Baseball cap alternatives for tall guy with oval face

[MattRicketts]

Like many guys I'm looking to expand my headwear beyond the all-too-pervasive baseball cap. What kind of hats should I be considering if I have a tall (6'1) stocky frame and oval-ish face? I know that lots of guys are wearing driving caps and fedoras these days, but I'm just not sure either would look good on me. Primarily I need head protection in the summer to keep my balding scalp from burning. My various baseball caps serve this function but I'm starting to tire of them and realize that they're not very mature-looking. Any thoughts or suggestions from men who have been through a similar scenario would be very welcome!

[zxu426]

Fedoras aren't for everyone. But I like ivy caps (i.e. driving caps). I think they're stylish, especially come fall and winter. My favorite pattern on them is herringbone in black and white that looks grey from a distance. Some options for the warmer months include straw trilby hats and madras ivy caps. I don't think baseball caps are bad, if the rest of your outfit isn't baggy T-shirt and jeans.

[LittleNelly]

Personally, I love baseball caps, and I think they look great. . They also pair perfectly with the polo shirt so its a summer staple for me! Not sure how u swing a tennis shirt with a fedora.

[LesserBlackDog]

I really like my Stormy Kromer, though it's definitely more of a winter hat, and not very dressy.

You could also consider an upgraded baseball cap like these vintage-style caps from J.Crew, or this waxed cotton one.

[MikeAD91]

Baseball caps are like white socks... They have a time and a place.

To the OP, where are you going hat you aren't sure what to wear on your head? Some context might be helpful. Personally, I think there are a lot of casual brim hats that are a step up from baseball caps, and a lot more functional.

[Cannon]

Considering the era we live in, baseball caps are the only year-round hats I can think of that aren't considered a fashion statement automatically. Fedoras flew by just fine in Don Draper's days, but now you will be seen as trying to take the stylish alternative to the baseball/trucker hats if you are somewhere that doesn't have multiple wearers of them constantly present.

I never wear hats, personally, but if I did for the sake of function, I'd go with a logo-free baseball cap. Unless you are somewhere that fedoras and driving caps are commonplace, they are a standout statement piece.

As others have said, context would help. Your backyard, the Florida Keys, London cigar clubs, Manhattan piano bars, and baseball games are all different.

LesserBlackDog beat me to it, but this one is nice: http://www.jcrew.com/mens_category/a...4086/14086.jsp

On a cold day in the English countryside, I could imagine riding in my car alone with the driving cap.

[LesserBlackDog]

I also have a driving cap from J.Crew Factory (no longer in stock) and it looks perfectly fine with most casual and smart casual looks.

Just make sure not to try TOO hard with it or you'll end up looking like some kind of steampunk cosplayer wannabe.

Also, please, please don't wear it backwards.

[Shomas]

I wear a wool fedora in the cooler months and a straw one in the summer (actually, the straw one probably technically isn't a fedora, but I'm not sure what the proper name would be and fedora's close enough). It took me a while to find the right shapes for my head and face-it was really just a trial and error process and I don't think there's any way around that. I also sometimes wear a wool flat cap (again, trial and error).

I don't know if people think I'm trying to wear my hats as a stylish alternative to baseball caps, but if they do, they're right. I look terrible in a baseball cap-of any kind. I don't know if it's my head, my face, both...but I don't look good in them. And I do want to look stylish, or at least like someone with (good) style.

If someone's got a problem with it because it's outside of the norm, they don't have an opinion worth considering. If they genuinely think I look bad, that's different, though (with very few exceptions) I still truthfully don't care. I'm fairly certain I look good when I wear my out-of-the-norm hats (my wife wouldn't shy away from telling me I look like an asshole).

Pulling an unorthodox hat (or any other item) off is 95% how you wear it. If you own your style and carry yourself with confidence (and yes, "trying too hard," however it might manifest, can bespeak a lack of confidence), you're almost all the way there.

[Cannon]

I also have a driving cap from J.Crew Factory (no longer in stock) and it looks perfectly fine with most casual and smart casual looks.

