hats i'd wear if my hair didn't get in the way
the faults of having a fro
Hats are an oftentimes overlooked accessory, outside of practical uses. They have the power to literally top off a look and add a level of nuance that brings it beyond. The trusty baseball cap, for example, can help make a dressier look feel less stuffy or a vintage look feel less costume-y. Invaluable stuff! 9 times out of 10, my personal reasoning for not wearing hats more often is the fact that my hair just doesn’t allow for it. Besides the few months in a year when my hair is in braids, I wear bigger hairstyles such as fros or puffs that I wouldn’t dare cover with a cap.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t save various hats that catch my eye on Pinterest, secondhand shopping apps, and from brands I like. I’ve spent too much time staring longingly at hat-clad folks both outside and online to not develop preferences of styles. I will detail some of those below, along with my points of inspiration for each. Enjoy!
winter hats
Starting off with the hats everyone will be wearing very soon, the winter hat. During colder months, I wear earmuffs to keep my ears warm and hair in place but there are a few styles of winter hats I am partial to. One is the fisherman’s beanie which can be a bit of a bad omen when worn by certain people but I can’t help but love it. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is an obvious point of inspiration for my love of these, specifically the one Willem Dafoe’s character wears with the little pom pom on top. Toast UK has a version of these in red and an amazing green color. Another movie that helped grow my love of the little perched beanie is The Deer Hunter, which features a lot of good costuming in its first half.
Moving on to hats that can actually keep you warm, I love a hat with some good earflaps. In the movie The Science of Sleep, Gael García Bernal wears a traditional Andean “chullo” hat whose bright colors and unique shape almost mirror the personality of the character he plays. This led me to look at some other intarsia knit hats with earflaps and I found this lovely green one that was made in Nepal.
sailor hats
I absolutely adore sailor hats and will probably end up buying one and just making things work. You can find a lot of the classic “dixie cup” style hats like the white one at the bottom left on eBay and in vintage stores. Keep in mind that they are often a bit tiny and don’t offer the super oversized look that you may desire.
Vaquera and Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY are two brands that have truly made the style their own. Vaquera played up the drama at their spring 2023 show with long tails that tilt the hat to the side, while this LOVERBOY hat is constructed from sequin covered denim.
Other brands offer their renditions of the hat as well, including Cawley Studio and Local Woman Co. All lovingly made to order, the Cawley studios hats are offered in a gorgeous indigo sashiko stitch and grey and ecru stripe, and the Local Woman hat comes in this playful circus stripe, alongside others.
caps
Finally, we have the classic baseball cap, but with a twist. A cap that I’ve had my eyes on for a while is this Girl Scouts one. Maybe it’s stolen valor but I love the shade of green and the script across the bill. If you are also into boy and girl scouts memorabilia, these are super easy to find online for cheap.
Next are these three candy-colored Courreges caps in their hallmark vinyl leather. A Courreges vinyl jacket is a true grail piece of mine but seeing as my acquisition of one would probably be very far in the future, these are the nest best thing.
The wildcard here is the vintage creamsicle coral cycling cap by French sportswear brand Le Coq Sportif. I was already keeping tabs on a few vintage items from the brand after seeing it worn by Yannick Noah in 80’s tennis highlights, and came across this little hat during my search. Definitely a more quirky style with the mini bill, I found myself quite liking it when looking at old photos of cyclists. My favorite part about this specific one is the “WARNING DO NOT PASS” printed on the bag.
So that’s all of them! Which style was your favorite? Thanks for taking the time to read <3
You have such good taste it makes me feel like everyone else in the world is crazy
i feel like you’d like the brand olivia latinovich they make incredible hats