How to Wear a Hat With a Suit

While hats were originally required for every male in public, cultural developments during the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries have rendered them wholly optional in all but the most specialized circumstances.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to wear traditional hat types as a modern guy with confidence and flair. When it comes to wearing a hat with a suit, these tips might assist you in pulling off your outfit in elegance.

1. Pick the Right Style of Hat

Not every hat is appropriate for a suit. Although your baseball cap may match the colors of your boutonniere, tie, or pocket square, it doesn’t imply it’s formal enough. Remember that suits are often formal wear. Therefore the hat you choose to match your suit should have some sense of decorum.

The fedora, bowler, trilby, and pork pie are some of the greatest hats to pair with a suit. These have a sophisticated sense of style that has endured the test of time, and many of their associations with older, classic styles incorporate hats paired with a suit.

A pork pie, in particular, provides a sharp, low-profile choice for really standing out from the crowd and is one of the numerous hat types making a reappearance.

2. Coordinate Your Hat and Outfit Colors

It’s one of the most apparent factors for a complete look, but it goes a little further than matching your black tuxedo with a black pork pie hat or your brown suit with a brown fedora.

For example, if you’re planning to wear a hat with a hatband, this allows for double synchronization. If you’re wearing a black suit with a mauve pocket square, try matching the color of your hat band. This will enhance the elegance and quality of your ensemble.

After evaluating your skin tone, our next recommendation is to determine how your hat color will complement the other colors in your clothing.

For example, if your ensemble includes browns and blues, a brown hat would be a safe pick, but a blue hat would be a bit more adventurous. On the other hand, if you’re wearing an ensemble with a lot of grays, a grey hat will clearly go nicely with it.

Blue outfits can function with a brown or gray hat, depending on the colors of your accessories and leather products. For instance, if you’re usually wearing brown leathers, go for a brown hat, and if you’re mostly wearing black leathers, go for a gray hat.

3. Consider Textures

Again, this will partly rely on the type of hat you choose, but a linen hat to match a linen suit might be the ideal way to complement your wardrobe and remain cool during an outdoor occasion like a beachside wedding.

The appropriate texture will truly nail the match between your hat and suit, so consider the texture while considering various hat types to combine with your suit.

4. Choose a Hat That Complements Your Skin Tone

Once you’ve decided on a type of hat to purchase, the next major choice will most likely be the colors you want to obtain.

One key factor to consider is selecting a hue that complements your skin tone. Because the hat is closer to your face than some of the other aspects of your clothing, this isn’t a minor problem.

Darker hues, such as charcoal and mid-tone gray, dark to medium brown, and navy blue, are suitable for men with pale or lighter skin tones. In other words, menswear basics will contrast with your skin while adding warmth and color. Try colors like burgundy or dark green for a more daring and fashion-forward style.

Colors that are somewhat lighter or darker than the middle ground can help your slightly warmer skin tone if you have a more olive skin tone. Take, for example, a mustard brown trilby. But, of course, lighter grays will also work, and the daring can explore with a wider range of hues.

If you have a darker skin tone, we have excellent news: you may pretty much wear any color you choose as long as there is some contrast between your complexion and hat color.

5. Consider Weather Conditions

Moving on from seasons, our next recommendation is to keep an eye on the weather. Remember that a hat is more than just a fashionable accessory. It can also be used directly.

A conventional hat with a brim can help keep the sun out of your eyes in the summer or on any sunny day.

When you’ve forgotten your umbrella, hats can shield your head from getting wet in the rain. However, we wouldn’t advocate getting them saturated. They can also aid with the removal of snow in the winter.

Moreover, hats may serve to control your body temperature, keeping your head cold or warm as needed, whether it’s a straw hat in the spring or summer or a felt hat in the fall or winter. Keep in mind that various materials look and function better in specific seasons.

Felt and other wool hat types are the safest bets for fall and winter, when they may be reinforced with ear warmers in the latter instance, and they can also be worn on chilly spring days.

Meanwhile, straw hats are best worn in the summer, though they can be worn on warmer and brighter spring days. But, of course, these are not absolute laws but rather general suggestions to bear in mind.

6. Consider the Formality of Your Outfit

Certain hat types are more formal than others and might influence your clothing. Generally, the stiffer a hat style is, the more formal it is.

The top hat is a perfect illustration since it is a rather stiff hat sized exactly to one’s head using a particular machine and is also worn with only the most formal dress codes.

The homburg, worn with Black Tie and stroller suits, the bowler or derby, also used with strollers and suits, and the straw boater, worn with warm-weather black tie and formal summer ensembles, are all one step down in stiffness and formality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

What hat fits with a suit?

The type of hat you match with your suit depends on how formal or casual your outfit is. But for most get-ups, hats that go well with suits are Fedoras, Trilby, Bowler, Homburg, Straw, Pork Pie, Boater, and Top hats.

How can a guy look good in a hat?

To look good in a hat, it all comes down to the style you’re going for. More casual apparel usually looks good with baseball caps or even a bucket hat for a hip-hop vibe. Formal outfits go best with hats like fedoras, homburg, and gambler hats.

Why do guys always wear hats?

Some guys favor the wearing of hats or caps. They are a fashion statement for some, while others simply like wearing their preferred headwear. People also wear hats to shield their eyes and face from the sun’s rays and keep their heads dry in the rain.