and subsequently flipped a few fine vintage hats in my size, but can never get past how I look wearing any of them. Even the western hat I have for cool weather mountain hikes, just looks dorky in the mirror, although I like the look when it's on the shelf in my closet, or when Clint Eastwood is wearing something similar. I think I have some sort of major hat dysfunctional syndrome. Perhaps the result of my upbringing? Maybe I can sue someone for my malady??

 

[Fading Fast]

My father was born in 1920 and also "Golden Era" I suppose, however he never wore a hat of any kind that I recall. Certainly not a dress fedora. Maybe a winter hat with ear flaps for shoveling snow, etc. He was just not into fashion, but very down to earth and practical. He didn't even own an actual suit, just some dress slacks and a sports jacket from Sears with a clip on tie for "special occasions". So I grew up not really knowing much about fashionable clothing or hats, but I had a sort of innate curiosity and appreciation for the clothing of the era from watching guys like James Stewart, James Cagney, etc. dressed to the nines in film rolls. I've always had a great appreciation of fine suits, ties, and other accessories, but I can't for the life of me accept the look of any hat on my noggin. I've owned, and subsequently flipped a few fine vintage hats in my size, but can never get past how I look wearing any of them. Even the western hat I have for cool weather mountain hikes, just looks dorky in the mirror, although I like the look when it's on the shelf in my closet, or when Clint Eastwood is wearing something similar. I think I have some sort of major hat dysfunctional syndrome. Perhaps the result of my upbringing? Maybe I can sue someone for my malady??

Other than a baseball or ski cap - or an in-store try-on of a newsboy cap (once) and cowboy hat (once) - I've never even tried on any other hats. I know from those few efforts and some innate feel as to what would work for me, that I have no ability to carry the look off so I don't even try.

Also, like you, I acquired an appreciation for the Golden Era Hollywood look from Stewart and Cagney, as well as, Grant and Cooper and others. As a kid growing up in the very style-challenged '70s, those guys in those clothes looked so much better than the crazy '70s stuff around me that it gave me an early appreciation for that classic look.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When the talk of great hat-wearers comes up, there's one who comes to mind for me above all others.

Now, I'm not kidding about this. Consider the perfect confidence with which he wears his hat, the utter insouciance, the complete lack of any kind of self-consciousness that accompanies not just the hat, but the whole outfit. Not everybody can pull off a look like this, because what pulls it all together is the sense of absolute, effortless cool on the part of the wearer. Wottaya say dere, Ralphie boy!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I don't like men's hats. My boyfriend is a cyclist so he wears cycling caps. Which he looks cute in. But I like is natural gray bald head the most

 

[GLewis]

We have a long running "Do Men Hate Women's Hats." So how about equal time?

Some hats work on men. Some hats balance the shape of a man's head quite well, and work with the man rather than against him. But some hats make a man look ridiculous -- ultra-narrow brim trilbies that look like somebody dropped a black felt flowerpot on the wearer's head, oversized fedoras that make the wearer look like that Rocky-the-Gangster character from "Looney Tunes," dumb-looking Army-knockoff "jeep caps" with a too-tall crown that makes the wearer's head look like it comes to a point, Panama hats worn in the wintertime, Amish hats worn by anyone who isn't Amish, those leather "biker hats" that try to look tough but only make the wearer look like a bellhop with an S&M fetish, any kind of nautical headgear -- captain's hats, gob hats, Greek fisherman caps -- worn by anyone who has not the actual tang o' the sea about them, ten-gallon cowboy hats worn by those who appear to be a quart low, and any kind of big fur hat with any sort of animal appendage hanging from it.

All of these hats I've seen coming into the theatre at one time of the other, atop the heads of men who seem utterly clueless as to the spectacle they're making of themselves. A guy came in the other night wearing a skunk-fur hat made from an actual whole skunk, with the head, tail, and legs hanging down intact, and I had to bite my tongue so hard it bled. Enough already.

