Style Advice For Men - A Guide To Wearing Hats

Like neckties, hats are an oft overlooked relic of formalness from centuries past. Unlike neckties, though, hats weren't included in the standard workday uniform and are usually ignored altogether today. But now that virtually every guy on the street is stepping out in a suit and tie, wearing a hat means upping the style ante by just a little bit.

Just Like Everything Else
Men's fashion is all about quality, and hats are no exception. Premium hats are the only way to go, and you can expect to pay some big bucks for them. It's not the brand you're paying for, heck, you probably don't even know the big millinery brands, but the skill and craftsmanship that goes into each piece. Good hats go anywhere from $50 to $500.

And since you're shelling out that kind of money on a hat, you may as well go the whole nine yards and pay a visit to the nearest premium hat retailer. Department stores are okay for a first look, but you have to step inside at least one of those headpiece temples. With thousands of hats waiting in places like Optimo in Chicago and J.J. Hat Center in New York, it's the only place you'll need to call for a lid.

Complicated Choices
If matching a shirt to a tie was hard, choosing a hat is downright mind-boggling to the uninitiated. Finding a hat involves matching the lid to both the contours of your face and the color of your hair. Since neither are absolute or quantifiable, perfecting the art of hat-finding takes some searching in the stores and time in front of a mirror.

Generally, you're safest by matching the hat to the shape of your face. A small, tight porkpie, for example, will most probably work on an equally compact head. Larger guys will want something like a fedora, which is better proportioned for bigger builds. Walking hats, those affairs with a pinched brim, do wonders if you have the requisite sharp face and something of a beak nose.

Non-blocked hats, those that aren't molded to a block, and are therefore unstructured, are also safe choices for beginning hat connoisseurs like you. If you don't mind missing out on the sharper suaveness of a molded hat, then something like a newsboy's cap or a fisherman's hat is a good place to start.

Because it's not such a necessary item today, it's understandable if you're not exactly well-versed in the language of milliners. It's a good idea to go and ask an actual milliner for advice if you don't know what to do and about to lose your head. In fact, the other guy might just be able to put the right lid on it.