Hats

[Nick1911]

As a balding man, I've found myself wearing a fair number of hats this winter.  Typically, I wear either a knitted nylon stretchy hat (Fairly inexpensive, commonly available in the winter months.)  If I'm going to be outside for a while, I'll wear a ushanka - with folded down the ear flaps.

With the warmer months approaching us, I am considering buying a hat for the spring/summer/fall.  I am looking for suggestions of styles and manufacturers.  While I think a fedora would look good, I'm not sure if it would look out of place in today's world.

Thoughts?

[AJ Dual]

I don't know if the Fedora is out of style.

Kohl's of all places was selling them in the mensware section this winter. Although I couldn't quite tell if it was because they're back "in" universally, or if it was some sort of lame attempt at "edge" by emulating urban thuglets in their own watered-down department store way...

Adam Savage on Mythbusters wears one, (whom I look almot exactly like...) often with his ginormous Kitanica shooting jacket, while riding a Segway around the bomb range.

Well.. I'm not sure that's an endorsment either. 

[Uncle Bubba]

I've been a hat wearer for years, from long before I started losing my hair.

A Panama looks good in warm weather. Check in golf equipment and supplies stores for Panama-style hats in lots of colors.

A good Fedora or Trilby is nice to have in cooler or cold weather, keeps your head warm and looks sharp.

I have a gunmetal blue beret, the closest color I could get to Infantry blue, that I wear in cold weather sometimes. For really cold I wear a thick black knit watch cap.

And then, of course, there's the ubiquitous baseball cap, in various colors and materials, for general running around in all seasons.

.............

AJ, my sympathies. Every time I see Adam dorking around on that Segway I think, "It ain't that far, geek! Get yer ass off that thing and walk!"

[Manedwolf]

It is impossible for anyone to look cool on a Segway.

They MAKE them here, but everyone still points and laughs at any riders.

[Tuco]

Remember -  What you see in the mirrior is the person for whom you wear the hat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQFFMfpojWo

[Uncle Bubba]

Remember -  What you see in the mirrior is the person for whom you wear the hat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQFFMfpojWo

Well said. Good song, too.

[Balog]

Anything other than a baseball cap or stocking cap when it's cold is regarded as a "fashion statement" these days. If you aren't fashion savvy (and based on some of your other posts you aren't) either avoid them or have your wife help you pick them out.

[Viking]

I prefer to use a flat cap/scally cap when it's a bit warmer (and colder too, wore one to work today, this morning the weather gods smiled upon me, and during lunch, it began to snow again. Yeah, it was a bit cold around the ears walking home...)

[Harold Tuttle]

Spring time is Rat Pack straw fedora/porkpie season

a really wide band and maybe an outrageous huge checker board weave FTW

http://tinyurl.com/agbos9

heck buy 2:
http://www.target.com/Straw-Fedora-Black/dp/B001DAKRUO/sr=1-1/qid=1236012549/ref=sr_1_1/175-4329390-6050645?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Afedora&page=1

[roo_ster]

One word: Tilley

A few more words:
http://www.tilley.com/home.asp?countryCode=US
http://www.tilley.com/detail.asp?catId=13&gender=m&extractBy=CategoryId&id=1&productNo=T3


I received one for Christmas and think it is great.  High quality and functionality.  Best part: it won't shrink and the manuf encourages you to wash it regularly. 

Make sure you read the fitting guide & owner's manuals to get the right size, however. 

[jackdanson]

One word: Tilley

Hmm, I'll have to look into that.  That is the main reason I don't wear hats, my head ends up stinking after 2-3 hours, being able to wash it regularly would probably help.

Clip your hair very short.  balding is looked at as a flaw, but shaving your head is a fashion statement... might as well make it look like a choice.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

$1.99 watch cap from food for less keeps my head warm on cold days.
Cheap boonie hat keeps the sun from burning my white scalp to a cancerous crisp on hot sunny days.
Scally cap when I feel like it.

[TMM]

I wear (every day, often even if i'm inside[put it on right after waking up in the case of a bad hair day]) a vintage Knox furfelt fedora that i rebashed into a tear-drop crown. it's showing some age now, on that fine line between broken in and broken. i don't even think about the fact that i'm wearing a fedora... it's as normal to me as a ballcap is to Joe Smith... I love it. Oh, and i'm 18. FWIW.

