"I could never pull off X"

[Pompidou]

I see that a lot. I'm not sure it's true. I was at the bar Friday and a friend said, "It takes a certain type of person to pull off a hat." On the boards here, I've read, "I could never pull off a hat like that." I have to wonder. How many of you could pull off a fedora at all before you decided you liked them? I say, "pulling off" a hat is simple. It's a mental task where you simply convince yourself the hat looks great on you.

You know it doesn't matter what others think. You get heckled even when you wear the hats you "can pull off". If you actually like a hat, if you actually like anything really, you can pull it off. You only look stupid if you walk around like a guy who thinks he looks stupid. Dogs can smell fear on people. People can smell insecurity on people. Took me a LONG time to figure that out. Just do what you want and own it, and there's no limit to what you can put on your head and have people compliment you on.

You "can pull off" anything you actually like. Took me ages to "pull off" a regular old fedora. The initial Indiana Jones heckling was rough. You all have thick skin, so put on that hat you like and extend those middle fingers proudly as you stroll through town "pulling off" the stuff you don't think you're capable of. After all, what the hell, you're all looking to increase your collections anyway.

 

[cybergentleman]

gotta chime in here

Aside from the aesthetic aspect of hats, these items really are not different than shoes, and no one would heckle you for wearing:

... [gasp] shiny polished leather shoes!!!!! [gasp]


There is one gentleman, yes one, who rides the SEPTA train into Philly who wears fedoras and straws in the summer (if you are on this site and read this- "hello"). Not a single person heckles him, his seersucker suits annoyed me though, not a fan of those baby blue stripes...

...anyway, he doesn't get on the train looking for attention, he just does his thing, and I have to say, his attire looks pretty sharp. Kudos to him.

 

[danofarlington]

I
You "can pull off" anything you actually like. Took me ages to "pull off" a regular old fedora. The initial Indiana Jones heckling was rough. You all have thick skin, so put on that hat you like and extend those middle fingers proudly as you stroll through town "pulling off" the stuff you don't think you're capable of. After all, what the hell, you're all looking to increase your collections anyway.

I think that's largely true, although for best results, you should choose your hat carefully. Hats are about the most conspicuous thing you can wear, and they can look great or look silly. Most people like approval with what they wear, and to get it with a hat, be a careful chooser. Then pull it off, is my way to look at it.

 

[Neophyte]

I've said this a few times, but I'm starting to doubt it. After seeing your porkpie and shopgirl's gaucho, I've figured I could pull of just about anything, as long as it's in the right context.

 

[scottyrocks]

The OP is correct in its how you pull it off. If youre self-conscious, itll be as visible as a billboard. If youre comfortable, people will feel that, too.

Although I love all classically styled fedoras, I, personally, unapologetically favor and wear the IJ-style big, straight-sided brown hat, specifically, the Raiders version. I love it, Im comfortable in it, and I rarely, if ever, get a negative comment. In fact, I took my summer staff out to dinner at a local restaurant I dont often frequent Friday night and got two positive comments, an occurrence that doesnt happen often anymore because Im always in the same places.

Would that have happened if I walked as if I felt there was a muskrat on my head? Maybe. Maybe not. But I know Ive seen people wearing the same types of stuff where it looks 'right' on one person, and 'not right' on another, and it usually has to do with the apparent self-comfort level of the wearer.

 

[Neophyte]

Pompidou, I have the strange sensation that this whole thread is based off of comments you've received on your most recent WoA lol.

I find that if I carry myself with confidence or, pardon me, "bad-assery" (looking like I'm not gonna take **** from nobody, easy to do with my face. I mean, just look at my avatar!), no one asks questions. I've been on a college campus wearing my Campdraft for a few days now, and only have received "nice hat" and maybe a few far off point-and-giggles.

It also helps that you cannot see the hat while you are wearing it lol!

By the way, I love that beautiful red porkpie of yours. I might try a similar design, but in normal fedora shape, whenever I pull the trigger on my very own WoA.

You're an inspiration, sir!

 

[4spurs]

overhead

Worried about what's on your head? Live long enough and you won't care what anyone thinks. You'll dress the way you want, you may even wear socks with your sandals because you know it's more comfortable and you won't care. Think I'm kidding? Ask the next old man you see wearing black socks with shorts. If you think he cares what you think about his socks you're deluding yourself. Grow up; it's good for your confidence.

 

[kaosharper1]

If you can wear it with confidence you can "pull it off" generally. There are limits, of course. Dressing like Bozo the Clown will look weird no matter how confident you are, but in most things that's all it takes IMHO.

I have to admit that I couldn't wear Pompidou's red VS myself with confidence, but he does and it suits his style so it looks great.

 

[hatophile]

I think it comes down to one's individual sense of style for their personality. Pompidou looks great in his hat, it fits his look and he is confident in it. I love the look of the hat, but would not wear it with confidence, and it doesn't fit
with my normal "style". I have some nice old bowler hats that I might wear if I needed to for a costume type situation, but would not wear on an every day basis like my fedoras. On the other hand, there are individuals here who wear bowlers daily, and I applaud them :eusa_clap .

I agree, in the long run with headwear, if you like it and it fits your style, wear it with confidence. You will no doubt get more positive comments than negative ones.

 

[theinterchange]

"Pulling off" a hat, or style of dress largely depends upon one thing... does it really and truly look good on you? I've seen people confidently wearing the most ridiculous looking outfits, they just look confidently ridiculous.

