Other than shoes, hats have always been one of the most fashionable and complex pieces of clothing to wear for both genders. That’s been consistent right through every decade of modern history and through every season considered comfortable or something resembling hell. But assuming you’re one who wears a hat for reasons other than covering a naturally balding head, not every man or woman is going to look good wearing one. You’ll see some men wearing hats that should have never been taken off the rack via suggestion of a fashion-blind significant other or desperate clerk trying to offload China-made fashion disasters that need to be cleared out. Yet for those who, like me, have overly fair skin that easily fries in the weakest rays of sunshine, buying a hat might be considered mandatory, whether it looks fashionable or not.
Beyond that, nobody said you can’t shop wisely for a sun hat while also thinking of your own protection from having to see a dermatologist. And for those who don’t think their own heads look presentable adorned with a hat, you shouldn’t worry, because there’s always going to be something there that will look good on you without any intimidation or mocking attitudes.
Partly, it comes down to making more thoughtful use of the mirror in the store where you’re buying the hat. On a more important scale, you should develop a profound understanding of why you’re buying the hat and how it’ll be presentable to the rest of the world outside your own head. When buying a hat because your skin will turn to quasi dust if you don’t protect it solidly, the chances are good you’re going to need a wide brim hat. For a woman, wearing a wide brim hat is usually a good fashion statement–if perhaps making a sensitive young woman have the occasional feeling of looking like an older woman or resembling Scarlett O’Hara on the porch at Tara lamenting about the talk of war.
Of course, the wider the brim on the woman’s hat, the better the protection from the sun. You’ll find many fashionable-looking wide brim sun hats made of different materials and at various prices that look charmingly outstanding on any woman of any age. Keep in mind that some of the hats with the widest brims don’t necessarily become a distraction or obscure one’s face. So if you’re a woman and want to still be plainly seen at an outdoor public event, you don’t have a whole lot to worry about. It also doesn’t matter if you look like a supermodel or not.
For men, there’s plenty more to think about in the realm of wide brim hats. Well, that shouldn’t be a surprise since we males are probably too used to wearing billed caps casually or showing our masculinity by attending an outdoor event without any hat protection. A lot of men, though, are realizing the dangers of doing that and realizing if super cool sports figures can occasionally wear wide brim hats, so can they. Fortunately, a number of wide brim hats that actually look good have been made for the discriminating male. As with women, however, it all comes down to what event you’re going to be attending. If you’re just going to be standing around doing nothing of consequence (or presumably eating and visiting outdoors), many wide brim hats have been made that look good on men of all head shapes. In the realm of playing sports, though, shopping for a sun hat that doesn’t intrude will take a little longer to find as you weigh more options.
Going for protection when playing golf, tennis or any other outdoor sport…
Any man or woman who watches golf live or on TV knows that every superstar golfer in the world wears some kind of sun hat now. The most common, obviously, is the sun visor that’s far from the most protective against dangerous UV rays. A lot of male golfers obviously wear them because they don’t interfere with being able to see the periphery when analyzing their golf game. They don’t say so, but the avoidance of wider brim hats in golf may also be to keep a better eye out for errant gold balls flying in the air ready to take that same eye out.
Trying to buy a hat that will protect you from the sun while also allowing you freedom to actually play a physical game still gets debated on what’s the best solution. The general consensus is that a hat with a brim no more than three inches wide is the best compromise to keeping an eye on what you’re doing while gaining reasonable UV ray protection. In golf, that might be the best solution if any guy is brave enough to wear a giant brimmed hat on the course. It’s wind, however, that will prove to be an embarrassing faux pas to your wide brim hat if a male chooses to wear one while playing sports.
It shouldn’t be any surprise that the only solution to keeping a wide brim hat from blowing off your head in windy environments is one with a chin strap. Not all guys are going to be comfortable wearing a wide brim with a chin strap, even when just walking alone on a secluded beach. For women, it’s very workable, as usual. Men generally just wear visors when playing volleyball, tennis or golf during the times those environments are extra breezy or have full force winds. That obviously creates a profound problem in sun protection for those who play sports in windy environs. How that works itself out in future years will depend on whether someone brave can set a more diffuse fashion trend by creating a masculine-looking sun hat with a chin strap.
For those males who must have protection from the sun or risk punishment from their dermatologist, there’s really only one solution that may incite arguments or a lot of thinking before buying…
Legionnaire hats as the ultimate protection…
These heavy-duty hats are really the only way to enjoy the sunny outdoors without starting a life trapped behind four walls. Some versions of the legionnaire hat have been produced in Australia that allow a man (or woman) to wear one and cover one’s face so only the eyes and nose are visible. It’s safe to say most men and women wouldn’t enjoy wearing a legionnaire hat when out in the sun unless they’re stranded for weeks out in the Gobi Desert. Nevertheless, in an understanding crowd of people, a person shouldn’t refuse to wear one if it’s mandatory for their skin health.
In the fashion world of hats, many companies are making variations for all purposes that fit right in with looking trendy. Even discount stores will have sun hats on this level. That way, a simple trip to buy one won’t take longer than it should or bring sibling rivalry over which gender looks the best wearing one with a wide brim…
Links to fashionable sun hats mentioned in this article:
http://www.sungrubbies.com/product_index_html/product_detail_html/SunhatsSportVisor.htm
http://www.sungrubbies.com/product_index_html/product_detail_html/Sun-Hats-VaVaVoom.htm
http://www.sungrubbies.com/product_index_html/product_detail_html/Sun-Hats-VaVaVoom.htm
