Hat Colors (Blue vs. Grey vs. Brown)

[Brent Hutto]

I sometimes don't choose according to the "conventional wisdom" about clothing colors but I do want to at least know what is the "convention" before I decided to ignore it. :eusa_doh:

My best hat is a taupe color that mostly plays as brown. I find it works great with brown or tan or white clothing and it also works really well with various shades of grey.

My other hat is steel grey which means it has a definite bluish cast. Not a straight grey by any means. So it's also pretty flexible and works with my usual greys and browns or white or a red shirt or most anything. Also of course works with blues.

Here's my question. I would have thought the taupe/brown was the most flexible shade. Isn't blue considered the most limiting color for a hat? Is that just navy blue or all blue shades?

I'd have thought the brown hat with a blue (or partly blue) shirt would work OK and conversely I'd have thought the steel grey hat would not work well with brown. I think it's the opposite, though.

The taupe hat with a distinctly blue shirt that's one of my favorites is just a no-go. Is that expected according to the "conventional wisdom"?

And the bluish-grey hat looks awesome IMO with a medium brown shirt that's another favorite. So does a blue hat go with brown clothes better than a blue hat with brown clothing? I'm confused now...

EDIT Should be "So does a blue hat go with brown clothes better than a brown hat with blue clothing?"

 

[zetwal]

So does a blue hat go with brown clothes better than a blue hat with brown clothing? I'm confused now...

Me too ...

 

[scottyrocks]

Generally, I keep earth tones together, and grays and blacks together. I don't do blues.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Sorry about that zetwal. Just goes to show you shouldn't post when you're in a hurry to go...you know.

 

[T Rick]

Seems pretty obvious he meant to say

So does a blue hat go with brown clothes better than a brown hat with blue clothing? I'm confused now...

Or, perhaps the other way around. Same/same. I think more must be included though. The color of the hat's ribbon would come into play, as well as the shade of the hat, clothes and any additional colors in the clothing. Bottom line to me is what works, works. I sometimes don't know until I look in the mirror or at least lay the hat over the clothing to see how they look together. But I think the OP is looking specifically for "standards" (if there are any) to apply and/or ignore.

 

[alanfgag]

Agree with Zetwal.

Seriously, post some pictures when you have the time. It would help. A thousand words isn't enough when talking about color.

 

[Brent Hutto]

T Rick probably nails the most important point. My reaction is mostly to certain hats with certain clothes, I guess. For instance yesterday I wore this absolutely favorite shirt, it's a small sort of windowpane check (or whatever you call it) with roughly equal amounts of white and a very intense blue. Maybe one notch darker than a cornflower blue. And it just basically sucks with my taupe Borsalino. So maybe the brown hat-n-shoes with blue clothing thing presumes more of a navy/midnight/saturated shade of blue.

scottyrocks,

For the last year or two I've been trying to get more earth tones into my everyday wear and winnow out the blues. But it's just too hard to find things I like with darker browns rather than tans (which are not great on me, typically). So I'm about to give in and let the blues back into my closet...

 

[Brent Hutto]

Agree with Zetwal.

Seriously, post some pictures when you have the time. It would help. A thousand words isn't enough when talking about color.

I'll try to round up a photo of that taupe/brown hat with something I think it works well with vs. something it does not. Here's the hat and the shirt I was describing in separate pictures but they are cell-phone snaps with poor color reproduction. But in the mean while try to imagine the hat in the top picture with the shirt in the bottom one.

 

[monbla256]

I sometimes don't choose according to the "conventional wisdom" about clothing colors but I do want to at least know what is the "convention" before I decided to ignore it. :eusa_doh:

You seem to have an idea as to color so I would have to say that go by what your eye tells you as to what "feels" correct. Experiment and try different combos and you will arrive at the "correct" combo.

 

[scottyrocks]

I have worn my fawn colored hat with a black suit, and I thought it looked good, but I'd rather go with a gray hat. It really does depend on exact shades of color, for sure.

 

[gtdean48]

Get lots of hats in lots of colors & cover all wardrobe combinations...that is my story & I'm sticking to it...

 

[Justin B]

Get lots of hats in lots of colors & cover all wardrobe combinations...that is my story & I'm sticking to it...

+1 This is my theory as well.

 

[Brent Hutto]

And I'm guessing it just wouldn't be prudent to have only a single hat in any given color. I mean, what if your only Dove Gray fedora were off being cleaned on the day you want to wear the suit it goes with?

I asked some of my coworkers with kids about the trend of young people wearing sneakers with, say, Lime Green or Hot Pink highlights along with a shirt in the same color. I wanted to know if they have multiple Lime Green shirts to go with their one pair of sneakers. The answer, apparently, is yes they have several Lime Green shirts to go with the green sneakers. And several Hot Pink shirts to go with the pink shoes. And several Orange shirts, etc. etc. Buy early and often!

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

More is always better.

 

[alanfgag]

Up to a point.

 

[VetPsychWars]

As I ponder my next color to purchase, likely a Borsalino Allessandria in taupe, this has been something I've been thinking a lot about.

If you look at old hat ads, you can see that they pair hat colors with suit colors pretty much as they like, including green hats with lighter blue-grey suits, and so forth. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that a color in your tie that wouldn't clash with your suit is acceptable also as a color of hat. In the words of Stacy London (rawr), "it doesn't have to match, it has to go."

So my thoughts are more, "how many things do I wear this color would go with" rather than "how many things do I wear that this matches?" It's the same sort of thinking that shows that the [Stetson] silver belly color goes with nearly anything.

Just for argument's sake, I have hats that I wear, now, in silver belly (Stetson), bluegrass green (Akubra), and navy blue (Borsalino). I have a vintage light grey Borsalino Allessandria that is a decent hat, but the light grey doesn't really go with much except basic black. I'm likely to get the steel grey Allessandria from Bencrat instead. Some day I might get a black one; I have a black Biltmore that I don't especially like, but I would like to think that I am covered for most colors of outerwear I own with what I have now.

But, I guess my point, after all of this long-windedness, is that your hat color is appropriate with a lot more colors of clothing than you might think.

Tom

 

[Corky]

Wear whatever hat you please with whatever outfit suits your fancy.

Clothing can be read a set of signals or a visual language which expresses WHO you are, as well as occasionally signifying WHAT your social status is and WHERE you might be or have been located.

You can use those signals to your advantage if you want.

But I think it's seldom worth the effort.

Be comfortable in your own skin and whatever hat you choose to wear on your skull is the "correct" choice.

 

[DJH]

Wear whatever hat you please with whatever outfit suits your fancy.

That's exactly what I do.

Then again, I have zero dress sense and don't care in the slightest what others think.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I'll tell you what. I've just spent a few minutes trying on various shirts with my hats and I'm thiiiiis close to declaring that my taupe/brown hat works with everything except for a couple of shades of blue. That one sort of cornflower blue I mentioned is not a good match and it's not best with my one almost indigo blue dress jacket. But other blues are fine, purple is fine, pinksih purple. For goodness sake even my one ink-black Oxford shirt works as well with the taupe hat as with my steel gray one.

Maybe it's my new taupe-tortoise plastic eyeglass frames or maybe it's just that I have brown taste but I've almost dissuaded myself from believing I need a blue or gray hat at all. Tragic!