Bob's Blog Archive June 4th 2008 Welcome to my first blog. I guess that means I’m writing in cyberspace now. I don’t know if I should be capitalizing blog. Anyway, I do know about hats and gloves - in terms of who makes them, how they get to retailers, where and how they are sold, and who wears them. So, that’s what I’ll be blogging about. In particular I’d like to blog about who wears them, or in the big picture, who doesn’t. Why don’t more men wear hats these days? I see two distinct categories when it comes to hat wearers. Those who do, and those who don’t. There doesn’t seem to be an in-between. And unfortunately for us in the business, the latter is much bigger. I read Craig Wilson’s piece in the USA Today (June 4th Life Section) titled “Hats off to those who can wear one with style”. It is a funny piece and it tells the whole story… most people don’t know how to wear a hat. I’m not talking about ball caps. Every kid learns how to wear one at 5 years old when they get their first little league uniform. I’m talking about brimmed hats. In the article, the writer doesn’t think he looks good in hats, says it makes him look like a mushroom or a toadstool. Maybe he does, I don’t know. But, I suspect he doesn’t know how to wear one, or picked the wrong style for his face. I think to understand the non hat wearers, we need to look at the smaller category of hat wearers. Those folks look good. And, they never leave home without their hat. Probably they own several. People comment how good they look, they get noticed in a crowd, and ultimately the hat becomes part of their identity. And I’ll bet someone coached them on how to wear it. That’s where I see the problem. Putting on a hat is not like putting on a shirt. The hat needs to be romanced a bit. First you need the right brim size. My round face needs a smaller brim. A large brim and I get lost. I suspect Craig Wilson was wearing a brim too big for his face. Those guys with the long jaws, they can wear the big brims and look fantastic. It is a trial and error thing really. But I’m guessing if you find the right brim, find the right pinch in the crown, and find the right color you are on your way. The final straw is the right “tilt” and this is important. So many times we do photo shoots here and the good looking models put on a hat and everything is wrong. These models are obviously in the category of non hat wearers. They put the hat on the back of their head like they have never worn a hat before (probably right). Since we act as our own stylists, we have to take the character to the mirror, move the hat forward and give it the appropriate “tilt”. And then, voila…we have created a hat wearer. So, to end this long blog, you non hat wearers should go to a hat store or hat department where hat wearers work. Tell them to help you find the right hat for your face and personality. Then join the group of hat wearers and smile. You’ll look good. Thank you for reading my first blog!
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