Just make sure not to try TOO hard with it or you'll end up looking like some kind of steampunk cosplayer wannabe.

Also, please, please don't wear it backwards.

Besides the guy with sunglasses being in a bit of a dork facial expression, I don't really see the look as much different. They both would look like they are going above and beyond in effort to make a fashion statement during everyday wear in the United States. Hats like that are just so uncommon that I can't imagine anyone I see wearing them could have done so effortlessly with how unusual it is. Similar to bow ties. Both could be perceived as effortless wardrobe staples that enhanced anyone's style in the 60s, but now it has to be deliberate and sought out unless you are in a niche territory that houses them consistently.

Of course, this might all just be my own mental hang-ups.

That Men's Style Pro model would look fine to me in most of those looks at the horse racing track or urban offices, but not at the university, local bank, or grocery store. Take it off, and those outfits work in any place you might go during the day. It just has such statement to my eyes that it is almost costume if worn in a setting where no one wears them. Like overalls in a gay bar.

[Shomas]

Maybe it's just where I live, but flat caps are anything but uncommon. Some do it better than others, but I see lots of men of various ages and aesthetics wearing them.

Also, just FYI, there PLENTY of gay bars in which overalls would not be out of place.

[Cannon]

Maybe it's just where I live, but flat caps are anything but uncommon. Some do it better than others, but I see lots of men of various ages and aesthetics wearing them.

Also, just FYI, there PLENTY of gay bars in which overalls would not be out of place.

New York City would obviously have more of them floating around.

As for the bars, color me surprised.

[LesserBlackDog]

Cannon, I'm surprised you are so skeptical of hats on the basis that they are not commonly-worn. You don't seem to hold any such reservations for styles worn by Daniel Craig in the James Bond movies - many of which would look utterly out of place nearly everywhere in America.

I wear things all the time that no one around me would wear. Looking different from virtually everyone else is part and parcel of being a stylish man in an exceptionally unstylish culture.

[Cannon]

Cannon, I'm surprised you are so skeptical of hats on the basis that they are not commonly-worn. You don't seem to hold any such reservations for styles worn by Daniel Craig in the James Bond movies - many of which would look utterly out of place nearly everywhere in America.

I wear things all the time that no one around me would wear. Looking different from virtually everyone else is part and parcel of being a stylish man in an exceptionally unstylish culture.

I'm not sure what looks you are talking about on Bond. His casual looks work well just about anywhere (polos, jeans or pants, button-down shirts, sweaters and cardigans), and I don't think his suits look out of place where he wears them either, which is usually while traveling or at appropriate meetings and events. In those contexts, I think they work well in the US, Europe, and elsewhere.

I'm not saying wear t-shirts if 95% percent of the people around you are wearing t-shirts (I'm in university and haven't worn a t-shirt outside of my room in months). There's nothing wrong with being in the upper tier of style and dressing where you are, but the guy with a bow tie in a board meeting is doing something else entirely to my eyes. Not wrong, but it draws an abnormal attention. A 25-year-old walking into the bank in a fedora has similar effect to me.

EDIT: Maybe I should clarify that I don't think this is that dark and serious of an issue. There's things that most people I consider stylish don't do in their dailywear, which draws attention to unusual throwback pieces. We've all seen a hipster in an bow tie who is using to such effect on purpose and generally know it.

[LesserBlackDog]

Let's just say if you tried to wear 85% of the stuff Bond wears (tailored suits, midnight blue dinner jackets, tiny swim trunks, Barbour jacket with scarf), you would look completely "out of place" amongst (or at least, completely different than) 95% of American men.

And Bond isn't exactly spot-on about his style being appropriate to his context. For example, it's hard to imagine someone "blending in" in Istanbul wearing this light grey suit and black chukka combo.



What I'm saying is, yes, hats are statement pieces, but being stylish in general also makes a statement. If you dress well as an American man, there is no avoiding the fact that you are going to draw some attention (wanted and unwanted).

[greg_s]

Ben, thank you for perfectly summarizing my thoughts on bond and why I don't understand such vehemence about him as a flawless style icon.