You mean like thisor like this? That’s just a suit jacket, right, not an “overcoat?” If so, I didn’t know it wasn’t the done thing. Someone should inform Mr. Bomer as well.
You have your answer. You can’t forego the overcoat unless you forego the hat, as well. You could get away with a top hat, but only if your suit has tails.
I do know what you mean. I’ve even been referred to as “the guy who wears a hat” because it’s still not common. It took some getting used to seeing them on myself, and I had to get past the thought of it being a weird thing to do these days. But the bottom line is, I like hats and I like wearing hats, for both practical and sartorial reasons. I guess I was hoping to encourage you into thinking along the same lines.
Here I am in one of my straws. As you can see, I’m of a different generation, but from my youth into recent times men just didn’t wear hats, so I’ve been a bit of a maverick. However, a well-chapeaued maverick. 
Says who? That certainly wasn’t the rule back when it was common for men to wear hats, and I question that it is now. My reaction is FTS (forget that stuff), I’ll wear a hat with a sport coat, suit jacket, waist-length jacket, or just a shirt. It will be appropriate for the outfit and weather, of course, but it’s possible to want protection from sun or rain when it’s too warm for an overcoat. The photos linked in post #21 look fine to me.
If people other than hipsters start wearing more hats, they won’t be just a hipster thing anymore.
I wouldn’t say it’s on par with a per se faux pas, but it’s not lawyerly at ALL. Besides, he’s talking about wearing a hat because his ears are cold, not wearing hats for the sake of wearing hats. If it’s cold enough to wear a hat, then it’s not too hot to wear a dress coat. If it’s raining, he can carry an umbrella.
The only hat I think with a chance of looking professional without a long coat is a top hat, and they’re horribly dated and would require a tux with tails to pull off anyway.
A traditional fedora is perfectly fine with a standard business suit. There’s no reason you would have to also be wearing an overcoat or a topcoat or a raincoat.
In my view, a regular fedora is much less flashy than a driving cap or an ascot cap. Those things just scream “sporty.”
Actually, there’s another option – a walking hat. Those are almost unnoticeable.
My boss just chastised one of the sales staff for wearing one of those yesterday. Well, not quite chastised: just told him not to wear it when he goes on a field call.
You could wear a fedora, which apparantly is appropriate for Washington lobbyists, albeit ones that have been convicted.
You could wear a yarmulke, which now come in fashionable styles. I don’t know whether it will keep your head warm, but no one will think you’re pretentious-- at least not until they find out you aren’t Jewish.
Or just move to Wisconsin.
Ask your boss, and then he’ll be happy. It sounds like that’s your goal.
One of these might be the ticket. The black and white pattern means it will go with any basic black suit. The great thing about them is, they’re made out of a very light felt-like material, and they can be easily folded up and put in a pocket when you’re indoors (you don’t have to worry about setting it down and forgetting it.)
Bwaaah!
I personally favour the cowboy hat, although it’s a little out of place in Nottingham…
You should be fine with a trilby or fedora, and if you want to avoid looking hipster, just make sure you get one with more than an inch of brim, the trendy ones are the very narrow ones.
Yeah, like those pictures. It’s not normal. That’s probably why they dressed him like that for their TV show. Buddy here needs advice for the real world.
You can’t wear a hat without an overcoat because you’ll look ridiculously old-fashioned. Old-fashioned to the point that no one is accidentally that ignorant of fashion, so buddy must be trying to make a statement. May as well put a rotary phone on your desk and get some browlines or wear some Chuck Taylors with the suit.
Wear an overcoat and all of your problems go away 'cause you can wear almost any hat mentioned so far. I think you should just stoically tolerate the mildly unpleasant weather. That’s what I do so I can look tough, which is very fashionable.
My boss dresses badly. I wouldn’t take his advice about this topic.
I care about making a proper impression on actual/prospective clients and other people I’ll have to interact with and whose cooperation (and positive impression of me) can be useful to me. Lawyering has a lot to do with making a good impression and looking the part.
Plus, I just dislike the clash between the suit and the knit hat.
Well, you can’t expect to be able to read everyone’s minds. Regardless of what you settle on, there will be some client or potential client out there who finds a reason to take exception to your sartorial choices. They will just never tell you.
And, frankly, given the audience that you’ve defined, I suspect that the SDMB is not going to mirror very accurately the opinions of those you’re trying to please.
Given the level of conservativeness you have implied, My guess is that by shaving your head, you’ve committed a far worse faux pas than you could by choosing any kind of traditional businessman’s headgear.
The ones who take exception to his sartorial choices are much more rare than the ones who will object to his flashy choices. The flashy-clothes objectors won’t voice their dissent either, that’s why it’s important not to wear anything that will make them doubt his social competence.
You don’t have to share his tastes in order to recommend what he’s looking for.
The legal profession seems to be a breeding ground for people who make bad hair style choices. He’ll fit in just fine.
As for the question in the OP, have you looked into ear warmers? I’ve seen a lot of fashionable lawyers wear them. Otherwise just wear a weird looking, but warm hat outside and take it off when you’re around clients.
I suggest hair. I think it’s still in fashion.
About my lack of hair/shaving: I didn’t want to part with my hair. I saw it quitting so I fired it. It looks better than the horseshoe.
Lakai,
My ears aren’t that cold. It’s really the rest of the head that is.
The point is that we as a group don’t have knowledge of the point if view of his clientele that’s better than his own judgement.
As a member of that profession my view is that as far as hair hoes, the best description of lawyers is that their hairstyles are indistinctive and unremarkable. They generally don’t rise to any kind of level that can be characterized as good or bad.