I don't care about style/fitting in/etc, i just wear what i like, and like to wear good-looking yet well-worn clothes.

hatsinthebelfry.com and others found on Google will yield straw hats and wool-felt hats (wool felt is cheaper but lesser in quality) a modern fur-felt hat will definately cost you, a wool-felt can be more affordable if buying new. i'm not a straw hat connoisseur, so a cheap-o works for me for those real hot days, but i find that my Knox is pretty comfortable year-round. i'm to the point where i feel weird if i'm not wearing a hat when i'm outside.

the best thing about a nice felt hat is watching it look better with age rather than rattier and crappier. (well, i'm one of those people that doesn't mind a beaten up fedora with a hole or two... too neat and i feel overdressed and fancy...)

TMM

[Cromlech]

As a balding man, I've found myself wearing a fair number of hats this winter.

IIRC you are a youngin' like me (I'm 23), and I too am a baldy. Been balding since I was 18 I reckon.

I used to wear hats (baseball caps and wool hats) all the time, but since I shaved off my long (but thinning rapidly) hair at the beginning of 2008 I cut my hair very short now, and just go about my business. It's funny how something that I used to absolute hate and made me lose all confidence has absolutely no affect on me now.
I'm openly bald at 23, and couldn't care less. 

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

I'm 27 and thinning, but not too bad yet.

[Bigjake]

http://www.stetsonhat.com/products_detail.php?id=299

I'm partial to this, depending on the weather.

During the really cold months, I go with the old standby watch cap.

[Harold Tuttle]

I have a Kakadu dark leather aussie bush hat for winter and a mesh South african bush hat for summer

heres a real winna:
http://realdealbrazil.com/

[Matthew Carberry]

I wear my fedoras (straw or fur felt depending on season) or flat caps with almost everything.

They can be a "fashion statement" depending on how you carry yourself and how you dress but in the end, grownups wear hats with brims that go all the way around.   

Keeps the sun off, keeps the rain off and gives you a place to stash your smokes if you need to ford a river.

For day-to-day wear there's no reason to wear a baseball cap, especially if you are dressed in anything casual like sweats or jeans, leave that for the kids.

[Myself]

+1 on Tilley.  I have a hat just like the one in the picture.  One of the few companies that make hats big enough for my head.  The light color is good for summer.  Winter I like a black greek fishermans cap.

[Ron]

+1 on Tilley.  I have a hat just like the one in the picture.  One of the few companies that make hats big enough for my head.  The light color is good for summer.  Winter I like a black greek fishermans cap.

Tilleys are warrantied for life if I recall correctly.

[Balog]

Fedoras are for pimps and time-traveling 1930's gangsters. Unless you're in a suit, a fedora is just trying too hard.

[thumbody]

I've received many compliments on the Air Flow Safari from Minnetonka I wear.

http://www.minnetonka-by-mail.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=240

Keeps the sun out of the eyes and the rain off the neck and the sunburn off the scalp!

[HForrest]

As others have mentioned, Tilley makes some great hats. Functional, high quality, long lasting. I've been very satisfied with my 'LT3' for many years.

[SADShooter]

I bought a Stetson Sunblocker in Fredburg TX a few years ago, similar to thumbody's Minnetonka. Heat index was 119+. Hat may have saved my life, and I don't care if my father thinks it looks funny. I also just acquired a Cabelas felt which I really like. Vaguely western, but doesn't flash cowboy.

[RevDisk]

As a balding man, I've found myself wearing a fair number of hats this winter.  Typically, I wear either a knitted nylon stretchy hat (Fairly inexpensive, commonly available in the winter months.)  If I'm going to be outside for a while, I'll wear a ushanka - with folded down the ear flaps.

With the warmer months approaching us, I am considering buying a hat for the spring/summer/fall.  I am looking for suggestions of styles and manufacturers.  While I think a fedora would look good, I'm not sure if it would look out of place in today's world.

Thoughts?

If I'm going out, I started wearing a flat cap, which I'm rather fond of.  For puttering around my place in the cold, it's the nylon stretchy beanie cap.  My ushanka is a bit big so I only wear it when I intend to be out for a really long time or it's near artic conditions outside.  I kept the Soviet emblem on the ushanka, that gets odd looks at times. 

Fedoras are good, but you have to have some fashion sense to match them with your outfits.  Let your wife do that part.