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Y2K asked me the other day why men don't wear hats like they used to. I explained to him the answer I had always heard - that President JFK didn't wear a hat, and hat wearing by men fell out of style after his election.
Now, I know plenty of men still wear hats, but not like they used to. So, do you wear a hat, and if you do, what kind to you wear?
I've never been much of a hat wearing guy, but with age and thinning hair, the time is coming when I will be! When I lived in MI I wore a leather fedora to work in the winter. Protected my head and looked rather sharp!
I'm younger than most people on here, maybe the youngest on the board (besides Y2K) at 27 yrs., but I wear a baseball cap almost every day. I wear a cowboy hat a lot when woods bumming or shooting, and in the winter I sometimes wear a Filson canvas fedora looking hat. I'm a big hat person. My hair doesn't look good long, and hats help keep my head warm in the winter, so by summer time it's just sort of habit, so it becomes a year-round thing for me. I'd wear a cowboy hat a lot more if I could find one that looked good on me without breaking the bank.
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen" - Samuel Adams
I wear a hat when I walk out the door year round. Started wearing one when I was close to 8 or 9 years old. My dad and brother wore Stetsons and it just came natural. My wife didn't care for it at first but after almost 50 years she has gotten used to it.
JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
I am a hit or miss hat wearer. I wear everything from ball caps to cowboy hats not to mention covers (Marine for hat) that I wear in uniform. If I am gonna be outside all day I wear a hat If I am running in and out I don't since I grew up not wearing hats indoors so it is a pain to taking them off all the time.
Jeremy
GySgt USMC Ret
To err is human, To forgive is devine, Neither of which is Marine Corps policy Semper Fidelis
Didn't wear a hat much during my younger years, but now, I wear a cowboy hat as often as I can or a ball cap. My hair isn't what it used to be and dang it, it hurts when I get sunburnt up there. Plus, the benefits of covering your face and eyes if you're outside much.
Unless I'm bathing or at church, I'm wearing a baseball cap. I started off and on in my high school years and since my senior year it's been a part of my body. I've even slept in it a couple of times.
I haven't found any other hats that fit my head other than the baseball ones.
Qui tacet consentit. (silence implies consent) The Boring Blog
Never was much of a hat wearer until I started losing my hair in my mid thirties. Once a guy starts sun burning his head , one starts wearing hats. Now my wife complains about how many hats I have. Straw cowboy hats in the summer, baseball caps make even my bald head sweat. Felt cowboy hat in the spring and fall. I have the most hats for winter , depending if it's about or below zero. A Stormy Kromer is my favorite winter hat.
Most of the time if I'm out of the house I have on my cowboy hat (beaver in winter, straw in summer). Once is a while I'll wear a baseball style cap but only for practical reasons, like sun block when fishing, raining out, camo and scent control when hunting. I don't wear a hat for "style" and I don't wear a hat for what it might say on it. I am a hat wearer, but mostly a practical one.
I ALWAYS WEAR A STETSON WHEN OUTSIDE, A FELT HAT IN THE WINTER AND A SUMMER STRAW HAT WHEN THE WEATHER WARMS UP. THE LATTER USUALLY A RESISTOL.
WHEN WORKING AROUND THE YARD IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER I SOMETIMES WEAR A BALLCAP.
Felt driving caps in the winter and Aussie woven brimmed in summer. Ball caps and knit winter hats as needed. When I lived in OK and TX in my teens I worked outside mostly and I had a perfect fitting felt Stetson and a straw Resistol, both unfortunately long gone.
I may be a bit old fashioned but like my felt fedora with a southwestern rake to it. Its curved down in the front and back with a nice headband. I wear it when I leave the house in the winter as its important to keep one's head warm when the temps are below the mid 20's.
I find it more practical when using my snow blower in the winter than a baseball cap because it keeps the snow off of my head and ears and in the summer for shading my whole head. I'm currently lusting over a Texas Jack Tombstone hat for both my shooting events and my walks through the Rocky Mountains.
Steve Retired and Living the Good Life No Matter Where You Go, There You Are
I wear a hat for one of two reasons, to keep my head warm or to keep the weather at bay, be it rain or shine. I don't always wear one.
My selection is from two types of cap and one actual hat. I'll wear a wool or fleece skull cap to keep my head warm, or a gimme/ball type cap to keep the sun out of my eyes on a day-to-day basis.
When I get out where the weather is more severe and I want to protect my ears and neck from sunlight (e.g., in the desert) or it's raining or snowing, I wear a wider brimmed "western" style hat.
I usuallly find one that I like and wear it until it's too worn out or grotty to go out amongst polite company.
Just a thought...
