I really want to buy myself a hat or a bonnet or something. I like hats, but have never worn one. So I have no idea what would look good on me. I can post a pic if need be but I think most people have some idea what I look like:
Light brown skin, long curly dark hair, round face. Large eyes. I need a hat that goes good with this face. I need a hat I can put the top of my hair up and leave the rest of it down, so it shows under the hat.
How do you know what matches? I have no idea even what else to tell you to help me…please help all the same!
Now that warm weather is here, I was going to say round wide-brimmed straw hats are always in style and bring lots of compliments. But this page advises it would be the wrong type for a round face…
If you have a round face:
* Choose hats with high brims and angular shapes.
* Avoid round, circular, or floppy-shaped hats.
* Always choose hats that are wider than your face.
I’m not finding it easy to visualize what they’re describing here.
I think you need something structured, and not floppy, with a slightly wider brim. Many of the hatshere have the general shape that I’m talking about - in the top batch of pictures, the rightmost follows that basic profile, as do a bunch of the hats on the next page - click on ‘pages 10-17’ to see them. I love Louise Green hats, although I can’t really afford them, but don’t worry - not all hats are that expensive! It depends very much on how formal a hat you’re looking for. I buy more formal hats for synagogue and occasions, although generally from cheaper sources than Louise Green (I have the one on the bottom right of this page ). I tend not to wear casual ones, but a more every-day hat can be relatively inexpensive.
In terms of colors, buy the same colors that tend to be flattering to you in clothing. For example, I look very bad in pale brown/khaki, and hats of that color wash me out terribly, but black, white, and warm colors are all good for me. Now is straw hat season, and you probably can’t go wrong with a cream-colored straw - it matches almost everything, and looks great on almost everybody.
I say take the suggestions you get here, a good friend, and go try on hats. That’s the best way to find what you like and what works.
I’ve actually been meaning to hit up a new store in town called Cha Cha’s House of Hats. I’ve heard good things about them, including that they have hats for all styles and budgets. I love hats myself, but find there are few I can really wear that don’t make me look silly.
A picture would be nice, but the best advice is just to try on hats. Seriously, the advice about what type hat works best for what shape face is all well and good, but if you don’t like the hat…shrug.
Me? I would break all of the rules Johanna (slight hijack – do you pronounce that with the hard or soft J? My name is minus the h, with a hard j, but the woman I was named after was soft j with the h…)listed. I have a round-ish face, but look idiotic in angular hats – I look great in pillbox hats, skullcap styles – well, anything from the 1940’s really. I also have always looked great in those big floppy-brimmed hats…it’s all in what you like best. Good luck!
Unfortunately I look good in pastels. unfortunately because I hate pastels. But my skintone and hair match well with pale colors - maybe because I have so much color, that I don’t need vivid colors.
I’m liking those Louis Greene hats. It will give me some ideas.
I went through a similar process - I never had a hat and wanted one. Besides that, however, I have nothing in common you hat-wise, 'mika - I am a guy and have a long, thin face…
But I am posting to share what I learned in case it helps you. Bottom line? I had to learn what hats I liked, what suited me - and even how to wear a hat.
Some hats require more care than others. Some hats are rigid and must be protected when not worn - stuff we all know, but until you live with them, you don’t fully appreciate.
I tried to find cheap hats in the style I liked so I could live with them and see what I liked and didn’t like about them. Once I learned what I liked, I ended up getting a hat that worked for me - and I felt comfortable spending a bit more money on, simply because I felt like it was a more informed purchase, you know?
I also had to learn how to wear a hat. Not just where to place it on my head so it would stay on with minimal re-adjusting, but just how to carry myself, how to deal with folks who would comment on it (a LOT of people - I had to find ways to just get them past it and move on in a nice way), etc…as I got better at that stuff, I found there were hats I would consider wearing that I might not have when I started my search.
It was a fun thing to do - but to do it correctly, it took a bit of effort…
Are you sure you even want to wear a hat? They’ll give you ‘hat hair’ and if you’re like me (female and shoulder length hair), the band will make your head sweat. I can’t stand to wear a hat in warm weather.
I’m sure it will. It’s not something I want to wear all the time, but my hair is perfect for a hat since it’s so curly. The top will go hat hair, yes, but the length curls beautifully under a hat.
WordMan, thanks for the input. I guess I have to just get out to the store and start putting hats on my head! Where did you buy your cheap hats?
Yes. they are short-ish, I mean they’re down to my nose but curl right up and don’t really lay on my forehad.
I’m at home, let me see if I can find a pic.
Here’s how my hair was in February. You can’t tell the length of the back there but rest assured it’s longer than that. My bangs, however, are a little shorter than that.
I love cloche hats. They have enough brim to actually function the way a hat should (i.e. keeping the sun off your face) can be dressed up or down, and I think they look good on my round face.
If you can find a hat store nearby, I second the advice to grab a friend and go try some on. Hell, where do you live? Oh, way up the East Coast from me. I’m in the market for a good hat too, but can’t find any hat stores nearby that don’t sell only baseball hats. I want a hat damnit! I want to bring hats back!
I have tan skin and thick curly hair, brown eyes and a round face. I at times wear a light colored straw Resistol cowboy hat with a thin hatband or a really wide brimmed bronze straw hat. I’m tall and very confident and when you’re confident, you can wear anything.
I say it as in English (“dzh” not “y”), same as “Joanna” with an -h- added.
Anaamika, on second thought, maybe a fedora would match the description in post #2. But I’ve seen your picture… and I really can’t picture you with a fedora.
BTW, where do you find that retro hat-veil arrangement from the '40s and '50s? The little open mesh veil that’s just placed on top but doesn’t hang down?
I’ve often shopped for hats in department stores but the selection is always so limited… and the only hat stores in this area seem to specialize in baseball caps… I wanted a nice fedora once, all I found was a velvet thingy that could be scrunched into various shapes, including an approximation of a fedora. In summertime, though, is when I get out the reliable round wide-brimmed straw hat, which can do no wrong.
