Color coordinating a hat

[EdinLA44]

I'm a bit *fashion challenged* and this site has been a real help. So far, I've got a grey Stetson Chatham. I want to get a Montecristi straw hat for the summer months and I'm also considering getting a brown hat soon, but I don't want to wear it with the wrong color. Most of my everyday clothes are either jeans, khakis, or black or navy and maybe olive green dress pants. Would color hat would go with navy clothes? What color hat would go with olive green? I would think the grey hat would go with just about anything. Maybe a better question is what would you not wear a brown or grey hat with?

 

[Shademaker]

For me, brown goes good with other earth tones like khaki or green tones. Grey is good with blues or even something dark as navy blue. Both colors work with jeans if the hat style works with them. Try some combos and see for yourself what you think.

 

[shoeshineboy]

wouldn't your outwear dictate what you might wear ? Sometimes i might have on a brown bomber...sometimes a black one...or a different over coat...

Since I take my hat off once inside...

Now I see the point about wearing it with a suit, when weather permitting. But I usually don't wear a suit on my job. Just a dress shirt and good slacks.

Please post some rules and ideas, I'm interested on this one.

Thanks,

Mark the shoeshine boy

 

[EdinLA44]

Living in Los Angeles, I only wear a jacket a few months out of the year, so most of the time I'm just wearing dress slacks and a shirt to work.

 

[Pilgrim]

I'm with Shademaker. Brown goes with earth tones, grey with black, grey and navy - and probably also with other blues.

Generally, I figure that if I'm wearing black shoes it's probably a grey hat day, and if I'm wearing brown shoes, a brown hat day. If I'm wearing my khaki trenchcoat, then I have to ponder it a bit longer....and usually go brown.

But it doesn't rain a lot more here in Colorado than it does in L.A., so that's seldom.

 

[adamgottschalk]

I'm a bit *fashion challenged* and this site has been a real help. So far, I've got a grey Stetson Chatham. I want to get a Montecristi straw hat for the summer months and I'm also considering getting a brown hat soon, but I don't want to wear it with the wrong color. Most of my everyday clothes are either jeans, khakis, or black or navy and maybe olive green dress pants. Would color hat would go with navy clothes? What color hat would go with olive green? I would think the grey hat would go with just about anything. Maybe a better question is what would you not wear a brown or grey hat with?

Gray, while being "suitable" for a variety of color schemes, tends to be the "blandest" choice in my book.

I find my vintage navy Beaver Brand center crease goes well with a wide variety of outfits. I find navy to be almost as versatile as gray. Then, of course, one must consider what kind of gray. My one gray hat is a deep charcoal, not a light gray. Feels more like a black hat to me.

I find black is the least versatile. But gray and black can go well with green clothes (I don't really enjoy black and blue, except when tastefully and pointedly done). There is also a good variety of shades of green when it comes to green hats. Many of the more "drab" shades coordinate well with lots of outfits.

Brown is pretty specific to my eyes. I'd only wear my dark-brown Borsalino with brown attire. I would not wear a brown hat with black attire. It could work with blue attire, but probably not so well. Brown and green would work.

Blues and greens together have to be matched just right.

A light gray goes with about anything, but, again, is the least "purposeful" of hat-color choices.

 

[gekisai29]

i think a different rule of thumb is to have your hat color go with your shoe color. i.e. if a brown shoe works than abrown hat should also

 

[geo]

There are two ways to approach color matching: color harmony and color contrast. Color harmony means that you pair browns with browns, greys with greys and black, navy with black, etc. Color contrast means that you pair browns with greys, browns with navy, etc.

So if you're for color harmony, you wear grey or black hats with grey or navy suits and black shoes; if you're for color contrast, you wear a brown hat with grey or navy suits and brown shoes. You can also wear a black or grey hat with brown shoes. I think that color harmony tends to be more boring than contrast.

The bottom line is that grey, navy, black and brown are colors that go well together, no matter how you match them.

 

[binkmeisterRick]

There was an old Stetson ad from the 30's I recently saw which advertised the color "gun metal" as the new color to wear with anything, be it blues, blacks, or browns. It even mentioned it was good for formal wear. I think as color trends come and go it sometimes effects our perceptions of what the trends of the past were. If you want to dress true vintage, try to scout out some color pics of yesteryear (or watch some grand old color movies) and see what they were doing then.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Whenever I see color photos from the 40's or even old ads from that time it doesn't seem like they were too hung up on that. Like in Vertigo doesn't Jimmy Stewart wear the same brown fedora with everything?

 

[RedPop4]

I aim to match my shoes/belt and hat. So I've been wearing brown belt and shoes a great deal, lately, since I have four brown hats and only a black hat for balance. I'm rather new to this, and haven't been able to acquire a grey, just yet.

I DID just get an Indiana Jones at Disney MGM Studios last week, got two for my boys, too. So, I've been wearing my browns and one tan for the last couple of weeks.

 

[Canadave]

what about outerwear?

Would you wear a brown fedora with a black overcoat?

David

 

[adamgottschalk]

No

Would you wear a brown fedora with a black overcoat?

David

I wouldn't. I'm sure that's just me.

 

[maintcoder]

I'm with you, Adam...

I wouldn't. I'm sure that's just me.

I think you could, but I wouldn't either.

 

[epic610]

Who would have thought...

that my black homburg goes extremely well with my camel overcoat . . . and light grey ...very light grey, almost silver belly ....goes well with black overcoat?

 

[adamgottschalk]

that my black homburg goes extremely well with my camel overcoat . . . and light grey ...very light grey, almost silver belly ....goes well with black overcoat?

I would have thought so. A black hat with a light-brown coat is a sharp look. And a light gray hat with a black overcoat is smashing. Trying to picture a brown hat, though, with a black coat just doesn't conjure up the best pics in my head... Then again, a light brown hat might work well. I don't have a black coat, but if I did, I wouldn't wear my dark-brown Borsalino with it. Were I to get a light-brown/camel hat, I might find myself tempted.

 

[shoeshineboy]

i understand how to color co-ordinate things....but when wearing a winter coat or jacket i could see wearing a matching or co=ordinating hat with that...

example: 40 to 50 degree day...leather bomber jacket with black slacks and shoes:

A) dark brown
B) light brown
c) light sage green
d) lt grey
e) dark grey
f) black
g) pecan

personally i think the first three and the last one myself would go just fine.

i think the belt-shoes and hat theory is a good rule of thumb. Unless you wear cordavan shoes....

if you had a traditional blue blazer with med to lt grey slacks..wouldn't a grey hat look sharp ?

if they were tan to lt beige slacks wouldn't a lt brown, pecan, lt green look good ?

i am really learning something here from you guys...thanks


mark the shoeshine boy