Skirt shapes and hat shapes

[Little lady]

I have started wondering if there are any rules about what hat and skirt shapes should be put together.
I myself am not currently wearing hats, and I have no idea what hat I would suit. But I am interested in exploring the subject of hat wearing, in case I'll learn it might be for me, and so came the question about how the shapes relate to each other.
Did the fashions, in for instance the 40's,50's, or eraly 60's (but feel free to use the thread to discuss any era you want), tell you that a certain skirt shape always belonged together with some particular hat shapes, and not with others?

I feel like I might have seen a picture showing this sometime, but I am unable to remember where, or if that is actually what it showed, and not just whatever hat and skirt combination came to mind to the people who made it. If anybody should know about such a chart or ilustration, I'd love a link.
Maybe the way to learn this is just to look through many pictures of outfits with both hats and skirts and see if there are any combinations that in particular seems to be repeated.

I would love your answers, opinions, thoughs, related things you are wondering about, or anything you want to add or discuss

 

[Louise Anne]

I do not know a lot about hat shapes but I would say a average Lady would buy a hat that would go with several things, in my view ladies back them would just replace things that wore out with new ones and not replace entire outfits or buy entire outfit at once.

 

[C-dot]

I never thought that hats and skirt styles should go together - I think it's more that the eras that should match. For example:

Pillbox hats look better with sheath dresses or straight skirt suits, because that look is very early 60s.

A 50s style hat, the kinds that sit on the back of the head, looks nicer with circle skirts because, again, that look is very 50s.

Large, ornate hats look nice with tailored, simple 40s fashions (there was a reason for this, too - Fabrics for clothing were rationed, but it didn't take much to make a lovely hat.)

And so on.

 

[Miss sofia]

Very well put C-dot.

Oh and berets go with pretty much everything!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hats should also be coordinated with your hairstyle -- a 20s cloche isn't going to work if you're wearing your hair in victory rolls.

 

[Katinka von K.]

Oh my, I love hats with birds on them

 

[Miss Sis]

There were, of course, many different styles of hat all concurrent with the fashions of the particular era, but I personally not only think of matching the era of hat to outfit (as it tends to look better than say a 40s suit with a 60s hat) , but also the style of hat to the outfit. So I would not, for example, wear a 'town' smart hat with a tweedy 'country' suit, as it would look all wrong to me.

I would also say that hats generally should balance the outfit/skirt line they are worn with. Smaller hats often work with slim-line dresses (1950s/60s) and wide picture hats with fuller skirts (1950s) for example. This can be broken, of course! I always look in a full length mirror to see if the hat goes well overall with an outfit. It is surprising how often I reject one that I thought would look perfect for another!

 

[Little lady]

Great posts!

I really think I agree with everyone.

I did not mean to imply that every lady would buy one hat for each outfit. I meant that maybe she had just a few, where they all fit with many things, but where each also did not fit with everything. Just like never mixing some colours or patterns. I think maybe this is what Miss Sis is talking about in the last part of her post. I guess the skill to judge the overal look of the hat and the rest of the outfit might be practice, not only guidlines to follow?

I like outfits where the eras match. For me that probably doesn't happen so much (it would have been nice, but that might not be a realistic goal for me), so it would not work to only considder the timeperiod. The ladies that lived in one of the eras might think about what was in fashion at the moment, or if an old or inherited item could fit with a new trend. Perhaps not everyone thought about fashion, and just knew like some seem to do with shoes, what should be together or not. But maybe the rules for that changes with fashion?

I'm not sure I could tell a town smart hat from a hat that would go with tweedy country suit, I'm just not that familliar with hats. I am not good with shoes either, but I can tell that my flat and old walking shoes look odd with nice skirts.

 

[sheeplady]

I coordinate my hats with my coats and the season (since the coat is dictated by the season too). I try to pick up colors in the coat- for instance I am wearing a brown, rust, dark green, and beige checked coat this time of year, and I have a brown velvet hat that I wear with that. I also consider the season. It is quite windy here and large hats would not stay on my head this time of year, even if pinned down in 4 or 5 places. I try to make sure my gloves go with the hat. Most of my hats, however, come off when I arrive at work, so it doesn't really matter what I have on underneath.

In the summer, I tend to wear larger hats (most of my straw hats seem larger) in part because they seem more summery and also because they are less likely to blow off my head. They also protect me from the sun. If I'm wearing a hat in the summer, I try to match the colors in my outfit, or at least go with my black straw hat if the colors are darkish and my cream hat if they are lightish.

I say that if you like it, wear it.

 

[TheSwingingBee]

Oh my, I love hats with birds on them

Hats with birds on them always remind me of Neville Longbottom's Grandmother in Harry Potter.

 

[Little lady]

I say that if you like it, wear it.

I definitely like that way of putting it! I guess this thread stems from me being very unsure of how to wear hats, or how to wear them well, so looking for rules to follow, seemed like a good next step to get more confortable. I like how there have been suggested so many different ways to think about what fits together.

I think I half way remember a sentence from or said to Dita von Teese, or printed in her book about burlesque and fetish, that so few knows how to wear a hat anymore. I know I wondered what that meant, what things are part of "knowing" how to wear a hat. Are there more, like how to hold your head or move or anything (how to carry it might be a batter way to say that)? I feel like that sentence could contain so much.

I do also agree about the comment that TheSwingBee made, I have the same thoughts about hats with birds on, I'm sure lots of HP readers do