In case you haven’t been reading my Men’s Hair, Grooming & Fashion blog entries, I am on a men’s hat kick. Why? I recently spent time at a menswear show and was amazed by all the different men’s hats. I also was unsure how men buy hats online and make sure they fit properly. No, I’m still not sure if I know the answer but I have figured out how to measure the head for a hat and that there are basically three types of heads.

Now I am trying to sort out the different types of hats that men usually wear. Yes, sometimes women wear them as well, but I’m most concerned with men’s hats as a fashion statement, form of protection from the weather (sun and blasting cold winds) as well as a signature.

Ashton Kutcher is famous in Hollywood for wearing a wide array of hats. As of this moment, Ashton still has a full head of hair, so unlike some men, he is not using the hat as a means to minimize thinning strands. Certainly his hat selection does telegraph that he like to make fashion statements and is a trend setter. Many believe the Diesal hat craze of a few years ago started with Ashton’s adoption of that headwear.

Meanwhile, listed below are some of the most common hats men wear (not necessarily in the order of popularity)

1. Beret - A cap made from a variety of fabrics including cordouroy wool, felt or other soft fabrics. A beret consists of a wide circular crown,which may or may not have a band. Often the Beret is referred to as a French Beret. Both men and women wear this type of hat and it can be worn in a variety of positions on the head although some people prefer to wear it slightly at an angle.

2. Ivy Cap - This type of cap is known by some as an English Driving Cap. For more details on the Ivy Cap visit a site dedicated to this cap at IvyCap.com. The Ivy Cap can be traced back to 14th century England and has connections to the original French Bonnet. The caps were worn in the 19th century by working class men throughout the British Isles. Versions made in more expensive cloth were worn by upper-class English men.

Cloth caps were worn by fashionable young men in the 1920s. My grandfather who was born near Dublin favored this type of hat as do many celebrities and people of English and Irish ancestry. (Image of Ashton Kutcher - DailyCeleb.com).

3. Newsboy Cap - Soft fabric cap created with a full crown and visor that may or may not snap to crown. The cap was originated by actual newsboys around 1920. (Image of Ashton Kutcher with Demi Moore and daughter - DailyCeleb.com).

4. Greek Fisherman’s Cap - This cap is one of the most popular hats in the Western world. It can be made from a wide range of fabrics but is most often made of wool or cotton. This cap is often fully lined and is a favorite with professional seamen. This cap is very distinctive but is rugged and practical enough to handle all kinds of weather.

5. Baseball Cap - This is a snug fitting cap with a full front “bill”. The front of the baseball cap is referred to as a “visor” and is designed to shade the eyes from the sun. Baseball caps comes in every imaginable material, design and size of bill. They may have neck or ear flaps and a wide range of cap designs from rounded to square.

6. Cowboy Hat - Known also as a “ten gallon cap” they are hats with wide brims and soft crowns and made out a variety of fabrics. They also can be scaled bigger or smaller depending on the manufacturer. They are very popular in Texas and Arizona and other parts of the West and Southwest.

7. Fedora - Indiana Jones is famous for wearing a Fedora hat.

8. Trucker Hats - Trucker hats are mesh caps that are very similar to the design of a baseball cap but they tend to be a bit stiffer and have a higher crown. Sometimes they have a boxier look than a traditional baseball cap. Trucker hats are often collected by truck drivers from various stops along their driving routes. Ashton Kutcher made trucker hats a big craze with high end designers jumping on board.

9. Bowler Hat - This is a felt hat that is round and hard with a narrow brim and was made popular by Pierce Brosnan in the Thomas Crown Affair where a bunch of Brosnan look-a-likes wore bowlers to confuse detectives tracking Brosnan, who also wore a bowler hat.

10. Stocking Cap - This is a type of ski or cold weather cap. By design it is a close-fitting woolen cap and may have a top that tapers to a point with or without a tassel. Stocking caps may also be designed to fit completely over the face with cutouts for eyes and mouth. Stocking caps are the cap of choice for bank robbers but they are also the favorites of winter sports participants.

11. DoRag aka DooRag - A do-rag, also known as a durag or doo-rag, or watchu-rag is a simple piece of cloth that ties at the back and is used to cover the head. It is popular with many people but in some cultures the dorag is worn to hold down certain hairstyles like tight braids, dreadlocks, locks or 360 Wave hairstyles.

12. Tams - These are woolen caps of Scottish origin which can also be made into knitted designs. They are sometimes worn by men who have dreadlocks.

There are literally hundreds of different types of hats that men wear for various occasions but the most common and popular are listed above. Yes, there are beanies and pillboxes and bomber hats as well as porkpies. I am sure I forgot some. If I did, please let me know by commenting or emailing me at shelton@hairboutique.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 8:15 pm and is filed under Men's Hairstyles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.