Headgear has been an integral part of the human wardrobe for millennia. In that time, they’ve been donned for occasions of religious or social importance, or just for a night out on the town or a visit to friends.
Shapes and styles come and go, but hats have always been and will continue to be perennial favorites. This is not only because they are functional and protect the head and face from the elements. They also offer the wearer the opportunity to impart a bit of their personal style to the world.
Celebrities have brought hats into the mainstream in a big way over the last several years. If you’re trying to emulate your favorite star’s look, or just want to add a new element to your own, here are a few tips to choose the headgear that’s ideal for you.
Do some research
Take a look at fashion magazines, TV shows, social media, and the Internet. What hat styles do you see that you like? You can’t go into your headgear search in a vacuum. You must have some inspiration to work with.
Does your headgear need to be functional, or is it merely stylish?
Influencing your choices will be the use of your particular headgear. Are you going to be out in the sun all day and need to keep your scalp and facial skin from being burnt. Do you want to include a headscarf because it’s fashionable, or because you are covering your uncombed hair?
Choose based on the shape of your face
Now that you have a basic idea of what you like and what you’ll be using it for, you’re ready to pick your styles. When you go about the business of choosing a hat, you’ll have to take a good look at the dimensions of your face. This is easy to do. Look in the mirror, use something to mark where your hairline, your temples, the widest part of your cheekbones, your jawline, and the bottom of your chin are.
From this exercise, you’ll have a basic idea of which one of these shape categories your face falls into:
- Diamond
- Square
- Heart/Triangle
- Oval
- Oblong
Matching hats according to face shape
For a diamond-shaped face, avoid styles that emphasize the cheekbones and the chin. For men, something with a shallow brim might work, like a pork pie hat. For women, avoid high crowns and small brims.
For a square-shaped face, men would do best to stick to wide brim styles, like cowboy and sun hats as these are complimentary. Women with this face shape should stick to softer, floppier styles like bucket hats, cloches, and bowlers.
The heart or triangular-shaped face can choose a variety of styles though it’s a good idea for them to stay away from wide-brimmed styles. Hats with high crowns and small brims will work particularly well for either sex.
Oval-shaped faces are very forgiving and tend to work well with just about any style of hat.
Oblong/rectangular-shaped faces look best with hats that de-emphasize their length and narrowness. For men, cowboy hats and sun hats will assist with this. For women, floppy hats, cloches, and fedoras will be complimentary.
Match your headgear to your body type
Now that you’ve begun to experiment a little. Take a look at your general body type. You want to select headgear that does not exaggerate your more negative traits. For example, if you are tall and thin, you do not want to select a hat type with a tall crown to add more height. You also should select a hat with a brim that does not exceed the width of your shoulders. Another general rule of thumb is the larger you are, the larger the hat you can wear.
Match your headgear to the rest of your fashion
Let’s assume you found some hats that you love. Now you have to work them into the rest of your ensemble. Which of your clothes will this headgear look best with? Will this fedora go with my jeans and heels? Can I get away with this baseball cap and a blazer?
Don’t worry, you’re new to this. As you gain experience (and compliments) putting together your headgear and looks, you’ll grow more confident about what goes with what. You may even begin to experiment with more non-traditional looks.
Now there, was that so difficult? After all that fuss, you found that adding headgear to your fashion choices has the potential to give you a look that is distinctly yours. After today, we’re sure you’ll never be without a hat again.