I wish dressy hats were back in style for men and women. I think hats add a finishing touch to an outfit that's missing today. People stick baseball caps and knit hats on their heads for casual wear, but nothing when they dress up.

bpath, I can remember men wearing hats long after JFK was inaugurated. Hats for men were very popular in the 1970's. My dad always wore a hat when he dressed up.

The only hats I remember were in the Air Force. I only spent 7 years in, but to this day I will walk out a door sometimes and feel like I'm missing something. Same with the glasses I wore since I was 9, and no longer need. Usually, will be driving in my car, reach up to push up my nonexistent glasses.

My grandparents wore hats all the time. I don't have a memory of my parents wearing hats but have seen photos from when I was a baby.

My mom used to tell a story about wearing a hat to church. Her hat had a veil in front. She once blew her nose right through the veil while sitting at church. She and my aunt couldn't stop laughing and had to leave.

Actually, I used to make hats when I was into vintage clothing. I used cardboard for the base, scraps of velvet, tulle netting, beads, even feathers, etc. Somewhere I have a big one that I made that had a large black plume and was navy blue velvet with a lighter blue silk lining. I wore it tilted on my head, so did have a hat pin and I think a band of some sort that went behind my head. I don't remember now.

Here is the pin cushion with my small collection of hat pins. See the really big one? It was kind of hard to get a good photo:

My father wore a suit and hat to work and to church every day. He wore fedoras over his wavy white hair most of the year. But in the humid heat of our river valley, he wore a straw fedora. I remember one time when he went car shopping, the most important criteria in his selection was that he could get into the car and drive to his destination without removing his fedora. My dad was 6’4”, so he had to search out his new car at every dealer in town. I imagine his criteria surprised many a car salesman.

When I was around five I asked my grandmother (mid 70's) why she put a long pin in her hat. She said it was to stick in a man if he got "handsy" riding on the bus or trolley. She never admitted to actually doing it. I was always on my best behavior from then on when visiting.

Yes, my dad always wore a hat when dressing up which was frequent back then. I still have one of my mom's which was small, black velvet with a veil. We wore hats to church and Easter hats in the 50's were fancy crunchy affairs often with netting and flowers, always with white gloves I recall a lot of patent leather shoes.

My dad always wore a hat to work, to church, almost everywhere. My mother wore one to church and I was forced to as a young teen. My husband even briefly wore a hat. Now I wear baseball caps in the warm weather and ski caps in the winter and so does he. I must have 15 of them. Yes, people dressed up to fly on airplanes, to go to a baseball game. it looks so strange now. As a young teen, I was forced to dress for everything including nylon stockings. Fast forward ten years and I was in torn jeans with peace patches on them and hair down the middle of my back. My parents never got over it.

I live within walking distance of an Orthodox synagogue, so I see men in hats and suits on a regular basis. Otherwise, I don't see men in hats other than baseball caps, which I detest.

Maybe the incidence of hat wearing varies by region and weather. Now in my sixties, a West Coast denizen, hat wearing was not often seen among those of my parent's generation or mine. These days, baseball or team hats are common for those dressed casually and if worn with the visor forward, provide some sun protection. For me, I prefer the floppy brimmed type when I'll be in the sun but I never wear one otherwise. You sometimes see knit caps when it gets cold which, in my area, is when it's below 60 degrees.

I wear hats occasionally and almost always when I go out in the sun in the summer.

Here are photos of some of my hats:

This is my favorite hat, and it is from The Ivory Coast. It is very comfortable and keeps my head cool in the heat. Photo taken at an oasis in Palm Springs.

This is a hat that I made from a zebra mane (leftover part from an upholstery project where I used to work). The apron was made by a Cooking Forum friend and features a portrait of me wearing the same hat and the costume for the Fetish Ball that I had made from zebra heads.

Winter in Taxco - this hat just keeps sun off my head but it not very helpful for my face.

I see some guys wearing what I call "basebald caps," because, who do they think they're fooling?

Jupidupi I never heard basebald caps before. Lol Men aren't really trying to fool anyone. When you don't have the insulation on top your scalp is prone to burn in the summer and get cold in the winter. Since baseball caps are molded in the head shape they tend to stay on better than regular brimed hats. Being bald doesn't have the stigma as it once did in the days of those ridiculous comb overs. I know several young men who purposely shave or buzz cut their hair.

What urks me is when they have to wear their dirty faded favorite ball cap everywhere. Really, you spent $5000 for a week at a Caribbean resort and you couldn't buy a new hat.