Case in point hat-wise. The Indiana Jones look. There are many who wear them and it looks second nature, not at all "cosplay", while others look like overgrown kids playing dress up with daddy's hat.

Sure, you can have confidence wearing anything, but I'd much rather be confident in something that suits my build, skin tone, well me in general. Personal case in point, I can't pull off the silverbelly Open Road/Campdraft look convincingly, it makes me look like I'm wearing a senior citizen's hat. BUT, there are MANY on here who wear them and look FANTASTIC in them.

In my book, it boils down to having a shred of common sense. Like a previous poster said, anyone can confidently wear a Bozo outfit, but it'd still be too weird for most peoples comfort... mine included.

Randy

 

[The Good]

"It takes a certain type of person to pull off a hat."

I believe that just about anyone can pull off a fedora type of hat, as long as they find what works most appropriately for them, and carry it off with confidence. There are occasions I look out at the people in the streets or wherever, and think that certain people wouldn't look bad in one at all. Also, nearly everyone in the major U.S. cities between the 1920s to the 1950s wore fedora hats, or bowlers. Looking at photographs dating from those decades, I've yet to think that someone looked absolutely awful in one. That aside, there are quite simply a lot of individuals that have no wish to appear conspicuous or out of the ordinary in public. I can respect this, however. This was me once too, circa 2001-2007. I'm a bit more adventurous these days.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

In terms of generalities, I agree that anyone can pull off a hat, if they like it. But that's like saying anyone can pull off wearing a blazer. A specific hat, though... that's another story. Some styles of ANYTHING don't work well on certain people. You need to match physical and personality attributes. So, it's all a matter of how specific an item you're talking about.

I, for example, look ridiculous in a stingy brimmed porkpie. Nothing will even change that. I'll just look like Buster Keaton REALLY let himself go! lol

 

[Pompidou]

I would agree, except it seems people here regularly discover they were wrong on the subject. I bet an octopus couldn't count on all of it's suckers on all of its tentacles, the number of times a member here came in only able to pull off stingy brims from the Gap or something, and in short order began pulling off Indy clones, and then everything else. It wasn't the shape of their head that changed dramatically in the course of a few months. Correct me if I'm wrong, and someone had cosmetic head shape surgery to make a cool hat work. I figured I'd try and save a few people the trouble. They're going to be pulling off every hat they like anyway. Might as well buy the hat now and get used to it. I suppose the take-home message of my original post is, "If you clearly like a hat, don't let 'I could never pull that one off' be the reason you don't buy it."

 

[BanjoMerlin]

I just don't ever think about "pulling it off."

If I like the way a hat looks on me I wear it. If I don't like the way a hat looks on me there is nothing anyone can do to get me to wear that hat. I like derby hats but I don't like the way I look wearing a derby so I don't wear derby hats. I don't like the way I look in hats with less than a 2" brim so I don't wear them.

If I like the way I look in a particular hat but my wife doesn't, I don't wear that hat when I'm with her. If she likes a particular hat and I don't I sell it.

 

[gtdean48]

porkpies, hombergs, boaters or flat caps...

 

[Rat Pack]

This has been the reason it has taken me so long to get into hats. I have always loved them, but never found one I thought looked good on me.

My wife (says) she loves them on me so it's time to give em another shot. Wish I didn't have such a big long skinny head so I could try some cheaper ones on eBay to find the style that suits me.

 

[Neophyte]

This has been the reason it has taken me so long to get into hats. I have always loved them, but never found one I thought looked good on me.

My wife (says) she loves them on me so it's time to give em another shot. Wish I didn't have such a big long skinny head so I could try some cheaper ones on eBay to find the style that suits me.

You've got between 30 and 80 fellow Loungers at any point in time each day. I'm pretty sure you're gonna get a ton of help finding the right lid, if that is your wish. Just ask around somewhere lol!

 

[danofarlington]

This has been the reason it has taken me so long to get into hats. I have always loved them, but never found one I thought looked good on me.

My wife (says) she loves them on me so it's time to give em another shot. Wish I didn't have such a big long skinny head so I could try some cheaper ones on eBay to find the style that suits me.

I think that's the big question. A lot of people would wear hats if they found some that looked good on them. Unfortunately, the local hat stores I saw here in the Washington, D.C. area mostly didn't help. The fedoras I saw mostly looked too "conventional" for me, like me (in my 50s) wearing my Dad's hat to work. "I'm a businessman with a briefcase," they seemed to shout. It wasn't until I started to look at Internet retail websites (I don't mean Ebay) that I saw selection I liked. Then I bought some Borsalinos, and started to like hats a lot. If you had local retail stores with wide Internet-like selection, with a little prompting from local hat wearers as models, you'd probably get much wider purchasing of hats.

And besides finding something you like, I think that the general public is held back waiting for "permission" from a critical mass of others to adopt the style, just like any other fashion. Anyway, I hope somewhere you can find some hats that look good on you. I am confident you can find them if you look. Just remember there is trial and error involved, and it's hard to nail the perfect thing on the first purchase. I solve that by having many hats.

 

[The Lark]

I have a theory that any given hat starts to look better on you the longer you wear it...

 

[dwebber18]

I have a theory that any given hat starts to look better on you the longer you wear it...

Just like any given woman looks better the longer you drink next to her?