Look of the Week: Choosing a Hat for Your Personal Style

I’ve worn hats with confidence for years. They’re great for sun protection and to add attitude to an outfit. Many of you have asked me to write a post on how to choose a hat. I’ve heard that you’d like to wear them, but don’t know where to start!

Choosing your best hat involves your face shape, lifestyle and personal style recipe.

A flattering hat helps balance your face shape. If your face is large, a small hat will look disproportionate. If your face is wide, a narrow hat will be unflattering. If your face is long a short crown will look stumpy. It’s all about balance and proportion.

If you have an angular face, curved hats are a nice contrast. Round faces are flattered by straight lines. You’re looking for a contrast to balance the eye.

These rules are not set in stone and you need to consider how a hat makes you feel! I have a square jaw but seldom wear rounded hats. The style is wrong for my taste so I generally prefer angular hats with a dipped brim.

Now on to your lifestyle and personal style.

What kind of activities are you wearing this hat for? How formal is your style? If you have a casual lifestyle, opt for hats in simple shapes and material. Many women admire and buy hats that are too dressy for their lifestyle, so never wear them. Unless it suits you, leave those hats at the store.

Shopping tips:

Go into a hat shop or department store and experiment. Try on different sized and shaped brims. Place the hat straight on your head, so it’s level front and back. Use a hand mirror or 3 way to check your side and back view. How does it look with your hair?

I prefer hair back from my face or behind my ears when wearing a hat. A large clump of hair hanging in front of my ears makes my face look crowded.

Try fedoras, rounded crowns, straight and floppy brims. Stand back from a full-length mirror and check how the proportion looks. Note that dark colored hats cast a shadow on the face that can accentuate our under eye shadows, so check for that too!

After trying several on, use your instinct to rule out what feels goofy. Do you prefer flat brims or rolled? Do you like angular hats or floppy, soft ones? Trial and error, using your gut instinct will point you in the right direction. Your hat needs to feel like an extension of you!

Once you own a hat, the trick to wearing it is put on as you head out the door for the day and simply leave it on. Pretty soon you’ll forget you’re wearing it until someone compliments you on your hat!

One more thing, if you’re painfully shy, hats may not be for you. Women in hats get noticed and often complimented.

Do you wear hats?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!