Men and Hats

Why don’t men wear hats anymore?  Why is it so rare to see a gentleman under the age of seventy sporting a Panama or a bowler or a homburg these days?  The answer to these inquiries is simple---John F. Kennedy, young and stylish and oh-so-handsome, destroyed the men’s hat industry when he arrived bareheaded at his inauguration.  Everybody knows that!

But wait a second---let a historian intervene with an inconvenient fact that destroys a delightful myth. (This is what we live for, as you might imagine.)  JFK was NOT hatless at his inauguration.  While he did not wear a hat to give his speech (who would?) he certainly wore the traditional high silk hat and the rest of his very formal morning dress on that cold January day in 1961.  There is plenty of photographic evidence to back this up.

So why do we blame our president for this fashion crime?  It’s true that JFK did not favor hats, and that he was almost always photographed without one.  He flatly refused to have his picture taken in the ridiculous chapeaus that were often given to him as souvenirs of presidential visits.  On the morning of his assassination, he was presented with a traditional Texas ten-gallon hat, but deftly deflected the demand that he don it by offering reporters the chance to snap him in it at the White House the following week.  Tragically, no one would ever get the chance to request that he make good on his playful promise.

So why did men stop wearing hats?  I don’t think there’s any one answer to this question, but everyone has a theory.  World War II may have had an impact, as returning GIs longed for non-regulation attire.  Many of them undoubtedly felt that hats reminded them of uniform caps and helmets.  Kennedy’s brief tenure as president certainly sent a fashion statement to men of his generation, especially those blessed, like the president, with great hair.  And within a few weeks of Kennedy’s death, the Beatles took America by storm.  No hats for these famous mop-heads!  The 1960s was an age of youth and rebellion; hats were a casualty, a remnant of conformity and stodginess.  Formal headwear for men just never came back into style.

And I think that’s a crying shame.  Frankly, my dear, I want men to wear hats again!  Perhaps I am in a minority, but I do not think I am alone.  Surely fifty years is enough of a gap for hats to rotate around on the fashion wheel.  And just to be clear, in my mind a ‘cap’ is not a ‘hat.’  Living in the South, I see a plethora of caps, mainly with school or sports logos above the brim and plenty that (shudder) are covered in camouflage print.  Even worse, I see lots of caps worn backwards.  Gentlemen, permission to speak freely?---You look like the village idiot when you wear your cap that way.  No exceptions here, fellows: I don't care if you are old, young, a rapper, a trucker, a frat boy, a hunter, a professional athlete, or even a very prominent politician, it's BAD!  Sorry to tell you this, but there is nothing that screams ‘I Am STUPID’ louder than a reversed cap.  It was cute when you were five years old, but it's not cute now.  If you have to be a cap wearer, at least be a man and wear the ugly thing correctly.

 

On the contrary, I have never seen a man who looked bad in a true hat.  Every fellow I’ve ever noticed in one seems taller, stronger, smarter, and more confident.  And I wouldn’t insist that every man wear a dull ‘business’ hat when there are so many wonderful styles and shapes to choose from. I love hats designed for hiking and desert explorations; they exude a world traveler vibe.  What man wouldn't want to be mistaken for Indiana Jones?   Prefer to rock a classic look?  A great fedora can turn Joe Average into a modern member of the Rat Pack.  Need some ideas on how to wear a hat?  These famous gentlemen can provide lessons.

I think my husband (who has a vast collection of caps, much to my dismay) looks especially handsome in the distressed leather drover hat that he bought on a trip to Colorado.  And some of my fellow Wofford historians have been spotted in stylish hats that make them look even taller than they already are (and trust me, we have the tallest department on campus!).  There’s just no excuse for any man to lack at least one distinctive hat in his wardrobe.  For the man who wants to stand out in the crowd, nothing will set him apart faster.

But that may well be the problem.  Women are mocked all the time for conforming to the current look.  Excuse me, but I think it is the guys who tend to be the sheep, just following the herd, never wanting to be unique or original.  To be truly stylish and debonair, in the way that will make ladies' hearts beat faster, requires a level of confidence and individuality that perhaps most men, for all their boasting, generally lack.