How NOT to wear a hat!

[Feraud]

Matt Deckard's thread regarding Last Man Standing showed how well a hat can be worn, and in particular(IMHO) by Bruce Willis.
Last Man Standing

Unfortunately, even 'good' hat wearers go bad sometimes.
Can anyone tell me what is going on here?

Isn't this from a film where he is supposed to be playing some sort of tough guy in hiding? I could see why he is hiding with that hat but he does not come off as very tough!
Is is me or is his hat way too low on his head? I have seen him in a couple of interviews with this look. He looks too 'clownish' to be taken seriously. I feel the need to just..lift his hat a bit when I see it.
Has anyone noticed the younger crowd wearing their baseball caps much too low over their foreheads resting on top of their eyebrows? Is the 'slapstick' look in?
If so, I've got some big red shoes for sale!

 

[Zach R.]

Well, the movie is a comedy.

 

[jamespowers]

Man, that is one ugly Milan as well. The ribbon isn't even straight. PU!

 

[Luisiana Jones]

Its just a strategy to hide his baldness, it was an extreme decision, he had to decide between grandama´s gardening hat or to show his baldness so...

 

[Feraud]

Its just a strategy to hide his baldness, it was an extreme decision, he had to decide between grandama´s gardening hat or to show his baldness so...

In this day and age, how could anyone be self conscious of being bald? We are so tolerant of everything so why have we not yet added this to the list?

 

[Luisiana Jones]

Hey what do i know, im just trying to explain the non explainable, like that hat...

 

[jamespowers]

Its just a strategy to hide his baldness, it was an extreme decision, he had to decide between grandama´s gardening hat or to show his baldness so...

I think I prefer baldness.

 

[Canadave]

I think he was going for a comedic look.

David

 

[wackyvorlon]

More than anything, it looks the hat is simply too large for his head. This would cause it to sit so low.

 

[Canadave]

If I could ever get a hat too big, I might wear it like that too!

David

 

[jamespowers]

If I could ever get a hat too big,

Yeah, like that is ever going to happen for you or me.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I can't imagine why Bruce would be hiding his baldness when, in other films, he has flaunted it. Bruce is cool -- and he looks cool bald, as do lots of guys (and very few gals).

It could be he needed to look dorky for that film, as it was a comedy.

Also, regarding the idea of hats having to be a certain amount of space above the ears: years ago, I had a hat made for me by a hatmaker who insisted that the hat had to sit an inch above my ears. That is the way they made it for me. The hat, when I got it, perched precariously on my head, and would fall off at the flick of a finger. If I jammed it down on my head so it stayed on, I would get a headache. That hat was too small.

Some years later, I figured out what went wrong with the estimations the hat-maker made:

Ears are supposed to be symmetrical to your head:you should be able to draw a straight line from your eyebrows to the top of you ears, and draw another straight line from your mouth to the bottom of your ears. Those are where most "normal" ears set on the human head. If I draw line from my own eyebrows and mouth to my ears, I find that my ears set about 1/3 inch above my eyebrows and 1/3 inch above my mouth -- in other words, my ears are set a bit higher on my head than usual. This means any hat I wear that really fits is going to be lower on my head and closer to the top of my ears. If I go by the standard, the hat will not fit my particular head.

The hat that was made for me years ago was given away to a friend with a smaller head than mine. The hat was just too small and I did not appreciate the headaches it gave me.

A standard does not fit for everyone. I have a number of hats that are slightly over-large, and that is OK. It is too small that is the problem...

karol

 

[Feraud]

Good points made. However, I have seen Willis do interviews where he is wearing a too big hat. Maybe it was publicity for the film?
I would think a guy with his money and recognition could get a hat that fits!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Yes, I agree -- if I had the buck, I would seek out the best hatmakers I could find and have fedoras and cowboy hats made that were just the perfect size and colors and styles for me. And some for all my friends, too.

Oh, dream on, Karol.

 

[Feraud]

Yes, I agree -- if I had the buck, I would seek out the best hatmakers I could find and have fedoras and cowboy hats made that were just the perfect size and colors and styles for me. And some for all my friends, too.

Oh, dream on, Karol.

You are talking my language!

 

[Renderking Fisk]

I'm at a loss to understand why somone would wear a hat like this.

I'm also at a loss trying to understand why fedora's aren't more popular.

 

[Feraud]

Maybe he is trying to make a statement?
But for the life of me I cannot think of complimentary one you could make wearing a hat so low like that!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Well, if it was in a movie, it was worn that way to make a statement about the character he played. If he was a tough guy in hiding, as was pointed out earlier in the thread, the hat was a bit of a disguise: he looks like a doofus, about as tough as early Jerry Lewis.

If he, Bruce, wears the thing out in public, then we have a real issue.....

karol

 

[Michael Mallory]

I never saw "Last Man Standing" (neither did many other people), but I did see the hats. They were made by Mark Meija of Baron California Hats. I was in the shop a year or two ago and he invited me into the back where he was putting the finishing touches on about a half-dozen of them. There's a strange thing that happens when some leading men play roles that are not, strictly speaking, leading men parts. They try to prove they are character actors by altering their appearance to the point of making fun of their appearance. Sometimes it works (Tom Cruise's phony grey hair in "Collateral") and sometimes you end up with an aging action hero trying to do comedy while looking like he's wearing a flower pot on his head. On the other hand, I have seen photos of Willis wearing these hats out and about in Hollywood, so he must like them.