In my opinion, the only reason to turn baseball caps, or indeed any billed cap, from back to front is either to protect the neck from the sun, or to peer into a periscope.
So, from time to time when I see such a hat worn in that fashion, I amuse myself by whispering to the wearer, in a passing way – as if they had a bit of spinach stuck between their teeth –
“Your hat is on backwards…”
The usual response, after a moment of bewilderment is:
“…I know.”
Then I say:
“Oh. …Ah…”
As if, after a moment of my own bewilderment, I came to realize that he had reversed the hat on purpose; like somebody with significant learning difficulties and impaired social skills might wear their pants as a shirt.
What a clever fox am I; to make such a sly cultural statement!
I was quite disconcerted when I did this at a political rally to which a friend had dragged me – it was not well received.
I am assured by my doctors that I may be able to walk again one day.
But I stand (as best I can) by the backwards cap thing. Just stupid, really.
Do any of you have sly cultural statements you have made?
I keep wondering who they think they are impressing with their cutting edge fashion statement. Maybe middle-school girls find the backwards cap irresistible
What is really totally cool is the guys who buy the cheap adjustable ones, with that plastic notched band running across their forehead.
I sometimes wear my hat backwards when I’m working because it gets hot under the brim, yet I can’t take it off due to the reason I have it on in the first place… bad hair day. No cultural statement here, no trying to be cutting edge, no nothing. Just momentary necessity.
This is, incidentally, a trend you can mostly blame on Hollywood. If you’re out shooting in the sun, you want a cap. But the brim will throw off your perception of the lighting levels, and interferes with looking in a camera. So, people who worked on film sets would turn their hats backwards, and then people not on film sets would turn their hats backwards so people would think they worked on film sets. And then everyone in Hollywood is wearing backwards baseball caps, and they assume that everyone everywhere is wearing backwards baseball caps. So everyone in movies starts wearing backwards baseball caps. And then everyone everywhere starts wearing backwards baseballs caps, because they saw it in the movies.
And this is why California is the dominant culture on Earth.
I was once walking in NYC, and overheard a kid complaining that the bright sun was in his eyes. Of course the brim of his baseball cap was on the side. I said “excuse me” and straightened it for him, adding “That’s what it’s for.”
I started wearing two hats to see if I could start a trend. A brief marketing survey indicated it wasn’t catching on. I didn’t consider having the bill turned around on one of them. I feel the fool now, that could have made all the difference.
I’m not going to make up some stupid practical purpose excuse, I wear my cap backwards because I like they way it looks on me. It has to be a non-fitted cap and it’s better with netting (a.k.a. trucker’s cap) in the back (or in my case, front). Honestly, I think most of you in this thread probably are wishing you had said these clever things, or are pretending to be ignorant of the fashion choice, but news to you, things people wear don’t necessarily have to have some purpose other than looks.
Personally, I think a hat turned backwards looks just fine. Second, keep in mind that some people might be doing it because their scalp is exposed to the sun. Sunburn on your head hurts. If they’re bald, have thinning hair or have their hair cut short enough they might just be trying to protect that.
Lastly, to all the people that say they’re making these comments:
I assume you also go around reminding these people to take their hats off after sundown, because there’s no reason to wear them then, right? I assume none of you wear baseball hats in the evening either. No fashion faux pas for any of you.
I’ve tried putting one on backwards, and its very impractical. The bill is down against my back, so I lose head mobility. If I wanted a cap with no bill on the front, why would I want one with a bill on the back? I would just get a beanie. I think you can get them with a little propeller on the top, if you need to impress anyone with a fashion statement. But then, I don’t shave my head, either, so what do I know?
Maybe people that are wearing hats backwards just aren’t trying to impress you.
Sorry to be a buzzkill but most people out and about really don’t care what you think about their baseball hat.
Besides, just because you can’t wear a hat backwards and still move your head, doesn’t mean they haven’t figured it out. Maybe you just don’t want others to have what you can’t. Are you projecting?
Well, the two shits giving started back in the 80’s when the angle of baseball caps on the head denoted various gang affiliations, but I’m guessing that’s long passe. I can remember back when there were video arcades, some would not allow caps to be worn inside them.
But this isn’t about being inside out or worn at an angle (other than straight backwards). This is about the OP and a few others seeing it as inherently wrong to wear a baseball hat backwards because it won’t keep the sun out of the wearer’s face. Not just wrong, wrong enough that they feel the need to confront the person about it.
That’s a bizarre thing to get worked up about. I mean if you want to go ahead, but actually confronting someone about it is…odd.
I can think of at least two practical reasons to wear a cap backwards. In very strong winds, if it’s on the normal way the cap would likely blow off. Turn it around and it’ll stay on your head better. Similarly if you’re on a roller coaster, wear the cap backwards and it’ll be more secure. The other reason is when playing basketball. The cap serves as a sweat band and the bill doesn’t get in the way of my jump shot. But when playing tennis, I wear the cap normally, the bill doesn’t get in the way of my serve or overhead smash.
I turn my cap around when I’m doing photography. If I turn the camera into “portrait” mode, the bill is in the way. But I turn the cap around to the proper orientation when I’m done.
Of course, if you really want to be cutting edge, you need a bill in front AND back of your cap…