The ubiquitous baseball caps don't bother me anywhere near as much as elaborately inappropriate headpieces. A man in a ballcap, no matter what kind, is saying "hey, I'm just going about my business, whatever." A man with a fancy-ass hat that's obviously wrong for his head and face shape -- or is just too too too -- is saying "hey, I think I'm cool. Am I cool? I don't know. Please somebody tell me I'm cool." There now. I got that off my chest.

I have a couple of muzzle loaders, so the part about the skunk hat caught my eye. I feel I'd wear a skunk or a coon skin cap only to a rendezvous in the winter. In the summer, those hats would be way too hot! At the theater, a hat like that is inappropriate!

 

[SlyGI]

I adore my husband in hats. This past year he was diagonosed with skin cancer and was told he is now in a "wear a hat forever" situation. While I'm not pleased he had cancer, I am pleased he now wears hats all the time.

College aged students don't wear hats. Even in the cold. But then their gear is always somehow not weather appropriate.

I've just had my seventh or eight piece of skin cancer removed. I've been a full time hat wearer since about 2008.

 

[Roadkill]

I've never been a fan of berets on anyone who wasn't French, a mime, or a UAW Women's Emergency Brigade member in 1937.

As a retired US Marine (notice I didn't say former or ex) I have always laughed at the US services (USAF and Army) and their berets. They look stupid unless you are dropping your weapon and running.

 

[EngProf]

As a retired US Marine (notice I didn't say former or ex) I have always laughed at the US services (USAF and Army) and their berets. They look stupid unless you are dropping your weapon and running.

I was never in the military myself, but I agree with the notion of Roadkill that choosing the headgear of the French for your Army is not a great idea.
From the John F. Kennedy Library website:
"On October 12, 1961 the president visited Fort Bragg and the US Army Special Warfare Center, home of Army Special Forces. In the course of their meeting, the President asked Brigadier General William P. Yarborough, “Those are nice. How do you like the Green Beret?" General Yarborough replied, "They're fine, Sir. We've wanted them a long time."

Said the One-star General to the Commander-in-Chief...

 

[SlyGI]

As a retired US Marine (notice I didn't say former or ex) I have always laughed at the US services (USAF and Army) and their berets. They look stupid unless you are dropping your weapon and running.

I totally agree. I spent 9 years in the Army and very much hated that stupid beret. It was good for nothing. Luckily, I ended up in a unit whose Sgt. Major hated the beret also so we got to wear our soft caps.

Okay, now for a rant: I also hated the digital uniforms. They always looked sloppy and unprofessional to me.

Back to hats: My grandfather always wore a hat like a fedora or cowboy hat. He always said that "a man just isn't dressed without a hat."

 

[Zombie_61]

When the talk of great hat-wearers comes up, there's one who comes to mind for me above all others.

Now, I'm not kidding about this. Consider the perfect confidence with which he wears his hat, the utter insouciance, the complete lack of any kind of self-consciousness that accompanies not just the hat, but the whole outfit. Not everybody can pull off a look like this, because what pulls it all together is the sense of absolute, effortless cool on the part of the wearer. Wottaya say dere, Ralphie boy!

Legend has it that Ed Norton's hat came from Mr. Carney's own wardrobe. As the story goes, he bought it when he was still in high school. I don't know if it was the right hat for Mr. Carney, but it was the perfect hat for Ed Norton.

 

[Steinbockhase]

But some hats make a man look ridiculous -- ultra-narrow brim trilbies that look like somebody dropped a black felt flowerpot on the wearer's head

I've never been a fan of berets on anyone who wasn't French

The trilby is often the first hat to get an eyeroll... and I would agree.

So you ladies think a man wearing a Trilby aka Snap-Brim style hat looks silly?
And a person has to be French to wear a Beret?
Interesting, but I do hope your point of view does not represent the majority of American women.
I can imagine that women in Europe think differently of these styles, since they are and were more popular here.

 

[LolitaHaze]

So you ladies think a man wearing a Trilby aka Snap-Brim style hat looks silly?
And a person has to be French to wear a Beret?
Interesting, but I do hope your point of view does not represent the majority of American women.
I can imagine that women in Europe think differently of these styles, since they are and were more popular here.

