Hats are statement accessories. Whether the hat has a massive plume of feathers gushing out of its crown or it’s a simple black beret, people are going to notice the person wearing a hat. And that, in turn, can be a confidence builder.
“You’re going to get a few comments and compliments from people when you wear a hat; it’s inevitable,” says Roberta Glennon, owner of Roberta’s Hats. “That kind of reassurance gives people a lot of confidence.”
Hats are a great way to exert your self-expression. As you evolve, you can buy different hats to suit your style.
“For younger people, wearing a hat is a pretty harmless form of self-expression,” says Glennon. “It’s not like getting a bunch of crazy tattoos or piercings or something like that, that you have to deal with later. You can just let yourself explore your identity through fashion.”
Aside from elaborately flowered hats and intricate fascinators, the most popular hat trends the fedora and the slouchy toque are unisex. The sizing and colours may be marketed towards the different sexes, but the basic hat style doesn’t change.
The fedora actually was a woman’s hat before it was a man’s. The hat got its name from the French play Fedora by Victorien Sardou. When the play was brought to Broadway in 1882 the lead character, Princess Fedora, wore a medium-brimmed hat that was pinched in the front to resemble a “Y” shape, and the fedora was born.
“The fedora became all the rage for women,” says Glennon. “But then men started getting into the fedora as well. The ’50s and ’60s were really the heyday for the fedora as a man’s hat. From gangsters to Frank Sinatra, every man seemed to be wearing a fedora.”
The slouchy toque has always been around, but it’s enjoying a resurgence thanks to bohemian style trends and celebrities such as Brad Pitt, the Olsen twins, and Kirsten Dunst continually sporting one. The slouchy toque basically looks like a regular toque, but the brim is not turned up and the crown is much longer.
“It’s a great look and it doesn’t give you hat head,” says Glennon. “People like that about the slouchy toque, because it’s a little bit more loose fitting. When you take them off you can just fluff your hair back up and you’re good to go.”
Some people are too into their hair to risk hat head, or they don’t want to cover up those $200 highlights they just had done. At least for women there are fascinators, which are sometimes categorized as a hat and sometimes as a hair accessory.
“Fascinators are a good thing for people who want something a little bit whimsical on their head, but don’t necessarily want to cover up their hair with a hat,” explains Glennon. “You can still have a really nice hairstyle going and you can still wear a little something fun on your head.”
Glennon has learned that every hat has its day, because not everyone is worried about messing their hair up.
“We had this lady come in and she bought a ‘wow’ hat,” says Glennon. “It had a wide brim, flowers, lace, something you would wear to a really fancy occasion, I thought. But then I said to her, ‘Where is going to be your first opportunity to wear this fabulous new hat you’re buying?’ And she said, ‘Well, I’m going camping this weekend, so I think I’ll wear it for that.’ I loved that.”
Hat Fun Facts
Fedora: Rocky Balboa, Michael Jackson and every gangster in between have all sported fedoras.
Pork pie: Walter White. ’Nuff said.
Beret: Glennon says this is the easiest type of hat to wear. “I don’t think there is anyone who can’t wear a beret and look nice,” she says.
Bowler hat: Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge had a lime green bowler hat.
Top hats: The reason Canada became colonized. The French and British needed to get their beaver pelts for these from somewhere, right?
Flat cap: In 1571, an English Act of Parliament decreed all males over the age of six had to wear a flat cap on Sundays and holidays to stimulate wool production. The law lasted 25 years. Glennon wears a flat cap almost every day.
Fascinator: How much do you think Princess Beatrice’s toilet-shaped fascinator that she wore to Will and Kate’s wedding sold for on eBay? $131,000 (US). And, to answer your next quesion, yes, it also has its own Facebook page.
Kate,
I am frustrated at your article here. Although I understand that some women wear hats very well and that it can be quite appealing, I do not recommend any man to wear hats. They are very hard to pull off correctly and they pretty pointless. There is no real reason for any guy to continually wear hats anymore. Although I would love for bowlers and top-hats to come back in style, they just won’t. As for fedora’s, I would maybe wear a straw one in my back yard on occasion but not really in public. Only Justin Doss of GQ and a few others can wear hats well and I’m fairly certain most guys don’t have the swag and steaze to pull it off like they do. Also, Roberta’s hat’s is a terrible store and I would never recommend anyone to shop there. First off, THEY SELL PIRATE HATS FOR PETE’S SAKE! Do you really think this is a store to buy stylish hats at? It is a costume shop. Not a place to be taken seriously as a viable place to buy hats. They sell toques with tassels and faces on them. THey also sell top-hats and bowler hats. Does anyone really wear these kinds of hats nowadays? No, they don’t. If you need a costume piece, by all means go there, but no realistic guy should shop here for actual hats or clothes.