Rules for wearing a straw hat

[SamReu]

Loungers, help. Is there a particular date, eg, after Memorial Day, post-Easter, etc., when it is acceptable to swap out the felt fedora for the straw? It's getting hot down my way, but I live in dread of committing a faux pas. Anyone?

 

[Doctor Strange]

Back when the summer season wasn't bounded by Memorial Day and Labor Day, the old standard "Straw Hat Day" was May 15 (and correspondingly, September 15 for putting away straws).

But honestly, I would go by temperature!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

when it's hot, a straw is called for.

bk

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

when it's hot, a straw is called for.

bk

You are right on the money Baron, unless one is partial to having sweat running down ones face.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Loungers, help. Is there a particular date, eg, after Memorial Day, post-Easter, etc., when it is acceptable to swap out the felt fedora for the straw? It's getting hot down my way, but I live in dread of committing a faux pas. Anyone?

Why care about a 'rule' like this? (And who cares about the folks that do care? Are these people so important to you?)


Why not just break it? What's the worst that could happen to you? A brief exile to the veranda? One less mint julep?

.

 

[Feraud]

The first rule for wearing a straw hat is we do not talk about wearing a straw hat.
Second, wear it whenever you want.

 

[rockyj]

UP HERE IN THE FROZEN NORTH

I guess here I can wear my felt hat year round except for the three summer months when I can wear it without ear protection

 

[RedPop4]

All the tighties in the Observation Bar seem to care a great deal for rules such as this.

I'm trying to wait until the end of March. I have a bunch of cigar friends including Spiridon and Archie Goodwin, from here, coming in for an event. I may pull out my Panama Hatworks of Montecristi for that weekend. That's also Palm Sunday, so a good time to do so, if not the following week on Easter.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

RedPop4 has the right take on it. We're all adults here. We can decide for ourselves where and when a straw hat would be most comfortable to wear.

.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I guess here I can wear my felt hat year round except for the three summer months when I can wear it without ear protection

That's it, I'm moving to Alaska!

I wear my felts as long as I can get away with it. But once it gets truly hot, I just can't. Felt makes me sweat in the winter! Like RedPop, I'm hoping to to stay in felt until April. Even then, if I go out on a cooler night, I might give in.

NB

 

[RedPop4]

I've worn my wool "Officially Licensed Dorfman-Pacific Indiana Jones" in July and August. Felts are never, truly, "out." They're simply not wearer-preffered in the heat.

 

[Orgetorix]

I'm not sure why so many people here have such antagonistic attitudes towards "rules." Of course free and clear-thinking adults have the right to wear whatever they choose, whenever they choose. Rules about how to wear clothing don't allow or dis-allow anything; the Style Police aren't going to come by and write you a citation or throw you in jail if you wear spectator shoes the week before Easter.

These sorts of rules are just guidelines, and they're meant to help make life easier for men who want to know what's appropriate when. Some clothing is intended to be worn in the summer, and for convenience's sake summer is defined as Memorial Day to Labor Day (in the US.) If you wear a straw hat the day after Labor Day, who cares? If you wear one in the middle of November, that's a bit more odd.

I know the "rules" about what clothing is appropriate where and when. I think they make life easier and style possible. I also feel free to break them, within reason. Case in point: it's so warm here in DC today that I'm wearing a tan cotton poplin suit. Technically a spring/summer suit, but it works today and it's a nice way to enjoy the first really warm day we've had this year. Am I worried that someone is going to see me and know I'm breaking a rule? No. Am I going all-out and wearing spectators, seersucker, and a straw hat? No. And I don't consider it an imposition when someone else talks about the "rules," even though I don't feel constrained by them.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The Style Police aren't going to come by and write you a citation or throw you in jail if you wear spectator shoes the week before Easter.

True. So why have this attitude?

...I live in dread of committing a faux pas.

As opposed to this one?

Am I worried that someone is going to see me and know I'm breaking a rule? No.

.

 

[SamReu]

Spokes Man

Gentlemen! I was kidding when I made that "live in dread" remark. Seriously. Perhaps tonight I'll spend some time on my veranda, nursing the julep, and wonder when people became so literal.

 

[Orgetorix]

Edit: Sam already made my point for me.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... wonder when people became so literal.

People became so literal when they lost the chance to hear the speaker's tone of voice and see his/her facial expressions. That's why we have icons around here. You'll find these two useful: and .


Incredibly, we've had folks occasionally pop in who have been quite literal (no, obsessive) about these rules. At least one of them -- "Happy Stroller" -- is an Internet troll who used the rules in order to bait us. He succeeded for a while, too.

.

 

[Samsa]

Wear what you want, when you want. Yesterday it was 64 degrees and sunny here in Michigan, and I wore a straw. Two straws, actually - my boater earlier in the day, and a panama later in the day. Alas, it's no longer so nice, so a felt is atop my head today.

 

[RedPop4]

I'm not an anarchist by any stretch, and like many here, some rules of etiquette that hearken back to a more polite time are indeed exemplary. However, I live in New Orleans, and if I had to wait until May 31st every year? It'd be quite miserable.

 

[cookie]

Akubras

Aussie stockmen wear their Akubras all year round.

So with the plan to have an FL Akubra that means you will be able to wear your felt all year round....right...errr....that's not logical????


Okay back to the couch.......

 

[Tomasso]

During Winter, when traveling to warmer climes, I will dress in clothes appropriate for my destination, including a straw hat. I'll admit that I feel strange from the time I leave my house until I board the plane. Wearing linen and straw at LGA or ORD in January will elicit an abundance of stares and comments.[huh]