Obama wears a hat:
Government office attracts the power-mad, yet it's people who just want to be left alone to live life on their own terms who are considered dangerous.
History teaches that it's a small window in which people can fight back before it is too dangerous to fight back.
I think the change came as a result of changing style.
First came JFK with his lack of regard for hats then came general style change. Both men's and women's styles be came much more relaxed and hats for both men and women went out of fashion.
I've been a hat wearer since I was a kid. A cheap ole brown felt hat is the first I can remember and a long succession of strat hats as I grew up. I've never been a great fan of baseball type hats. i've worn plenty but I've never really liked them. I've worn western-style felt hats extensively since about 1974. it has been a long line of Stetsons, Baileys, and Restols. i've never been much on straaw hats as an adult but i did have a darned comfortable Beaver Creek Straw that I liked. These days I wear a cowboy hat less but I still always wear some sort of head cover, most often a black GI beret and occasionally a Balmora bonnet.
Doc Hudson, OOF, IOFA, CSA, F&AM, SCV, NRA LIFE MEMBER, IDJRS #002, IDCT, King of Typoists
I wore watch caps during winter as a kid, and covers with the prescribed UOTD while in the USMC/USMCR, and still wear watch caps during winter.
Otherwise, I don't wear hats, because I have a theory that wearing hats causes baldness. If that were not true, then why are so many bald guys wearing hats? Hmmm? I rest my case.
Noah
Might as well face it, you're addicted to guns . . .
While I was a kid, no hats unless required from the time my first ball cap blew out the car window (parents would not get a replacement). Hat every day in the military which got me into the habit (after 27+ years). Now it is mostly weather appropriate headwear. I like a ball cap to shade the eyes. Had a fedora type but don't wear it much now.
Sincerely,
Hobie
"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend." Robert Louis Stevenson
Noah Zark wrote:I wore watch caps during winter as a kid, and covers with the prescribed UOTD while in the USMC/USMCR, and still wear watch caps during winter.
Otherwise, I don't wear hats, because I have a theory that wearing hats causes baldness. If that were not true, then why are so many bald guys wearing hats? Hmmm? I rest my case.
Noah
Heard that one as a kid...never wore a cap again (except for hunting where it is required). Both Gramp never left home without their beaver fedoras', my Pa had a straw fedora, I have hair...they didn't.
I occasionally wear a baseball cap (especially on bad hair days!), wool cap (fishing in the cold or shoveling snow) or hat (maybe for fashion, maybe for utility). I used to do it more often when younger, but then I realized that athletes that wear hats all the time (think Tiger in golf, Peyton in football and many baseball players) seemed to be suffering from thinning hair and receding hair lines. I determined (in my mind) that hat wearing (all the time) contributed to that loss. So, I stopped wearing a hat while playing golf or fishing, etc. At 55 years old, I still have a full head of hair, ...though I'll probably end up with skin cancer from all the sun on my face.
"From birth 'til death...we travel between the eternities." -- Print Ritter in Broken Trail
If I'm outside, I have a hat on. My choice is usually based on the weather. For extended time out in the sun during warm weather I wear an "Outback" style bush hat or a boonie hat. The rest of the time in warm weather it's a camo ball cap. When things cool down I often wear a wool "Stormy Kromer" hat. If it's really cold I wear my fur lined "Mad Bomber" hat. For hunting purposes I'm usually wearing a camo ball cap with an blaze orange or camo stocking cap over it as the situation requires. So yeah, I'm a hat guy. I'm always shopping for my next favorite hat. One rule I always follow that doesn't seemed to apply for most people nowadays, I always take my hat off when indoors. Few things bug me more than sitting down at a nice restaurant and seeing some guy sitting at a table with his significant other while wearing some sports logo ball cap.
Terry Murbach wrote:I ALWAYS WEAR A STETSON WHEN OUTSIDE, A FELT HAT IN THE WINTER AND A SUMMER STRAW HAT WHEN THE WEATHER WARMS UP. THE LATTER USUALLY A RESISTOL.
WHEN WORKING AROUND THE YARD IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER I SOMETIMES WEAR A BALLCAP.
TERRY, IN THE INTEREST OF TRUTH AND HONESTY I HAVE TO POINT OUT THAT WE SAW THAT PICTURE OF YOU OUTSIDE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND NO HAT ON YOUR HEAD. MAYBE YOU WERE JUST CRAZY IN LOVE AND FORGOT YOUR HAT.
