Hat Wearing for Health and Pleasure
by Why is it that wearing any kind of traditional hat today other than a Beanie, or baseball cap is looked on as odd for a man?
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In just over 40 years, we as a modern society have all but left the hat behind.
At one time anyone going about their business bareheaded was looked on as strange. To not wear a hat in public during the 1940-50’s was seen on the whole as improper. Yet today hat wearing is virtually unheard of.
Baseball caps are less head wear and more advertising and brand name elitism. You enjoy using a product, you can wear the cap. You support a sports-team, wear their logo cap.
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The classic gentleman’s hat vanished from the high street many years ago, but why? Urban myths tell us different stories. Was it because cars became smaller and hats were found to be getting in the way?
One popular theory with many who mourn the lost era of hats, is that when American president John. F. Kennedy stopped wearing hats, so did the world, such was his popularity and iconic status.
Assuming society is happy without the traditional male headgear, you might be forgiven in thinking that things are better left alone. My argument is not one simply of old world style and elegance, although in my opinion this is not a bad reason.
Hat wearing in a traditional sense is healthy for the wearer. It used to be said that in order to keep colds away, it was important to always keep the head covered in cold weather. This has recently been proven to be an old wives tale.
Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll, at the centre for health policy at Indiana University Indianapolis rubbished the claim in the British Medical Journal in December 2008.
“If this were true” they said, “humans would be just as cold if they went without a hat as if they went without trousers, patently this is just not the case.”
On the flipside of this health coin is the obvious. Going out wearing any kind of head covering in cold weather feels warmer than not doing so. So is there any health reason for wearing a hat?
Wearing hats will almost always provide some protection against harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation to prevent skin cancer. In Australia a 1996 study by Won, Airey and Fleming at Queensland University compared farmers who wore a hat every day with those who did not.
The researchers found that without a hat, the nose is the part of the face which receives the highest exposure to UV radiation. They then calculated that with the protection of a hat, the risk of basal cell carcinoma on the nose decreased by a factor of 16.
On a style and fashion point of view, the traditional hat is both stylish and practical. Hat styles such as the classic Fedora, Homburg and Trilby look good worn with business attire, as well as casual dress. They also keep wind and rain at bay.
The decision whether to wear traditional hats is very much for the individual and it is certainly no longer a popular choice. The demise of the hat has also sadly seen a general demise of courtesy and good manners.
“The man who does not wear a hat cannot raise it to a woman, so loses his most courteous gesture.” (Author unknown)
There are men who choose to not allow themselves to be influenced by the dictates of modern fashion and dress as they wish. Being a hat wearer is seen by the majority of people as an eccentricity.
I am myself a very proud hat wearer and enjoy the experience of being able to choose hats to reflect both the elements, as well as my mood. There is a timeless quality associated with many hats and perhaps this also has a bearing on hat wearing.
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