Ah, summer!
The return of hot weather, seaside vacations and Pitti Uomo, this magnificent Italian garden of experiments in which elegance is often abused by overbidding.
In the heart of the Tuscan valleys, the scent of Chianti vineyards and olive groves intoxicates the air, carried by the iodized breeze of a white Mediterranean mistral, gliding among the masterpieces of the Renaissance to refresh the influencers who have prepared for the event their most beautiful layering.
There remains, however, one element that the wind has never been able to deviate from its course: hats. They therefore flourish within this Florentine utopia on the heads of informed gentlemen. As much to protect them from the sharp rays of the sun as to bring - it must be admitted - a good boost to the presence of the majority of them: because the choice of a suitable headgear brings so much charm what dynamism to an outfit.
And instantly allows you to differentiate an elegant man from one who is going to get a sunburn on the nose.
So, before wondering how to choose and wear a hat in summer, let's have fun dissecting it, to understand it better.
Anatomy of a hat
The hat responds, as you see, to a very simple vocabulary:
- The brim is the horizontal part of the hat. It provides protection from the sun or rain and its width as well as its shape have a direct impact on the aesthetics of the hat.
- The crown is the vertical part of the hat. She dresses the head. Its height is also a characteristic element of the hat.
- The braid is the band that covers and surrounds the crown of the hat. It can be cotton grosgrain, linen, silk or even leather. It is attached to the cap at the lateral node , which can take many shapes.
- The crown (or the bottom) is located on the upper part of the crown and can take different shapes depending on the two folds visible in front or laterally (we speak of a pinched or mascot crown).
The proportions between the brims, the height of the crown and the shape of the crown will allow us to differentiate the hat shapes.
Panama
Robert Redford, or the natural art of wearing a hat.
Short story
It is undoubtedly the hero of the summer, because it can suit all heads and in many styles.
The panama is a hat woven from Ecuadorian palm straw (toquilla).
Made in Ecuador since the 17th century, it was adopted by miners transiting through Panama to California during the gold rush during the first half of the 19th century. In 1906, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was photographed wearing this straw hat during a tour of the Panama Canal, giving the hat its name and popularity.
In 1906, American President Theodore Roosevelt, visiting Panama
The quality of the panama depends on the fineness of the weaving of the palm straws.
Several methods are used to express one's rank, but they have several limitations:
- In the city of Cuenca, the grade is numbered from 1 to 20, but this only has meaning within the same factory, because the different suppliers in the city do not use the same gradation.
- In the town of Montecristi, an emblematic town of high-end Panama, we designate the grade by its name, of which four are the majority: standard, fino, superfino, extrafino. The problem here too is that each supplier in the city can give the name that suits them, because there is no consensus.
Only one calculation method is sufficiently reliable: the number of knots per inch (weaves per inch). As this number can be calculated horizontally or vertically and the knot density is not quite the same, for even greater precision we use the number of knots per inch² (weaves per square inch).
How to wear it?
The Panama hat is the ultimate headwear to pair with a suit in summer (credit The Sartorialist)
Above on a straight striped suit, it is worn slightly at an angle, giving its wearer the presence of a film noir hero during prohibition.
A photo that defines, in my opinion, the essence of sartorial elegance.
Here on a double-breasted, the panama completes an outfit which seems very simple but which, to arrive at this level of essential, required as much thought as excellent feeling.
The outfit works on two colors, on a contrast of different materials which means that no piece is redundant. And this is only the 3rd time that this photo appears in a BonneGueule article, we haven't hammered it home enough!
Two successful associations with a Panama (The Sartorialist - photo on the left, Echeveau.net - photo on the right)
Here, with a white t-shirt (of which we will notice the impeccable fit ) and white Bermuda shorts, it brings a touch of panache to the outfit. Note how the black sweater tied at the belt (purely accessory) brings a welcome demarcation to an otherwise too monochrome outfit (credit: TheSartorialist)
In this holiday spirit, on the right, worn with a Cuban collar shirt, bleach jeans with turn-up cuffs and slip-ons , it is also a guaranteed success. (credit: Echeveau.net)
Other choices are possible than white, the proof here (credit: Kentaro Nakagomi by TheSartorialist)
White is not the only color to consider! This panama made from very finely woven and uniform bronze-colored straw is absolutely stunning.
We must not forget that a panama is a hat that you can wear on the beach. It's even possible to swim with it without worry, although it may change its shape a bit if completely submerged.
The boater
Maurice Chevalier, inseparable from the boater
Short story
As this photograph shows, the boater is a hat with an oval crown and a flat crown, with a more or less wide brim. It was born on the heads of French sailors aboard canoes, the canotiers (hence its name), and was part of their uniform in the 19th century. It became very popular when people from good society made it fashionable, at the end of the 19th century, to dress their children as little sailors.