Unless I'm on a rare hunt with my Dad out West, I wear a camoflage ball cap about half the time. Most hats look idiotic on me as my head is really a strange shape. I found one that I've coveted for about 5 years. It's funny because it's my go to hunting cap, yet my kids have covered it at some point in glitter/glue. If I'm hunting out West, I really love my Resistol. I don't wear it, it wears me as they say, but I still like it and love to wear it in open country.
Also love my "Longstreet" hat, but either it or the restistol in Surburbian Pennsylvania is WAYYYYY out of the norm here and seems to make folks uneasy. I'm already weird enough and don't get much social interaction as it is, so I rarely wear either of these cowboy style hats here. I think moving to Texas may solve this problem.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Never wore a hat or cap when I was a kid because I always seemed to loose them some where. Would wear a hunting cap of some sort in the winter when I got old enough that Dad let me carry a gun with the rest of the group. As a teenager I worked on a golf course in the summer (grounds and greens maintenance), I didn't wear a hat, and discovered when returned to school in the fall that the girls were rather fond of sun bleached hair and dark tans. Later years only wore a hat when weather or work (construction hard hat) dictated it. Now days I only wear a wide brim straw hat when mowing the lawn or as weather dictates when out hunting or woods bumming.
Interesting question. I'm a fan of old movies and always thought that people back them were more worried about looking good then they are today. They did it because their dad wore one, their grandpa wore em, the neighbor wore em, everybody wore em. It was just as important as a tie when it came to going to the office.
As for me........my hat wearing days began like many others in Little League Baseball but went full tilt in earnest when in highschool when I found a good ol' Budweiser ball cap and started wearing it because of the cool factor. Since then a baseball cap has graced my head almost everyday. I have em for work, I have em for play and still others I have for nights out on the town. I've tried Stetson's and Australian style outback hats and just thought they looked huge on my 6 7/8" head. I do have a couple boonies that I wear camping and canoeing but dang are those things hot as compared to a good ball cap. To tell the truth, I do get tired of wearing hats. Last summer the Family and I went on a road trip to deliver a camper that I sold and I didn't wear a hat for 3 days. Kids were absolutely amazed. After that I picked up a daughter at a school dance and she walked right by me, not recognizing me because I hadn't worn a hat.
Hat's are in style now. All my daughters (3) and my wife wear em. Mostly fancy/goofy winters hats but also small versions of the old gangster hats and other stylish hats. I told em (them having better fashion sense than I) to keep a look out for a "cool" hat for good ol' dad. But it has been to no avail. Seems like I'm stuck with ball caps.
They did it because their dad wore one, their grandpa wore em, the neighbor wore em, everybody wore em. It was just as important as a tie when it came to going to the office.
No...they wore them to keep their dirty, smelly hair covered. When you washed your hair on a monthly basis, the aroma could get fairly strong! Now days most people I know, like me, wash their hair at least once a day.
They did it because their dad wore one, their grandpa wore em, the neighbor wore em, everybody wore em. It was just as important as a tie when it came to going to the office.
No...they wore them to keep their dirty, smelly hair covered. When you washed your hair on a monthly basis, the aroma could get fairly strong! Now days most people I know, like me, wash their hair at least once a day.
I imagine in Wisconsin that is true. Dang cheeseheads anyway.
In So. CA where I grew up hats weren't popular, and I didn't wear one (surfers don't wear hats generally). When hats started getting popular thugs and wannabes wore ball caps backwards (the flat thing goes in front, you fool!!) and I thought that was stupid, so I didn't wear a hat. When I did a lot of sailing I had to wear a hat or cook my nose and neck, so I wore a Tilly style. Now in Orygun, where it's a bit more rainy, I wear a ball cap (no advertising on it), a driving cap (to be sorta cool), a newsboy cap ('cause I'm cool) or a "crush" bucket hat (when I'm realllly cool). I gotta think about it 'cause it isn't natural yet, but I'm trying...
Mike
Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit...
I've learned how to stand on my own two knees...
always wear a hat when I'm doing outdoor things - got it from my grandfather, who looked fine in a Stetson.
I was the guest speaker at the local FFF chapter last week and gave a talk on fly fishing for white bass - somebody remarked they didn't recognize me without a hat.
Silver Belly
mushroom fedora
straw and hemp hats in the summer
my baby in a hand-me-down beaver - she and her sister both love hats
seems like a no-brainer - the right hats keep you warm and dry in the winter and cool and shaded in the summer.
Last edited by bdhold on Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
younger years...this country boy wore a cowboy hat...
moved to the beach...and did not wear one for years...
Now I am back in the country...and its camo ball caps...
and only on the weekends....very seldom to work....
They did it because their dad wore one, their grandpa wore em, the neighbor wore em, everybody wore em. It was just as important as a tie when it came to going to the office.
