All You Should Know About Hats.

'Fashion is a kind of communication. It's a language without words. A good hat speaks for itself.'

-Anonymous

Dear Readers,

One of the most frustrating aspects of my teenage years - apart from knowing that Billy Joel from Greenday would never marry me - was the fact that my head was always too big for hats. Whilst I could dwell extensively on my big-headed self, I refrain from doing so. Instead, I choose to focus on the charm and splendour of an accessory which can make or break an outfit: the hat.

If I had to choose my favourite type of accessory, then I'd definitely choose hats. As Martha Sliter correctly pointed out, a hat makes the difference between 'being dressed and being dressed up.' Apart from adding that extra flair to any outfit, hats are very practical too. Ever woke up with a bad hair day? Yes, obviously, we all do. What's better than a hat to hide a mane that has a mind of its own and refuses to cooperate even after the most amicable of negotiations? If that wasn't enough, hats also protect you from the elements: a good hat can block the scorching sun during Summer, and a cosy, fuzzy hat will keep your head warm during Winter. To sum it all up, you need a hat. Or rather, you need plenty of hats. It's a necessity, not a luxury.

Hats come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and while this diversity creates variety and richness, it also makes hat-hunting quite daunting, especially if you're shopping over the internet. This is why I believe we should all have basic knowledge of commonly used terms in millinery. Knowing some fancy hat words can also be useful when someone compliments your choice of hat: you can be a know-it-all and emphasize that you're wearing a fedora or a trilby and not simply a hat. 

Let's start by looking at the terms used to describe the different parts of a hat. First of all, there's the crown, which is the part of the hat that covers the top of your head. Some hats may not have a crown at all. When we say that a hat has a high crown, we are referring to the distance from the top to the bottom of the crown. If a hat has a wide/large crown, then it has a large circumference. A hat may have a projecting rim or edge all around it. This is known as the hat's brim. Some hats have a projecting edge at the front only, usually intended to shield us from the rain or the sun. That is called a visor or a peak. A puggaree / riband / hatband is a band of material attached to the bottom of the hat's crown, just above its brim. Hats might also have a sweatband on the inner circumference of the hat to protect the hat from sweat, dirt and other unsightly problems. 

As I already said, hats come in a variety of types. Knowing some basic hat types will make your life easier, trust me. You'll be able to know what to expect from that hat you ordered online and you'll also be better able to run a more efficient Google / Polyvore search to get ideas on how to style it. Since I'm a fashion nerd, I'm going to give you a basic outline of some common hat types, along with suggestions on how to style them.

First up is the beret, a hat which I tend to wear whenever I want to look French. Seriously, up to the age of 9, I believed that all French men and women wore berets. These hats have a flat crown and no brim. They're usually made of wool or felt, although acrylic fiber is frequently used nowadays too. Berets go well with artsy, French-inspired, or preppy looks. They add sophistication and class to anyone who wears them. 

Beret

Beanies are commonly mistaken for berets, and that annoys me immensely. Beanies are different from berets, in that they are firmer around your head. They're usually made from knit material and they're ideal to trap heat during Winter. Everyone should have a couple of beanies, women and men alike. I usually pop one on when it's incredibly cold. I also like wearing them when it's raining, to make sure my hair doesn't get soaked with rainwater. They go with practically everything thank God.

Beanie

Two of my favourite hat types are the boater and the bowler. The former is a hat with quite a low crown and  a small firm brim. Boaters are commonly made of straw, although they may be made out of felt as well. They usually have a riband all around their circumference. Boaters somehow remind me of sailors, so I like to use them for nautical styles. My absolute favourite way of wearing boaters is with a striped t-shirt and a pair of boat shoes or loafers. A similar hat to the boater is the Pork Pie - I thought it was called Porky lol - however, the latter normally has a lower crown. Many people use the two terms interchangeably nowadays though.

Boater

I'm dying to get a bowler hat. You know, one of those Charlie Chaplin oval hats with small, curved brims. Apparently, the Earl of Derby was a big fan of these hats, so much that they are also known as Derby hats. Bowler hats are the perfect vintage hat, ideal to spice up a plain outfit or to create a vintage-chic feel. Up until recently, black bowler hats were the only ones around. Now, there are plenty of pretty colours to choose from!

Bowler / Derby

Unfortunately, my hat collection is also missing a breton hat. The breton is a type of women's hat with a domed crown and a turned-up brim. The breton just screams sophistication, especially when paired with a stunning coat and a pair of girly gloves. Bliss!

Breton

The cloche is a hat that was so popular with women in the 1920s. Sadly for me, I can't really rock a cloche (*gets angry and stamps feet*), because it's incredibly close-fitting in the crown area. The cloche has no brim, but it may have a small flare at the hat's edge. My advice is to pair a cloche hat with a short dress-coat or a classic 1920s dress like a fringe dress. Life is a cabaret old chum, especially if you're strutting your stuff in a cloche hat.

Cloche

I believe that the most popular hat style is the fedora, which is also called trilby sometimes. This brimmed hat with a tapered, dented crown is an easily accessible hat that can be made from a million and one materials, from panama straw to felt. Fedoras are many people's go-to hats, simply because they're so versatile and practical. They're good to shield the sunlight from your face, or simply to give your outfit a more laid-back or dressed-up feel (paradox, anyone?). If you're a hat noob, the first hat you should definitively get is a fedora.

Fedora / Trilby

The comeback of the 70s in Fashion World has brought back floppy hats. Whereas many restrict their use of floppy hats simply for the beach, I'm a great pro-floppy-hats-for-non-beach-looks activist. Naturally, floppy hats look great with other 70s style pieces like flared trousers, however they also work well with a simple tee and skinny jeans. Good news for all floppy hat lovers is that the 70s trend is going to be big in Autumn and Winter too, yay! Forgot straw floppy hats during the Winter though! Get a felt one instead.

Floppy

Random fact before I move on to the Top Hat: I just bit all of my nails off. Back to the Top Hat now. These tall, cylindrical hats with a narrow brim are one of my guilty pleasures. I think it's time for me to actually buy one. The reason why I'm such a top hat lover is that they add that edgy, 'costumey' vibe to a boring look. Pair it with a bow-tie and you're bound to attract attention, I promise.

Top Hat

I hope this post was fruitful to at least some of you. Now you should understand me better when I rant about bowlers and boaters right? Oh, one final thing my dearest readers. I chose not to mention cowboy hats in my list above because I think they're hideous. Please get rid of them as soon as possible. The kinda give me nightmares :(

-B

Images via Google, ASOS.