Who says men can’t pull off hats? With many hats to choose from— from fedora hats for formal occasions to baseball caps for sports and recreation, there’s no doubt that guys include them as part one of their wardrobe staples.
However, using your best judgment when it comes to selecting the hat you want to wear is crucial. Just like any other apparel piece, hats play an essential role in complementing your overall look. According to dapperfam.com, wearing a fancy hat that doesn’t go well with your attire or doesn’t suit the occasion will make you look weird— or worse, a laughingstock.
It’s easy to avoid disaster when it comes to choosing the best hat for you. Keep reading to learn more about the different hat styles for men, so that you will be able to pick the best hat for yourself the next time you decide to wear one.
Table of Contents
Classifying Hats Based on their Shape
The shape is probably one of the most distinguishing features of hats. For instance, you will easily recognize a cowboy hat when you see one because it has the familiar wide brim and high crown.
The hat’s shape dictates if it can be worn with a particular outfit as well. This is why you need to acquaint yourself with the different types of hats based on their shape.
Fedora
Img source: jjshouse.com
The fedora is one of the most common types of hats in the market. Several Hollywood celebrities like Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson are well known for their fondness for fedoras. A lot of people also have the same taste. They can’t be faulted because fedoras are actually versatile and easy to blend with a wide range of outfits.
Fedoras typically have soft brims that can either be narrow or wide and crowns with varying indentions— diamond, teardrop, or gutter, to name a few. They can also have ribbons around the crown, although modern fedoras try to be as minimalist as possible, so those ribbons are omitted. As a tip, if you have a round face, make sure that you get the wide-brimmed fedoras. This is to avoid emphasizing your round features.
Pork Pie Hat & Trilby
Img source: webflow.com
The pork pie hat and the trilby are two headdresses with shapes that are derivatives of the fedora. As its name suggests, pork pie hats look like pork pies with narrow brims, and short flat crowns creased along the edges. On the other hand, the trilby is known for its narrow brim (an inch and a half at most) and a short crown creased at an angle.
Both pork pie hats and trilbies are recommended for guys with thin or small faces because the narrow brim of these hats make their face seem more pronounced.
Ivy Cap
Img source: epochhats.com
If you are more interested in hats without brims, the ivy cap might be for you. Ivy caps are also known as flat caps because they don’t really have a crown. These hats are more appropriate for casual use than fedoras, pork pie hats, or trilbies.
Choosing your Hat Based on the Material
The hat’s material is another important factor to consider when it comes to choosing the best hat that compliments your outfit. Imagine wearing a tuxedo along with your Panama hat at a wedding- it doesn’t really fit at all.
Cotton
Cotton is the most common material used for hats because it is cheap but also durable. This material can also be easily dyed, which gives you any choice of color that you’d like. However, cotton lacks a lustrous glow that can sometimes be desirable for hats. To address this, hat manufacturers combine cotton with another fabric or fiber for it to look better.
Polyester
Cotton is sometimes mixed with polyester to provide more durability to the hats and make them more versatile. Many hats for formal occasions like fedoras and pork pie hats are made of cotton or cotton-polyester composites since these materials are easy to work with, and the fact that cotton and polyester are common materials used for clothing. This means that headdresses made of cotton are easier to pair with men’s clothes.
Wool felt & fur felt
Wool felt and fur felt are fabrics made by pressing wool and fur, respectively. These fabrics are well-known for being soft and gentle to the skin. Note that due to the nature of these fabrics, hats made from wool and fur are mostly intended for casual use, although sometimes they can be worn on formal occasions as long as they match your outfit. A special type of wool, the cashmere wool, can also be used as a material for hats, although they can sometimes be hard to source, leading to higher prices.
Matching Your Hat According to the Occasion
Lastly, let’s look at how you should choose hats based on the occasion. Imagine you are on vacation in the Maldives, basking in the warm sunlight. Do you think it’s an excellent idea to bring a fur felt trilby with you? That is just a terrible idea. Remember that more than just considering your hat’s shape and material, you also have to consider when and where you plan to wear it.
Will you wear your hat in church functions or weddings? Then the classic fedora will work well on that particular occasion. Are you thinking of wearing a hat on a beach? Then some casual caps or fedora made from light materials will work just fine. If you want to go to a club or a festival, casual pork pie hats or caps can be your great options. The bottom line is that you need to make sure that the hat you plan to wear is appropriate to the setting.
Get that hat
There are indeed a thousand different hats styles to choose from. Hence, you really need to think before you pick. Want to go hat shopping? Most online hat stores offer a wide array of hats categorized based on shape, material, and occasion to help make your hat shopping experience more convenient.
