Wearing a hat with a business or a lounge suit can take your dressing up to the next level, provided you do it right. Whether attending a board meeting, a wedding, or a local charity event, wearing a hat with your suit can be a good way of underlining your presence without making you look like a stuffed shirt. While you can expect many other men dressed like you, you can be sure all eyes will be on you because of your hat’s cool factor. A few handy tips for getting choosing the right hat to go with your suit:
Coordinate the Colors
It is easy to be boring by wearing a black hat with a black suit or a brown hat with a brown suit. However, even though you need to coordinate the colors, you can create a splash by wearing a hat with a colorful hatband that underlines the color combination. For example, wearing a black fedora with a black suit will do nothing to set you apart from the rest; you can immediately get everyone’s attention with a mauve hatband that matches the mauve pocket square. It’s a simple touch but one that adds oodles of class to your attire.
Consider Leveraging Textures
Most people focus on the style and color of the hat, but you will do well not to forget the impact that the texture can have. Matching the hat material to the suit can be a simple yet elegant way of coordinating the hat with the suit. For example, if you attend a beach wedding wearing a light linen suit to keep cool, pairing it with a linen Panama hat can be perfect for coordinating the textures.
Choose the Right Style of Hat
There are many kinds of hats and suits but not every combination will work well. For this reason, you should spend time deciding which hat to wear with your suit. Even if you are wearing a casual suit, you will do well to keep in mind that suits are, after all, formal wear, and you should not wear a hat that does not do justice to the occasion or your personality. Some of the most popular hats that go well with suits include:
Fedora: The Fedora tops the list of classic hats that go perfectly with suits of all kinds, says a hat maker with several decades of dressing gentlemen. The fedora hat features a pinched and indented crown and a distinctive soft brim that can be narrow or medium-width. You can buy fedoras made of many different materials, even though fur-felt and wool are the most popular ones for cold climates. A straw fedora, however, makes for a classy choice for wearing with a lightweight summer suit. While black, browns, grays, and blues are the most popular colors of fedoras; you can get them in virtually any color of your choice to ensure the perfect coordination with your suit.
Trilby: Because of its striking similarity with the fedora, most people overlook the trilby when shopping for hats. However, with its narrower brim and a lesser indentation of the crown, a trilby makes a perfect choice for a casual suit if you want to project a fun vibe to your next business meet or an outdoor sports event. In America, where it is called the Derby hat, it is a common sight at the races. For sure, it can be hard to miss seeing a gentleman sporting a trilby.
Bowler: A hard round hat, the bowler or the Derby as it is also popularly called, has been the firm favorite of the landed gentry and conservative businessmen since its inception. It started as a hat for English gamekeepers who had trouble keeping their top hats on their heads as they rode their horses.
According to Gentleman’s Gazette, both lawmen and outlaws made the bowler hat popular in the American Wild West, and even today, the bowler hat paired with a suit can create more than a hint of mystery and recklessness to you in most formal occasions.
Homburg: With its origin in Germany, Edward VII popularized it when he adopted it as his signature style. Even now conservative gentlemen favor the homburg because of its singular style that features a single dent in the center of the hat, a trim accentuating the edge of the brim, and a distinctive grosgrain hatband.
Conclusion
With dressing style becoming much more liberal, hats have virtually disappeared from the fashion scene except for formal occasions or a day out in the sun. Despite the change in fashion and style sensibilities, discerning gentlemen can make a style statement when they step out wearing the perfect combination of a suit and a hat. However, in addition to picking the right color, texture, and style, it is also vital to carry off the hat with the confidence and panache that comes when you know you have got it right.