No...they wore them to keep their dirty, smelly hair covered. When you washed your hair on a monthly basis, the aroma could get fairly strong! Now days most people I know, like me, wash their hair at least once a day.
I imagine in Wisconsin that is true. Dang cheeseheads anyway.
LK
Yea, but our's can breathe, that is why we make'em out of SWISS cheese!
I wear a sky piece every time I go outdoors, usually a baseball cap. I'm fair-complexioned, so the sun is not my friend. I burn readily, and I've had several skin cancers. Going bare with a bald head is no option for me.
I think the decline in the wearing of hats was driven by a complex set of issues. Certainly JFK had an impact. But, cost did as well. A well dressed man often had a hat that was coordinated with his suit. (Coordinated, not matching.) That could get expensive. And, I believe hair styles also had an impact. About the time hats went out, long hair came "in." And, automotive trends have also had an impact. Cars got a lot less headspace, and seat belts made hats with a wide brim on all sides a bit of a challenge. And business travel is not kind to a hat that can't be crushed.
Those are just all my opinions. Have not done a study.
I wear ball caps quite a bit, and have been known to wear one of my Father's many Fedoras from time to time since I inherited them. If I didn't catch so much stuff from my buds, I would wear a Stetson a lot more often.
"Now it cuts like a knife, but it feels so right." - Bryan Adams
After I started to go bald, I started wearing a hat if I was going to be outside more than 5 minutes. A sunburned scalp hurts, and several members of my family have had skin cancers removed. Hats are a practical part of my existence.
D. Brian Casady
Quid Llatine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur.
Advanced is being able to do the basics while your leg is on fire---Bill Jeans
Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up---Robert Frost
piller wrote:After I started to go bald, I started wearing a hat if I was going to be outside more than 5 minutes. A sunburned scalp hurts, and several members of my family have had skin cancers removed. Hats are a practical part of my existence.
+1!
I've worn a ball cap ever since I started playing Dixie Youth Baseball at age 9. On occasion I've worn newsboys and tam o'shanters. I've always liked the way a fedora looks, but I just haven't gotten around to buying one.
I have never played a gig without wearing a hat, partly because my bald head turns funny shades of red when I strain to hit a high note.
bogie
Sadly, "Political Correctness" is the most powerful religion in America, and it has ruined our society.
Sorry guys I missed the post. This was bought in Gettysburg at Dirty Billy's Hats. He did the hats for a few of the characters in "Gettysburg." It is supposedly quite popular among the Sons of Confederate Veterans:
Go under 19th and 20th Century Hats to get to this one. Mine doesn't have the patch pictured...had it left plain for just the look of a Western theatre Confederate Cavalry officer. Most hats were not this big, but I've seen a few pictures of Cavalrymen with this style hat or close to it.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
I always wear a hat. I take it off inside if I will be in for some time, if just passing through I leave it on. Other folks have stated that they wear hats because of the military. My experience is the opposite. I wore hats to worka all day everyday up till I joined the Air Force. Now i wear them to work but it comes off till I go home at the end of the day. It took me some time to get used to not wearing a hat outsdie, but hats are not allowed on the flightline. It does mean I get to walk by officers without saluting though!
From Labor day until Memorial day fedoras. Then I switch to straw (or mesh) outback style (breezer) hats. If I am out of the house and beyond the yard I have one on or at lest with me. I ALWAYS remove my hat inside a home, restaurant, or any other indoor area where you are expected to sit. When I meet a lady I tip my hat (or take it off depending) and when I say goodbye to her as well. All that and I just turned 40. (You should see the looks of awe on their faces, if good manners weren't reward enough I would do it just for that.)
mklwhite wrote:From Labor day until Memorial day fedoras. Then I switch to straw (or mesh) outback style (breezer) hats. If I am out of the house and beyond the yard I have one on or at lest with me. I ALWAYS remove my hat inside a home, restaurant, or any other indoor area where you are expected to sit. When I meet a lady I tip my hat (or take it off depending) and when I say goodbye to her as well. All that and I just turned 40. (You should see the looks of awe on their faces, if good manners weren't reward enough I would do it just for that.)
Good for you mklwhite! That is one thing I just don't like - people forgetting proper manners. A gentlemen removes his hat when he goes indoors. I've actually seen people "men" wearing ballcaps in church. Talk about a lack of respect!
Chris, I need to get me one of those! Where did you find it???
I really like that hat.
Rob
Proud to be Christian American and not ashamed of being white.
May your rifle always shoot straight, your mag never run dry, you always have one more round than you have adversaries, and your good mate always be there to watch your back.
Because I can!
Never grow a wishbone where a backbone ought to be.
