Help!

[1OldGI]

Someone tell me if this would be totally uncooth. Having served in the military I'm totally familiar with hat etiquette concerning being inside and being covered. I also had one of those Moms (thankfully) that was really in to etiquette.

HOWEVER, I just got my first hat in the mail today and it ROCKS! I work in an office environment (big room full of cubicles). Would I be totally out of line if I treated that big room as a public place and just wore my hat all day. It's a stretch and I know I should probably remove my hat whilst inside the building but traditional etiquette just doesn't seem to be that hardcore anymore. On casual days me and many others wear ball caps in the building.

Do any of you who work in an office environment remain covered all day?
If I did so, would I sully the reputation of the very classy men's hat movement? or even worse just look like a rube?
What are the modern Rules of Engagement for wearing hats?

 

[RBH]

I say wear it some and have it off at other times. You will know when it is 'right' to remove it.
It is nice to remember 'etiquette', but times are not the same.
I am sure I will hear different on this but I say there are worse breeches of etiquette than keeping your hat on.

Watch some of the old films, alot of then show hats being worn in a 'office' setting.

 

[WideBrimm]

Common Sense tends to be the rule these days. So if most of the other guys are wearing their ball caps most of the time, I say wear the fedora. Also to consider, in a room full of cubicles, is where can you stash your hat while not wearing it. You certainly don't want to risk having someone with sticky fingers swipe a nice hat.

 

[1OldGI]

Kind of a Fine Line

After some research, the only thing I've really concluded is that back when everyone wore hats there were about a gozillion rules that folks were really serious about. Tipping hats to ladies, that whole elevator thing, etc. I think now, things aren't nearly as rigid as they once were and like you said common sense applies. I certainly wouldn't show up for a meeting or presentation sporting my fedora but I see little harm in sitting in my cubicle mindin' my own and remaining covered. I had to laugh at the following quote from an etiquette book:

"A gentleman never sits in the house with his hat on in the presence of ladies for a single moment. Indeed, so strong is the force of habit that a gentleman will quite unconsciously remove his hat on entering a parlor, or drawing room, even if there is no one present but himself. People who sit in the house with their hats on are to be suspected of having spent most of their time in bar rooms and similar places"
Martine's Handbook 18

Ah...hangin out at the bar...I could always blame my perpetually hatted state on a misspent youth

 

[kaosharper1]

It seems like in the movies of the Golden Age, reporters and cops or anyone else who didn't have a private office wore their hats at their desks. Maybe the same idea applies to cubicles?

 

[Daoud]

I'm ex- military and I just can't do it myself. I just got wired at an early age to take my hat off inside.

As far as the "everyone else does it" kinda thing- the norm in today's society is basically to do what you want to do. People go around with t-shirts bearing offensive messages, they play loud music with obscene lyrics while driving in their cars, even at stoplights with a carful of kids or elderly folks right next to them, they throw used disposable diapers away in parking lots.

Wearing a hat inside is not like any of those things, but IMO it's a slippery slope.

 

[1OldGI]

Maybe I'm All Talk

Went out to eat (wearing said new hat) and as soon as I hit the door it automatically came off. Must be that good military programming. Despite my speculation to the contrary, I may not be able to do this after all. I'll just play it by ear and see how it goes. The more I think about it though, the more I think I may just play by the rules. I hate for folks to think "I got no home trainin'"

 

[johnnyphi]

Problem with taking off your nice hat...

Once you take it off... Where do you put it!?!?

In the old days, they had hat racks. God forbid you put your nice hat on the sticky table at your local restaurant.

That said: I wouldn't be "that guy" who wears his hat inside.

Went out to eat (wearing said new hat) and as soon as I hit the door it automatically came off. Must be that good military programming. Despite my speculation to the contrary, I may not be able to do this after all. I'll just play it by ear and see how it goes. The more I think about it though, the more I think I may just play by the rules. I hate for folks to think "I got no home trainin'"

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Hello GI, and allow me to express my admiration and gratitude for the service of those such as you, IndyCop, Daoud, JP and so many others.

Look through the 'Stickies' at the top of each page in the hat section. One of those, I'm pretty sure, has a thread devoted to hat etiquette which you'll find interesting.

Here's my approach: While I consider it pretentious to adopt every outdated social convention of a bygone hat-wearing era, I do enjoy using my hats as a 'symbol' of a more civilized set of manners. A visible example/reminder (to myself as much as anyone) that it is not only possible but actually gratifying to show respect and humility to others by tipping the hat to ladies and removing it in restaurants, for instance. I believe small displays of gentility and class plant seeds, and that they may go a little way to counteract some of the course influences that are so abundant today.

 

[Torpedo]

Hi,

I subscribe to Gene's words.

Regarding the specific point presented, part of my time at work i spent in an environment much ike you describe. I do remove my hat on reaching the colective work area (not, usually, in the colective corridors, elevator, etc)

Regards!

 

[Ordinary Guy]

I too am ex military but I am able to maintain my hat on until I reach the table and then have to scramble to find a place for it....

