Reactions when you first start wearing brimmed hats.

[Historyteach24]

As most of you guys know I am relatively new to wearing brimmed hats. I must say that the reactions I have been getting have been a mixed bag. I am not saying this is going to cause me to stop wearing them it just kind of makes you feel like a sideshow when people stare at you for endless minutes . I was just wondering how long it took most of you to get over the added attention these hats bring. I must say I love the "nice hat" comments but I have also had my fair share of long stares and giggles. Maybe I just look funny. Anyways discuss away!

 

[danofarlington]

As most of you guys know I am relatively new to wearing brimmed hats. I must say that the reactions I have been getting have been a mixed bag. I am not saying this is going to cause me to stop wearing them it just kind of makes you feel like a sideshow when people stare at you for endless minutes . I was just wondering how long it took most of you to get over the added attention these hats bring. I must say I love the "nice hat" comments but I have also had my fair share of long stares and giggles. Maybe I just look funny. Anyways discuss away!

Personally, I was aware of a lot of extra attention, but couldn't tell whether positive or negative. Eventually I interpreted it as mostly positive. In my opinion there will be a bias regarding the reactions one perceives wearing a hat as follows: People who think your hat looks stupid are not likely to gaze at it for very long. They will look away either so as not to let you mistake their look for approval, or to save you from futher embarrassment. On the other hand if they either like the hat, or are not sure, they will look for a noticeable amount of time because they are either admiring it, or sizing you up to see how well the hat works. In this I am just exprapolating from my own reactions. I don't look at people in dumb-looking hats, to avoid giving the perpetrator false encouragement, but when I see a decent one or a good one, I look at it longer. When I get long looks it can be either from men or women, and the correct interpretation of the look almost surely is, "I'm looking hard to see how well that works; whether I like the hat; or like it on you; or trying to see if me/my husband/my boyfriend would look good in that too."

 

[Bourne ID]

Mixed reaction from folks easily split into two categories, those with class and those without!
The trailer trash will stare and laugh and the rest will admire it. Either way...any "press" is good press!!
Besides...what will someone assume about you when they see your hat! We do judge a book by it's cover, that's why there's cover art. The attention you get when your well dressed with a sharp hat is certianly going to be different than if your boxers are showing and your ball cap is sideways!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

I get way more "love the hat" comments than laughs. It's the out of the ordinary that causes the reaction. It is normal today to see someone wear a ball cap where the wearing of a Fedora is out of the normal. Thou if you look at the pictures from the past at:http://www.shorpy.com/ Fedora's where the normal and a ball cap would have been out of the norm.
It requires you to realise this when wearing a hat that people will be noticing you. As time goes by it get's easier to deal with.

 

[monbla256]

As most of you guys know I am relatively new to wearing brimmed hats. I must say that the reactions I have been getting have been a mixed bag. I am not saying this is going to cause me to stop wearing them it just kind of makes you feel like a sideshow when people stare at you for endless minutes . I was just wondering how long it took most of you to get over the added attention these hats bring. I must say I love the "nice hat" comments but I have also had my fair share of long stares and giggles. Maybe I just look funny. Anyways discuss away!

WHY DO YOU CARE ? It's YOUR head, YOUR body why does it matter what others think? Been wearing hats for over 50 years now and hardly ever notice folks noticing me or making comments ( but then I'm usually focused on where I'm going and what I have to do when there to pay attention to others, besides I DON'T CARE what they say or think) Just put the hat on your head, head out the door and enjoy being YOU, not what someone says YOU should be.

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Historyteach24]

WHY DO YOU CARE ? It's YOUR head, YOUR body why does it matter what others think? Been wearing hats for over 50 years now and hardly ever notice folks noticing me or making comments ( but then I'm usually focused on where I'm going and what I have to do when there to pay attention to others, besides I DON'T CARE what they say or think) Just put the hat on your head, head out the door and enjoy being YOU, not what someone says YOU should be.

Onward thru the Fog

I like your comment, as I said I am not letting these people discourage me from wearing my hats it is just a new experience for me because of the added attention. I love the choice I made to start wearing my fedoras with my suits and dress shirts just didn't expect so much added attention lol

 

[DRB]

I agree with everyone above. Personally, I have never heard any negative comments or any giggles. The only time I get long stares is when someone is trying to figure out if they like the hat on me or not, as Dano. said.

What style hat are you wearing? Do you look natural in a crowd? I try to have my hats built so that they are top quality but not too flashy.

I have noticed that women smile at me more when they see me and my hat. I also sense that I receive more respect. If two people walk into a store with someone wearing an appropriate hat, the salesperson almost always approaches the one with the appropriate hat. That has been my experience. There is no doubt in my mind that they are thinking that they like it.

 

[Rodkins]

I get more attention and I usually like it. One side benefit I've noticed is that I think more about what I am going to wear when I get dressed (moreso on the weekends than work days - I've always had a work dress requirement) and I tend to not go for tennis shoes and dingy jeans as often - I find myself wearing nicer clothes more often because of the hat. Not that you need to wear nice clothes to wear one - I just tend to choose nicer clothes.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I really haven't gotten many reactions at all. The occasional "Like your hat," sure, but most people seem to have no reaction. Of course, I live in a town that celebrates nuttiness, and even has ten institutionalized days of it in late winter, known as Mardi Gras. (And "institutionalized" is putting it mildly.)