I can only speak for myself, but it isn't the trilby, itself, that is a bad hat. It's the ill fitted, mass produced, cheaply made trilbies that men chuck about their heads without consideration for fit and style and continue to wear. The reason why it gets the side eye is because these, unfortunately, are the most readily available and seen hats worn by men. When a trilby is worn by a man that understands his head size, shape, and face shape, one doesn't see an eye roll trilby, one sees a stylish hat! Personally, I feel like the mass marketed trilbys are the training wheels of hats. Sadly most men don't ever take them off.

As far as berets go, I don't mind them -- but I haven't had much interaction with them. There is a gentleman here in Vegas that frequents the Burlesque shows and he wears them. I never thought he looked foolish. He is smaller in stature though. Not sure if a beret would translate well on a Herculean of a man that wasn't in the military. I only say that, because I can't recall ever seeing one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, it's the head, not the hat, that's the real problem. The trilby type of hat really only looks good on a man whose proportions match those of the hat -- a thin, tall man can look quite good in that type of hat. But take the same hat and squeeze it down onto the head of a beefy, thick-necked type, and it looks like somebody from Hot Topic at the mall pulled a joke on him.

Too many people wear some generic hat because they think the hat itself is "cool" without stopping to think about their own physical proportions. The hat is only cool if it looks cool *on you.* A hat that sits on the wearer's head like a wart on a pickle is not cool at all and all the wishing in the world won't make it so.

And as for berets, Europeans may have the panache to make it work, but I've yet to see an American man wear one without looking like an affected goop. There's one guy locally who wears one, drooping down over one eye as he casts a supercilious gaze over the proceedings, but he's always "that goop in the beret," not "that suave Euro-chic aesthete."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile, consider the humble baseball cap, that most American of all headgear. It's very easy to look dopey in a baseball cap because baseball caps as they're made today have a built-in dopiness factor. Their crowns are too high and too stiff in the front, and their visors are too long, causing the wearer to either wear them high up on their heads so there's a lot of empty crown puffing up over the top or to pull them down too low so their eyes vanish into the shadow of the visor, making them look like they have shallow, shrunken craniums. I don't know why modern caps are made this way, but they are.

But they weren't always. A 1930s baseball cap has a shallow, soft crown and a medium-length visor, and were often worn with a sideways tilt that could be quite rakish on the right type of fellow.

Cap tilted just slightly back on the head and worn with just a slight tip to the side. Lookin' sharp there, Cookie. "Always good in the clutch."

Whereas with a blockier, stiffer cap worn pulled down low, well --

Of course, it isn't always just the hat that makes a difference.

 

[belfastboy]

Meanwhile, consider the humble baseball cap, that most American of all headgear. It's very easy to look dopey in a baseball cap because baseball caps as they're made today have a built-in dopiness factor. Their crowns are too high and too stiff in the front, and their visors are too long, causing the wearer to either wear them high up on their heads so there's a lot of empty crown puffing up over the top or to pull them down too low so their eyes vanish into the shadow of the visor, making them look like they have shallow, shrunken craniums. I don't know why modern caps are made this way, but they are.

But they weren't always. A 1930s baseball cap has a shallow, soft crown and a medium-length visor, and were often worn with a sideways tilt that could be quite rakish on the right type of fellow.

Cap tilted just slightly back on the head and worn with just a slight tip to the side. Lookin' sharp there, Cookie. "Always good in the clutch."

Whereas with a blockier, stiffer cap worn pulled down low, well --

Of course, it isn't always just the hat that makes a difference.

1969 I pulled into a run of the mill Monteray CA motel about 11:00PM and low and behold who steps out of his parlour into the motel office but the real Don Mossi, a mug hard to not identify....one of my fave pitchers from the day. He had a few items of memorabilia on a shelf behind the register. I guess he saved enough from his then meagre pay cheque to buy a motel to see him through his retirement years. I was too dumb struck to acknowledge the 'who' of who he was. Regret it.