I find "basebald caps" an especially offensive term. Funtionthenlook is correct that men are trying to protect their heads from the sun, in order to prevent skin cancer. There is no need to ridicule someone who is protecting their health.

If anyone is being fooled, it is those who do not understand that men need to protect their heads from the sun and the cold. I mostly wear hats for sun protection, since it is never cold here.

I lived in Ontario for a time, and everyone, male and female, wears hats in winter there - it's a matter of survival ;) And none of your namby-pamby baseball hats either. Real hats.

These days I live in Australia, and anyone with any common sense wears a hat outdoors here to protect the head from the sun. Baseball caps are common, but wide-brimmed hats are a much better option because they protect the ears.

Australian cricketers spend hours out in the sun during a match (and international test matches can last for five days). The photo below is a sampling of what they wear on the field and that's the sort of look you'll see in streetwear as well:

Around here they call them "trucker hats" not bald/baseball hats. Most men wear them and unlike my grandfather who always wore a proper hat to church or his railroad striped hat to work, they don't remove them when inside. It drives me nutty. It looks so tacky a bunch of grown men sitting in a school auditorium at a concert or play, theaters, restaurants wearing their caps. Thanks to those we get to fight with adolescent boys about hats in school. It makes me so sad.

I have memories of my dad heading off to work in "the city" (San Francisco) wearing his suit and hat. Such a classy guy he was.

Beret, here, but only in chilly weather. Various sorts of sunhats in warm weather, as they are needed in my work. Some are straw, some are canvas, for example the outback Australian style. I don't bother with baseball caps, as more shade is needed. I get a lot of comments on my hats. They aren't fashion to me; they are functional. Even the beret can be pulled and tipped to keep sun out of the eyes on these winter days when the sun hangs low and strong.

"Thanks to those we get to fight with adolescent boys about hats in school." I'm curious about that comment: I assume the fights are with boys who want to wear their hats in class?

Here in Oz, schoolkids wear school uniforms, and a hat is part of the uniform. Kids are expected/required to wear them whenever they're outdoors on the school grounds. The hats are either wide-brimmed or bucket hats, never baseball caps (not enough protection). I don't think the kids would bother wearing them indoors as well: there wouldn't be anything particularly "cool" about doing that.

My dad always wore a homburg.

@jmm1837, I work in a school in Western Oz and the teachers have to constantly tell the students to remove their hats in class.

I love seeing pictures of Queen Elizabeth in her outfits with the matching hats.

My father always wore a homburg, but I haven't seen anyone else wearing one in many years until today, when I saw an older man (but younger than my husband who wears a basebald cap) wearing one. I even commented to my husband how rare it was to see such a hat.

My dad always wore a hat...usually a Stetson. My husband always wore ball type caps. Hats in the summer make my head hot. I wear a cap in the winter.

After chemo my hair never came back right. During the winter I wear hats or some type of head covering even inside.

And yes, cowboy hats are still a thing here in Texas.

JustDoit....I have been known to sleep in a knit cap in winter. It is funny, because when I was a kid, and it was cold out, my mother always tried to get me to wear a hat or cap of some kind, and I flat out refused to do it. Well, she was right. You are much warmer with your head covered in the winter. I live in Texas too, and I am a wimp about cold weather. Thank goodness, we usually only get it for a few days at a time and then it warms back up.

Many many years ago I crocheted a "helmet" for a night cap...loose and comfortable, came down to cover my eyes to keep it dark and longer in the back to cover my neck. Kept my head warm and I could breathe. I still wear it in the winter. I made one for DH which he used to wear, but now that he's got the cpap, he just turtles under the covers as he's already getting fresh air through the hose.

Interesting thread as I've had to look up a lot of different hat styles mentioned here with which I am unfamiliar...

It's one thing when someone removes their hat at the table...it's another when they put it ON the table. YUCK!! Not allowed in my house!!

@jmm1837

“lived in Ontario for a time, and everyone, male and female, wears hats in winter there - it's a matter of survival ;) And none of your namby-pamby baseball hats either. Real hats.”

Lol yup, -27c in ottawa and I tend not to wear hats even in winter. But am compelled to do so when its this cold.

Remember these hats. I have a faux fur trappers hat I use when I'm going to be outside for extended periods in the cold. Ugly but warm. I have to keep my ears covered in the cold or I get vertigo. I would love to have one of these.

.