Once, I did get a grin from a lady as, dressed in jeans, boots, corduroy shirt, and silverbelly Resistol, we crossed paths in a parking lot. The grin seemed to say, "Now that looks right!" or "Gee, I wish I still lived in Texas. . . ."

Like Rodkins, I find myself either dressing a bit better on weekends, or wearing one of my Open Road clones to go with the jeans and denim shirt.

 

[danofarlington]

I get more attention and I usually like it. One side benefit I've noticed is that I think more about what I am going to wear when I get dressed (moreso on the weekends than work days - I've always had a work dress requirement) and I tend to not go for tennis shoes and dingy jeans as often - I find myself wearing nicer clothes more often because of the hat. Not that you need to wear nice clothes to wear one - I just tend to choose nicer clothes.

I have also noticed that interaction between hats and clothes. A few of my dress hats positively won't go with casual clothes, and a few of my casual hats, like a dirty and stiff old OR, positively won't dress up. In any case, hats and better clothes seem to go together.

 

[Neophyte]

It's odd over here in East Tennessee. My fedoras get some looks and quite a few jeers (mostly someone humming the Indy theme), though I do quite a few compliments as well. To my western hats, however, nobody gives a second thought or look. I just fit in with the western, apparently [huh].

 

[brspiritus]

When I was in a training class last October I wore my white Trilby daily. The reacon from the African-Americans in the class was all positive, even had a couple of the girls say they were going to steal it from me cuz they liked it so much. From the other white guys in the class they snubbed me and said it was an affectation. Anything more than a baseball cap is overdressing the part for them.

 

[danofarlington]

When I was in a training class last October I wore my white Trilby daily. The reacon from the African-Americans in the class was all positive, even had a couple of the girls say they were going to steal it from me cuz they liked it so much. From the other white guys in the class they snubbed me and said it was an affectation. Anything more than a baseball cap is overdressing the part for them.

Right. My experience is like yours. I know for a fact that my fellow white guys in Minnesota, during my first 25 years up to the 70s, would often try to squelch any deviation from a few accepted norms, and thus discourage them. I read on TFL that that same thing happens in parts of the U.K. I am sure that scenario is replayed in other locations. I get opposite reactions from the many African Americans (and Hispanics, by the way), here in the Washington area. So you have this white guy-conservative reaction to anything deviating from a few norms. Everyone gets used to it. My point is that for people who are not white, this anecdote may help to explain why white guy fashions are what they are. I do not believe this sort of behavior is realized outside of our large white-guy group.

 

[hatophile]

I have been wearing hats now daily for almost 6-7 years. To date, have not gotten a laugh or snide comment, not even an "indy"... I did get called a cowboy by a little fellow when wearing an OR clone once (but it was styled as a fedora).

On the other hand, I have gotten quite a few compliments, some from males, but more from females of all ages. I am actually surprised at the compliments from younger ladies, given the fact that most of them probably aren't used to seeing men in hats on a regular basis.

On the whole, I don't really care what others think, because I like wearing them, but it is nice to get some positive feedback periodically.

 

[Sam Craig]

Yeah,
I was walking down the street when a car drove by and a guy stuck his head out and hollared ... Where's your horse?
I was wearing a brand new fur felt Beaver Brand cowboy hat
"I don't know, but I am surprised his rear end has learned to speak," I hollared back.
That was in 1969.
I haven't stopped wearing hats for any great length of time since then and other than a sad period when I insisted on wearing a derby with bright red ski sunglasses on my college campus in the mid-70s, I really don't remember any comments that were not positive.
Most people love hats, even if they don't understand them ... at least in this part of the world
BTW ... the comments on campus involved Elton John and they were certainly deserved ... though I didn't feel they were negative at the time.

Sam

 

[Historyteach24]

I love all the responses! To answer one post I usually wear my basic grey fedora with my suits. The reason i started this post was because this past weekend I was waiting to be seated at a local restaurant and this jerk host kept looking and me and laughing with his co-workers. Maybe I was taking it too seriously but I was offended. On the other hand every reaction I have had from the fairer sex has been very positive. My wife absolutely loves it when I throw my new fedoras on.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

The wife compared my negatively with our company's bigger nerd. My parents said that my black Beaver Brand hat with black leather jacket makes me look a little bit evil. Nobody else says much.

Later

 

[danofarlington]

I love all the responses! To answer one post I usually wear my basic grey fedora with my suits. The reason i started this post was because this past weekend I was waiting to be seated at the local Olive Garden and this jerk host kept looking and me and laughing with his co-workers. Maybe I was taking it too seriously but I was offended. On the other hand every reaction I have had from the fairer sex has been very positive. My wife absolutely loves it when I throw my new fedoras on.

Gee, I wonder if any executives from Olive Garden read TFL! That's probably too much to ask, though.

 

[Alan-Eby]

I think with a proper (and often more than proper) amount of confidence one can wear just about anything. I'm known as the eccentric one in my group as it is, so there wasn't much reaction to the addition of hats, other than a few of my friends have started to, tenativley, wear hats.

 

[Historyteach24]

Gee, I wonder if any executives from Olive Garden read TFL! That's probably too much to ask, though.

That would be funny! It is not like the guy pointed and laughed but I felt it was obvious I was being teased ya know the feeling?