Even though hats have become far less common nowadays, compared to a few decades back, women who wear classic hats discover that they can elevate their style quotient with this simple accessory. However, with several types of hats being available, women need to know how to wear classic hats right for a better impact.

Good Reasons to Wear a Classic Hat

The first and often foremost reason, you would want to wear a classic hat is to give your appearance a big boost. Wearing a hat at a time when most women have dropped it from their ensembles can make you stand out even in a crowd.

Besides the indisputable elegance it adds to your appearance, it gives your aura a stamp of grace and sophistication that most people would die for. Moreover, wearing a classic hat is conventionally expected at certain functions like marriages and funerals, and it also adds a fun element to summer parties or races.

If you wear a classic hat to a church service, it gives you an appropriately somber look that goes well with the place and the occasion. In addition to elevating your looks, you can wear hats for protecting your head and face from bright sunshine and drizzles, and also keep warm.

Since there are many hat styles, even ladies of discerning taste will find it easy to choose one that goes with their apparel and personality. Some of the different types of hats styles and how to wear them:

Fedora Hat

Typically crafted from felt, a fedora is a hat with a soft and curved brim and a crown with a crease. While fedora hats are more commonly worn by gentlemen, their looks are androgynous and preferred by a lot of women sporting a tomboyish appearance. However, fedoras are versatile and work very well with feminine outfits.

In addition to being worn by men conscious of their looks, fedoras are popular as casual wear for women. In places where the climate is relatively mild, fedora hats can be used to keep warm. Quite similar to the fedora is the trilby, which, however, is distinctive because of its shorter brim. Typically, fedoras are worn by women, so that they sit just above the brow line when pulled down on the head.

Panama Hat

Traditionally, Panama hats sported the shape of a fedora but with the wide brim. However, with time, designers of brim hats for women have experimented with the trilby and porkpie hat shapes in more contemporary colors and ribbons in place of the conventional natural color and the black ribbon.

Panama hats are found in different grades, with the most expensive being the one with the narrower and tighter weave. These have the advantage of being lighter and more flexible. You can easily sport a high-quality Panama hat when traveling without it suffering any damage. Panama hats are versatile, so you can wear them with almost anything from an elegant Riviera lien suit to swim shorts and a beach shirt.

It is, therefore as perfect for formal affairs as it is for casual get-togethers at the bar on the beach. The hat should fit comfortably, so that it does not blow away, but it shouldn’t be too loose and move around on your head.

Beret

Typically associated with the French, berets have been the preferred headgear of people in the military for years. Berets are soft and have no brims and are typically worn casually, even though some versions are quite sophisticated and dressy.

While there has been much debate about the right way of wearing a beret, typically it is worn flat on the top of the head with the edge right up on the forehead and about an inch behind the ears.

To keep it in place, the brim is tucked in. while the crease in the beret gives it its classic look, the style element comes by pulling one side of it down, however, if you are feeling cold, you can pull it over your ears.

How to Choose a Hat to Go With Your Figure

Very much like glasses, you will want to wear a classic hat that helps to complement but not mirror the shape of your face for the best effect.

For example, if you have a round face, you should avoid wearing a beret and opt for an angular fedora, while if you have a long and oval face, a newsboy cap would suit it better than a droopy beanie that would serve to elongate it further.

A little experimentation will help you decide the hats you look best in.

Conclusion

Even as there are conventions regarding how to wear certain styles of hats, it is more important for you to follow your instincts and fashion sense.

Choose your hats strategically; taking into account not only your figure and face shape but also the rest of your clothes and the occasion.