How to Wear a Hat

Do you enjoy wearing a hat? Blog follower and lovely friend Joanne looks excellent in her hat and maxi dress.

Blog follower Charlene looks fabulous on her way to race day activities in her wide-brim hat.

A hat can make a fashion statement, keep you warm, keep you cool, and help you avoid skin cancer. 

Women often tell me that they don't know how or when to wear a hat. I learned a lot about wearing hats from my long-ago friend, "The Duchess." When I was in my mid-twenties, she lived across the street from me in a grand townhouse. She wore a hat every day. I snapped this photo on a hot summer day. She was wearing a white linen blouse and a black linen skirt with spectator pumps, and a straw hat with a black satin ribbon. She was about eighty years old here. She knew the world was her stage, and she dressed for her performance every day!

Here are the simple rules "The Duchess" shared with me so long ago. 

1. Never wear a hat on the back of your head like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. It should rest on your forehead so that you can look someone straight in the eye without having to tilt your head back.

2. A lady never removes her hat. (Hat head is not a pretty sight.) Only gentlemen should remove their hats indoors.

3. The brim of your hat should not be wider than your shoulders.

4. Do not wear a large hat to the theatre or any other event where it might block someone's view of an important event. (Manners first.)

5. The crown of your hat should be higher if you have a round face. Avoid styles such as cloches, which will make your face look more round. 

6. If you wear a hat in the evening, it should have a veil.

7. Keep the rest of your look relatively simple. A hat makes a statement on its own, so large earrings, glasses, and a necklace will be too much going on in the same place.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, women even wore hats to cocktail parties!

Try on hats in front of a full-length mirror to make sure the shape complements your face shape and that the fit and proportion are correct for your body. It should rest comfortably on your head, not on the tops of your ears. There should be about a 1/4 inch space above the top of your ear and the hat.

The color can be a different accent color, or it can blend with what you are wearing.

Wear straw or some other lightweight, breathable material in summer. Wear felt or wool in winter to keep you warm.

The fedora style I am wearing below is perfect for my round face because the crown is high, and the brim is smaller. I have owned many hats in my life, but I enjoy wearing the simple menswear-inspired ones most.

If I am outdoors for long periods, I always wear a hat. I have experienced skin cancer and hope never to have to go through that again.