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  • 9 Classic Hat Style For Men - Why To Wear Mens Hats - How To Buy Men's Headwear

  • [0:00:00]

  • Hey guys, Antonio here. I'm the founder of Real Men Real Style. Today, I'm going to be

  • talking about classic men's hats. Now, a lot of you guys have been asking me for this for

  • a long time, for years, and I had an opportunity recently. I was contacted by a woman named

  • Satya Twena. She's out in New York City, and I really admire her story.

  • Her and a cousin went in and they took over an old hat factory in New York that was basically

  • going under. They laid off all the employees and they used crowd funding to raise money

  • in order to buy back the factory, rehire everyone, and they really want to bring back hats, so

  • I thought this was a great reason, a great example, a great time for me to step in and

  • say, "What can I do to help?"

  • One thing I think I can do is introduce my audience to hats. We're going to talk quickly

  • about the "why". We're going to talk what to look for, five things to look for when

  • you're out there buying a hat, and I'm going to go over nine styles today. Now, I'm not

  • going to talk about unshaped hats like watch caps like ushankas, no.

  • This is about hats that are quite a bit more stylish, something that maybe your grandfather

  • would've worn, and I think you could still wear in the right situation. Let's go ahead

  • and really quickly -- I want to talk about three reasons why you should even consider

  • wearing a classic men's hat.

  • Number one is they're actually pretty functional. So if you go back and you think about when

  • men wore hats like this, especially it was very fashionable, so it was easy for us to

  • wear it because everyone else was doing it, but they wore it primarily because it was

  • functional, because it actually kept the rain, the wind -- everything. It kept all of this.

  • We go into a work area and they weren't always heated the way -- we live in a very comfortable

  • world now, one in which you've got central heating, central air conditioning, all that

  • stuff. Hats used to perform a much needed function of actually keeping you cool, helping

  • keep you warm, and keeping the sun, all of the elements off of your face. They were a

  • very functional piece.

  • Now, they were also -- and they still are -- very stylish if you know how to wear it

  • and if you wear it with confidence. Again, back in the '40s, back in the '50s, back in

  • the '60s, you could wear it and you'd look around. Other men were wearing it and you

  • felt safe. Nowadays, you've got to have the confidence to pull it off because most likely,

  • you're going to be the only man that you're going to see wearing a hat, but that's a good

  • thing if you have the confidence and if you have know-how. If you know that it's going

  • to help your face look better, if it's going to help you stand out, those are some great

  • things if you have the courage to be able to do that.

  • Number three, there are certain meanings that a hat sends that are a bit subconscious. Have

  • you ever wondered why military men, why police officers, why men in authority oftentimes

  • are wearing hats? Because they send a signal of strength, so that's a great thing.

  • Another thing is why do they send off that signal of strength? If you get down to it,

  • hats make you look taller. Any man wearing a hat gives a perception of added height.

  • Think about it. Height is never a bad thing. Many of us know this. Many of us would like

  • to look a little bit taller, so wearing a hat can add to that. Those are three reasons

  • to consider wearing a hat.

  • Now, let's talk about five things you want to look for when you're out there buying.

  • I'm going to create a separate article and video on this, so I'm going to touch over

  • these really quickly. The first one is let's look at the material. What is it made from?

  • Is it made from straw? Is it made from felt?

  • Now, felt, in case you're wondering, that's actually where they take a lot of -- basically

  • wool, and then they mat it down. They form a material from it, which is then shaped -- they

  • shape the hat with that. There are other things and I'll go into that into a later video.

  • Now, the shape of the hat, I started to talk about that. The shape of a classic hat is

  • going to determine the style. We're going to talk about nine styles, so I'm not going

  • to go too much into this, but the shape.

  • Number three is look at the size of the hat. Make sure it fits you. Wear a hat that's too

  • big and it's going to look bad. Wear a hat that's too small, it's going to look comical.

  • Number four, the quality of the build. Was it made by a machine? Was it made by hand?

  • Is this something you're going to pick up at Target for $12 or is this something you're

  • going to have handmade like that woman I was talking about, Satya? She makes all of hers

  • by hand in New York City, so I think there's a huge range. I really recommend that if you

  • are getting into this, that you work with a professional and that you're confident.

  • Now, you can play around and many of us have worn caps for function, but I really advice

  • looking at a quality hat if you're serious about bringing in a classic piece.