As far as office/ cubicle, I always take my hat off after reaching the cube.

I installed in/out wire baskets on one of the walls of my cube and always keep the top basket empty for my hat... so it stays on until I take off my coat and then it is put in its place of honor in my top in basket...

 

[Torpedo]

As far as office/ cubicle, I always take my hat off after reaching the cube.

I installed in/out wire baskets on one of the walls of my cube and always keep the top basket empty for my hat... so it stays on until I take off my coat and then it is put in its place of honor in my top in basket...

It was fun to read the above because this is exactly what I use to place my hat at office, the only difference being we use plastic trays!

Regards!

 

[Ordinary Guy]

I too am ex military but I am able to maintain my hat on until I reach the table and then have to scramble to find a place for it....

As far as office/ cubicle, I always take my hat off after reaching the cube.

I installed in/out wire baskets on one of the walls of my cube and always keep the top basket empty for my hat... so it stays on until I take off my coat and then it is put in its place of honor in my top in basket...

Great minds think alike :eusa_clap

 

[Torpedo]

:cheers1:
:cheers1:
:cheers1:

 

[leo]

Like Torpedo and Ordinary Guy I will wear my hat in large common areas but remove it when I reach an office or cubicle. And if the coat comes off, my hat comes off. I'll usually remove it when entering any smaller, more personal area where others are likely to be present. One exception would be if both hands were legitimately occupied.

When my office was in cubicle-land I used a cheap coat/hat rack designed to hang over the wall.

Bill

 

[Undertow]

Don't take offense but do whatever you want. If you want to fit in with slobs, by all means untuck the shirt, grow a beard, quit your job and smoke dope. Honestly, if that's your choice, I say don't just tap the gas, put the pedal to the metal.

If you have guys wearing rubber gloves on their head and you want to follow suit, by all means, indulge.

I'm not trying to come off as a jerk but I believe this is the sort of situation where you should apply your higher judgement.

If it were me, I wouldn't dare wear a hat through the office all day, let alone inside. But of course, that's my reasoning and doesn't have to be your own.

 

[Colby Jack]

I'm with wearing it on and off...Sometimes you have the need to have it on...other times...[huh] ...you'll know when to take it off... ...I too have Army flash backs on proper hat etiquette...garrison cap, field cap and beret...:eusa_clap Darn I wish we could have worn fedoras for something...[huh]

 

[1OldGI]

Lessons Learned Day 1

Kept the lid on throughout the day as storage of same immediately became a problem (have to see about one of them in basket doofers). Didn't really even notice the hat on my head for most of the day but yeah, I should probably uncover inside the building as cool as wearing the hat inside was, there was just something that didn't feel right about it.

That said, feedback was unanimously positive, especially from the women. Makes me wish I'd known that chicks dig fedoras 25 years or so ago. Oh well, I have a long history of getting smart very late in the ballgame and hats, it would seem are no exception. Besides, I'm down to only chasing one woman these days.

More remarkable than comments from those around me was the way it made me feel. I felt like I was stylin' and the hole experience was pretty darned cool.

Tobacco was a food group today and I didn't bring a pipe with me but I'm anxious to try out the fedora and pipe mode out on the lanai very soon.

 

[carter]

... I had to laugh at the following quote from an etiquette book:

"A gentleman never sits in the house with his hat on in the presence of ladies for a single moment. Indeed, so strong is the force of habit that a gentleman will quite unconsciously remove his hat on entering a parlor, or drawing room, even if there is no one present but himself. People who sit in the house with their hats on are to be suspected of having spent most of their time in bar rooms and similar places"
Martine's Handbook 18

Ah...hangin out at the bar...I could always blame my perpetually hatted state on a misspent youth

Having spent my fair share of time in bars and dives in the US and abroad, sometimes as another OLDGI, I can identify with the comment above.

These days I wear my hat or cap because...I wear it. It's not a conscious decision so much as it's on my head just as my shoes are on my feet. My hat is no more a costume or statement than my footwear is. My hat just is.

I'll remove my hat when the flag passes by, when saying the pledge of allegiance, at a funeral, in church, in some (but not all) restaurants, and at a few other occasions. Since I no longer work in a corporate setting, I have no need to worry about where my hat goes at work but when I did I most frequently left it in the passenger seat of my car.

 

[Duck]

Here's my approach: While I consider it pretentious to adopt every outdated social convention of a bygone hat-wearing era, I do enjoy using my hats as a 'symbol' of a more civilized set of manners. A visible example/reminder (to myself as much as anyone) that it is not only possible but actually gratifying to show respect and humility to others by tipping the hat to ladies and removing it in restaurants, for instance. I believe small displays of gentility and class plant seeds, and that they may go a little way to counteract some of the course influences that are so abundant today.

Very well said, Gene. :eusa_clap
I work in a huge open area with cubicles. I wear my hat until I get to my desk, then it comes off and goes on the shelf next to my desk.