Functionthenlook - many years ago when fur clothing was not yet seen as unacceptable, I had a hat in that style which matched the fur trim on my coat. One of the few times I chose to wear a hat. Lucille - I also love seeing Queen Elizabeth and her matching hats, along with that worn by other royalty such as Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.

Indigo Rose, Same with me ! I actually miss those soft, white cotton gloves. One thing I don't miss is those hard-soled, black patent leather shoes. They were instruments of torture for me.

I do love seeing the hats and fascinators that the queen and other English women wear.

Function - your photo of the faux fur hat reminded me of a 1960's fad - wig hats!

It took me a while to find a photo;

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/511721576381953533/

Plus the song: Hi-Heel Sneakers by Tommy Tucker "

"Put on your high-heel sneakers, baby
Wear your wig-hat on your head
Ya know you're looking mighty good, really
I'm pretty sure you're gonna knock 'em dead"

Leaving our wedding reception in the autumn 1964, I wore a lynx hat with a camel hair 'going away suit' -- flying to NYC enroute to London. (Also gloves, girdle, nylon hose, petticoat.) This meant carting a hat box around for two weeks. I sure don't miss any of that fuss.

@marilyn_c

"I have been known to sleep in a knit cap in winter."  Try bed socks. Even better than a bed cap. :)

OMG function I had one of those hats, I'd forgotten about it but it looked exact;y like that but fake fur.

My DH has beautiful hats and wears them every single day. He is very sensitive to sunlight so he has hats for all seasons. Love a man in a nice hat!

hiking in Winter

beach with the grandbabies

Chisue, do you have a pic of your lynx hat from 1964? It must be pretty. Fur hats are popular here due to the weather.

When I was growing up farmers wore straw hats in summer and floppy felt ones in the winter. They wore a cleaner version of the same types on Sundays. Ranchers and cowboy singers wore Stetsons everywhere all year. Mature and older women wore a hat to church every Sunday and to weddings and funerals. They wore bonnets in summer and facinators in winter. My old grandfather wore a flannel cap that tied under his chin when he went to bed. I was a teenager before I ever saw anyone male or female in a cap. Then they took over.

summersrhythm -- There's a photo in our wedding album, but IDK how to post it. The hat was drum shaped with a flat brown satin top and fur swirled around the outside. It wasn't meant for warmth, just *fashion*.

I just looked at the album. I'm struck by how fragile I looked. My gown and that suit look at least a size too large. I was normally 125 lbs; more like 112 by 'the day'. Wedding nerves!

It sounds pretty! Can't wait to see it the pic. :-)

I shove a knitted toque on my head anytime I go outside for a walk or to the store. I like my ears warm.

A casual friend refused to wear any kind of head covering because she didn't want to mess up her hair. Until she got frostbite on her ears. Now she pulls up her hood.

"There's a photo in our wedding album, but IDK how to post it."

Chisue - if your printer has a scanner, just scan your wedding photo, save it in "pictures" on your computer, and then attach it to a comment here. I've been scanning a lot of my old photos lately and saving them in digital albums, before they fade into oblivion. Some of them are making it to Annie's "Ï'll show you mine" thread (and reawakening a lot of memories for me in the process).

In the early 1970s, DH and I visited Montreal and Toronto. Sometimes I was the only woman on the elevator, so all the men and those getting on at other floors immediately took off their hats. It surprised me to see such manners that I had not seen in the states since the 1950s. I was so impressed by the Canadian men.

I wear a floppy straw hat on the boat. Good sun protection yet breezy

jmm -- I'll ask my DS to show me the process next time he's here. Last time I attempted a 'new trick' it took me days to get my computer back to 'normal'.

sheilajoyce -- Your elevator story reminds me of an evening when DH, DS and I were staying in a hotel in Chicago. I left our room to go to down to the lobby to get a some snacks. When the elevator door opened I was looking at six Denver Bronco team members. These giant men ever so carefully shuffled their giant feet and pressed their giant arms against themselves to make a space for 'the little lady'. It was as though a forest of Redwoods was moving! I never realized how difficult it must be for people that BIG to move in the world without inadvertently harming others.

maire_cate,

I remember another song.....Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Devil With The Blue Dress,

with another line.....

"wearing her wig-hat and shades to match,

with her high heel sneakers

and her alligator bag"

I may or may not have worn a wig hat in the 60s, luckily there is no evidence.

Honibaker - I remember that song but had forgotten the lyrics! And I confess to having a wig-hat.... it was a birthday present from my next door neighbor. She had two and gave me one I still remember that we actually tried to style them.