  • The last thing is price. Now, why did I put price last? Well, because if you're really

  • looking at a hat, I would rather you spend -- you could spend $20 on something that you

  • wear once and you don’t like, or spend $120 on something that you love and that you wear

  • hundreds of times.

  • [0:05:05]

  • Think about that. The one that you spend 20 bucks on cost you $20. The one that you spent

  • $120 on but you wore hundreds of times cost you less than 50 cents a wear.

  • Okay, guys, let's dive into the styles. To start this off, I'm going to go ahead and

  • I'm going to bring in a hat. I want you guys to look at this, maybe give me your opinion

  • in the comments. What does this look like? I get it. I don’t wear hats very often,

  • so I probably could tilt to the side, but we'll give you guys a quick look at this right

  • here. I'm going to go over nine styles. I would love for you to write in the comments

  • what style you think this is. Let's go ahead and get started.

  • Number one, the fedora, this is what most people think about when they think of classic

  • men's hats. It's an iconic style and really is -- many people have said that anything

  • with a brim and a fixed crown is a fedora, but for the purist, a fedora is a felt hat

  • with pinched sides and a lengthwise crease down the crown. It gives the front of a roughly

  • wedge-like shape, and it can be molded to the wearer's taste, so one of the most popular

  • styles out there, gentlemen, the fedora.

  • Let's then talk about the trilby. The trilby, it's a little more than a shortened angular

  • fedora and it used to be called the crumpled fedora, but it's kind of an old school term.

  • Trilbies are typically worn with the brim snapped downward in front and upward and back

  • adding to the impression of a narrowing angle at the back of the hat.

  • Let's move now on to the homburg. It's the fedora's dressier cousin. The homburg is your

  • best bet for a formal business look and has the same creased crown, but without the pinches

  • at the side, and the brim is stiffer and has a slightly upturned lip all the way around.

  • All right. Now, let's move on to the pork pie; we're at number four. A shorter style,

  • a pork pie has a flattened top without a crease down the center. It is pinched at the sides

  • like a fedora and it creates a slightly triangular or wedge-shaped front.

  • Now, the bowler or derby, and this one is one of the easiest ones to recognize. It basically

  • can be called the bowler or the derby. In pop culture, it's associated with a stuffy

  • British icon, but its origins are actually working class. It's a stiff, rounded dome

  • with crown with no creasing or pinching.

  • Now, one of the most iconic hats out there, the western hat, also called the cowboy hat,

  • but the idea is we have a double crown and we have a much larger, high-crowned, wide-brimmed

  • hat, and usually worn -- I like lighter colors because it's more functional, although you

  • see a lot of -- I think it was the country western stars that brought in the darker colors.

  • Next style, the Panama hat, confusingly this was actually started over in Ecuador and they

  • shipped them over to Panama for the workers and they sold them there, and that's where

  • it's picked up. So whenever they were digging the Panama Canal, supposedly this is where

  • this hat made its name because it was a functional and protective hat.

  • Next, let's talk about the boater. It's a flat-topped straw hat with a wide brim. They're

  • mostly a novelty item, but they are still considered appropriate attire when near the

  • water, so rowing or Regatta events. Barbershop Quartets, they like the boater.

  • Finally, let's talk about the top hat, probably the one that I wouldn’t really recommend

  • you buy unless you're wearing white tie or morning dress, pretty common, but really that’s

  • what it goes with and it's the proper covering for your head with those types of outfits.

  • Okay, guys. I talked about the nine styles. Again, I'll put this one quickly back on my

  • head. What do you think? Do I look more authoritative? Do I look taller? Okay, guys, I look forward

  • to your comments. Try to guess what style hat this is.

  • One thing I do recommend, I'm doing a whole series on hats. If you want to get all of

  • this condensed into a single PDF and audio, I'm going to have a link I'm going to send

  • you to down below, and go to that. There's a little form you can fill out. What I'm going

  • to ask and what I would like you to do is to send Satya a message. Send her a message

  • that you support what she's doing. Go check out her hats.

  • She owns the company -- she recently bought Makins Hats. Go check out what they're doing.

  • Support the company. It's a great American company. I really like what they're doing,

  • so any support you can provide would be appreciated.

  • Take care, guys. I'll see you in the next video. Bye-bye.

  • [0:10:06] End of Audio

9 Classic Hat Style For Men - Why To Wear Mens Hats - How To Buy Men's Headwear

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