Hats can be quite charming at times.
Posted on 09/17/2024 3:27:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Image of Yonge Street crowd celebrating the end of the Boer War in 1900, with the majority of people in the image wearing hats. Credits: William James / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain Headwear has been an essential fashion item for almost as long as it has existed, but people these days are not wearing hats as often as they used to in times past.
Since ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, people have worn headwear. Men and women commonly used headwear, and pharaohs wore their iconic Nemes striped headcloth to communicate their status. In the Middle Ages, there were laws requiring everyone to wear hats.
Later, top and bowler hats were used for centuries in English society, where they distinguished men and women of status. In the US, bowler hats were the most used form of headwear, and hats, in general, were commonplace.
For centuries, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who left their home without headwear. However, as the ’60s and ’70s rolled around, hats became less and less common. So, how did hats fall from popular fashion to an item people could do without so quickly?
The disappearance of hat wearing
Rumors circulate about the disappearance of the hat from modern fashion. The most prominent of these relates to President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was always bare-headed, and with his extreme popularity, it is believed that his lack of a hat may have come to represent modern fashion.
Grecian Delight supports Greece
With the rise of a generation known for rebelling against traditional norms in the ’60s and ’70s, it makes sense why caps would be ousted from fashion.
The implications of transportation modes on hat usage However, the most likely reason for the lack of a hat is the rise of vehicles and public transportation. Thanks to advancements in transportation technology, society has rapidly transformed to the point where it is hard to conceptualize how fast the change has taken hold in how the world works today.
In a few decades, man’s primary mode of transportation went from horses and trains to cars, buses, and subway systems. Humanity’s exposure to the elements significantly decreased with the advent of these vehicles. Suddenly, a hat became cumbersome, making one duck when leaving an automobile or a bus. It often got knocked off and became uncomfortable for the user.
Just because hats have disappeared from popular fashion doesn’t mean they are not still utilized. Headwear these days is more focused on protection from the sun, like easily stored baseball caps, arguably one of the more popular forms of headwear. In terms of the top hats of old, they still find their place at British weddings and horse races.
Military personnel worldwide still wear headwear. However, the form of headdress has changed significantly throughout the centuries. Earlier, they would wear large bearskin caps and other more extravagant forms of headwear.
With the arrival of guns, military headwear has changed to more practical hard helmets and berets that can easily be stored when soldiers need to switch to their helmets.
While hats aren’t as popular these days as before, they still find their use in the modern world. However, there will always be those who wish for the old days when hats could be found on every head on the street.
“Do you take your hat off when you into a restaurant or Church?”
I do for church. Not for a restaurant, but most of my “Dining out” is in places where you order from a kiosk - and I don’t want to take a chance of leaving it behind.
But if restaurants bring back hat stands...
“Because it messes up your hair and makes you look stupid. That’s easy! Next question.”
Yep! Aesthetics over practical function. It is the world we now live in. No one cares if it runs right, all they care about is that it looks shiny. And even worse they try to force that ideology on everyone around them as political correctness and want them to conform.
I purposely screw with them over it... I am a nonconformist. I look shabby, dress shabby, and drive a car that looks like it is going to fall apart any minute. But no one ever hits me up for change in the parking lot. So it is both practical and functional. :)
When I was young I used to love picking out my new Easter hat each year. I loved wearing hats to church. Wore gloves in those days too. My my but have times changed.
I wear a hat every day. Seriously. I think I look better in a hat. All baseball caps. Look at my profile pic.
Why Have Most People Stopped Wearing Hats?
Many hardly go outside anymore, and when they do, they don’t stay outside. Yes, cars probably contribute to it to.
I almost always wear some sort of cap or hat outdoors, for protection from the sun mostly. I also like to have a bill or brim keeping the sun out of my eyes, and I don’t like hair blowing into my eyes.
I seldom wear any hat indoors, though, and never ever while dining. My mom would have slapped any of us out from under a hat worn at the table.
Just because they are in a bar or restaurant doesn’t mean they aren’t going bald.
From movies, hats stopped being fashionable in ‘40’s or maybe ‘50’s.
A backwards cap shades your neck.
I wear a fedora more often than not.
I live in Florida and wear an Australian-style hat in summer.
In the New York State area I grew up in, hat wearing faded away in the mid-1960s.
I never much cared for the wool of a suit as wool irritates me.
My mother believed in dressing up when going out.
Here in Florida, I typically wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt.
Stephanie Zimbalist wore a hat well in some Remington Steele episodes.
I can’t wearing them myself and never thought they suited me.
One hat I do like for some reason is one I saw in an early Law & Order episode worn by the villain Harv Beigel in “Torrents Of Greed”, an excellent two part story. I would probably even buy one.
https://youtu.be/fgsTHx_Nu6o?si=qFANOVq33PmtMq39
At 1:38 in.
I started wearing flat caps. oddly enough they look correct on me in a way that a baseball/trucker hat or a cowboy hat doesn’t. I still like my boonie for sun protection, but the flats have become my go to. I wish i could find one in a decent green—thats not 50 bucks.
I have to agree with much you have to say. The tats and the tongue studs make it hard to understand what they are saying and I am amazed when I go to the bank and the teller is sipping a giant soda. Also still amazed to see men are eating dinner in a restaurant with their hat on.
But years ago rules were so rigid. It was important when introducing someone who was introduced to whom. Gloves and hats were important and certainly finger bowls and fish forks.
Life is less rigid now. I even see women wearing white after Labor Day!!!! OMG
same here
I have plenty of hair but because of the sun, I always wear a wide brim hat.
I do not take it off while shopping.
Once inside church, I will take it off, but I wear it to cross the church parking lot.
Thats it. I had to keep track of one piece of headgear or another for over 22 years. that was plenty.
“It was important when introducing someone who was introduced to whom.”
I still remember that and try to remember to DO that.
Also, I cringe when a man extends his hand to shake a woman’s hand. You don’t do that unless/until she extends hers first.
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