 

[belfastboy]

I can only speak for myself, but it isn't the trilby, itself, that is a bad hat. It's the ill fitted, mass produced, cheaply made trilbies that men chuck about their heads without consideration for fit and style and continue to wear. The reason why it gets the side eye is because these, unfortunately, are the most readily available and seen hats worn by men. When a trilby is worn by a man that understands his head size, shape, and face shape, one doesn't see an eye roll trilby, one sees a stylish hat! Personally, I feel like the mass marketed trilbys are the training wheels of hats. Sadly most men don't ever take them off.

As far as berets go, I don't mind them -- but I haven't had much interaction with them. There is a gentleman here in Vegas that frequents the Burlesque shows and he wears them. I never thought he looked foolish. He is smaller in stature though. Not sure if a beret would translate well on a Herculean of a man that wasn't in the military. I only say that, because I can't recall ever seeing one.

My boss a man of humble origins but now on the wealthy side of the scale wears a Walmart faux straw trilby. Looking to me like a high schooler playing hooky. I have implored him to buy a real hat but it lands on deaf ears. He likes the insouciance a $10 hat projects. Me not so much.

 

[3fingers]

In my world there was a certain brand of cap that was almost universally worn.
They were given away by different agricultural supply companies as advertising. Made in Orange City, Iowa for many years, they became a victim of cheaper in China syndrome. The brand name has been revived, but the caps are not the same. They may fit the Chinese people that they used to design them properly, but few Americans are of the right head shape to be well fitted.
It is another of my small vexations.

 

[belfastboy]

Meanwhile, consider the humble baseball cap, that most American of all headgear. It's very easy to look dopey in a baseball cap because baseball caps as they're made today have a built-in dopiness factor. Their crowns are too high and too stiff in the front, and their visors are too long, causing the wearer to either wear them high up on their heads so there's a lot of empty crown puffing up over the top or to pull them down too low so their eyes vanish into the shadow of the visor, making them look like they have shallow, shrunken craniums. I don't know why modern caps are made this way, but they are.

But they weren't always. A 1930s baseball cap has a shallow, soft crown and a medium-length visor, and were often worn with a sideways tilt that could be quite rakish on the right type of fellow.

Cap tilted just slightly back on the head and worn with just a slight tip to the side. Lookin' sharp there, Cookie. "Always good in the clutch."

Whereas with a blockier, stiffer cap worn pulled down low, well --

Of course, it isn't always just the hat that makes a difference.

The best modern baseball hat was made by Roman Pro Cap. Great all wool caps. I still have two or three from the early 1970's. They were expensive but damn they were a good cap. They either went under or the brand was bought out by NewEra and collapsed. The contemporary NewEra caps are crap in comparison but back in the 1970's no one but ball players wore real ball caps....just the poly mesh 'trucker' caps. No one was willing to pay $25 for a ball cap even a great quality one.

 

[EngProf]

If you can get hold of them, promotional (baseball-style) caps are really good if you get them from the right companies. Holley Carburetors was a sponsor for our student motorsports team and gave away "Holley" caps to the team and associated faculty. They actually fitted a normal human and were well-made. I got two of those and wore them completely out over a long time period.
My present favorite cap for both size and quality was given away by GM when they brought a vehicle display here. Wish I had another.
Also, being a mechanical engineer and car guy, either Holley or GM on the front is a good "fit" to my interests.

Another good source would be antique stores or good flea markets where you might be lucky enough to find a 100%-wool military-style (Navy) ball cap. They fit well and look good too, in my opinion. I have two of those but save them for special occasions.

As 3fingers said, the Chinese ones don't fit and look terrible. Not worth taking as a gift...

I still wear mine in the style of the "cool kids" back in the sixth grade - a semi-circular "rim" is formed by crimping the vertical front of the cap. *No one ever* wore their caps in the "Beaver Cleaver" flat-down-on-your-head style.

 

[Woodtroll]

I too prefer the higher crown and longer visor on a "ball" cap when I wear them. When I wear a cap it is for function, not looks. I hate the low, close-fitting caps, especially those flimsy elastic "Flex-fit" caps that feel like wearing a pair of underwear on your head. And the brim has to be curled at least a little; no flat skateboarder bills for me. The whole point on the bill is to keep the sun out of your eyes, not for looks, and if it pushed too far up/back it serves no purpose. Might as well wear it backwards, which really does look "dopey" to me.