He was also very popular in the stands during sporting events.
It therefore belonged, within the same century, to two distinct environments: the popular world of the sailor and the much more bourgeois world of the wealthy inhabitants of the riviera, which makes it a very versatile hat.
How to wear it?
Here he is in the purest Riviera spirit, matched with a colorful jacket and pants, as well as spectator shoes (credit: Berluti SS14).
The southern coherence of this ensemble, with the subtle shades of carmine, brown, ocher and straw gives this outfit an elegant and holiday character that is difficult to compete with.
The boater with a more sportswear look also works...
You have to believe that the wine color definitely goes perfectly with summer. In a much more sportswear style, worn with a terrycloth sweatshirt and a pair of slip-ons (for example), the boater also works wonders .
Trilby, Homburg, Pork-Pie, Melon
But what are these complicated names, which one could easily believe came from Lovecraft's imagination to designate a Great Ancient One? (no, I really have no tendency towards exaggeration)
- The homburg is slightly more formal than its smaller comrades and has a very characteristic shape: it has a crown with a central fold (known as a gutter), a raised edge on the sides of a characteristic shape (kettle curl) and often braided.
- The melon , much better known, belonged to the formal and elegant wardrobe of the early 20th century. Its brim is small and uniformly raised, with a round crown and crown. Its shape is originally shelled (rigid) and will therefore be made from thicker straw to maintain a rigid shape in summer.
- The pork-pie which was also very popular in the 1930s. It is a hat with a small raised brim, a low crown and whose flat crown is marked with a circular incision around the edge.
- The trilby is a hat designed like a fedora (the shape that the panama takes) but with a much smaller brim (less than 5 cm). It is a recent derivative of the pork-pie , in the category of hats with small brims. He was notably associated with the Blues Brothers in the 1980s.
These last two headgear enjoyed a resurgence of interest in the 2000s and are now more widespread.
Protecting the creative spirit of Ignatius Joseph from overheating, many hats rarely represented in summer have gained visibility.
Above, left, the bowler hat, here in woven white straw, with its raised brim and round crown.
On the right, a hat which, in terms of shape, is located between the homburg, with its raised and braided brim, narrower than the bowler, and the trilby, the cap being pinched and presenting a crown closer to that of a Panama.
How can you not seem like you're trying too hard?
The question deserves reflection. Indeed, if the hat was an essential element of a self-respecting outfit before the 1950s, today, the hat is considered the accessory of the "dandy", this magazine phenomenon who wears a suit in picnic on Sunday, but tucks his tie into his pants so as not to look like he's trying too hard.
An out-of-context character who would like to spread his misunderstood good taste to the world around him, and whose light-hearted impertinence is often tinged with contempt.
Although this glossy paper figure corresponds, in the majority of cases, to an editorial caricature, the aim is not to be associated with it, nor with a tycoon from the tobacco and sugar cane industry, or to a lost spectator at Roland-Garros.
First, you have to own the part. In the millennium of bare heads and scarlet tourists, an elegant headgear adds a lot of allure to an outfit, but for many people has something imposing and caricatured.
We must therefore recontextualize it and start by wearing it for its practicality , that is to say to protect it from the rain or the sun.
A hat with a brim that is too thin, like the trilby, provides very little protection from the sun and is therefore instantly classified as 'fashion'. There is nothing negative about having a fashionable or colorful hat, but keep in mind that the flashier it is, the more connotation it has.
The way you wear it will also play a role. If, worn too far back, the hat can look posesome and turn into ridicule , a hat screwed straight on the skull has something far too serious about it.
I therefore borrow from an article in Parisian Gentleman the notion of ''Rakish angle'', that is to say a hat worn on the top of the forehead and slightly tilted.
If we had to remember only one characteristic photo, it would be that of the elegant Frank Sinatra.
Some places to find a beautiful summer hat
You can take a look at the Headict and Chapellerie Traclet sites which offer a wide choice of hats from several brands.
You will find Stetson or Borsalino in particular.
Finally, we can advise you to watch Courtois Paris !
A beautiful panama in a fairly warm camel color, by Courtois Paris
The final word
However, wearing a hat corresponds to an experience, a life experience, and the synthesis of many personal influences.
If it can become an impactful accessory to the summer outfit, giving it a welcome aesthetic boost when the mercury takes up arms against your favorite outfits and condemns you to a linen t-shirt, the pitfall to avoid would be to appear disguised while wearing it.
There is no age or specific look that prohibits the wearing of a hat, because like any piece of character, the hat only asks to be assumed and tamed. Many other headwear also have their place in summer, such as the cap or the bucket hat, alternatives popular with street and workwear enthusiasts. But that's another story.
