Hats

[gothwalk]

Hats, I am discovering, make an unreasonable difference to your experience of weather. Yesterday, there was a vague attempt at rain while I was walking home, with no hat. I felt chilly, rained on, somewhat soaked, and rather put out, despite the fact that I was heading home for a few hours of EVE before watching the first episode of the new season of Torchwood (review coming up on dukestreet later today).

This morning, I wore my winter hat, a black trilby-sort-of-thing, through the driving rain and nasty winds walking to work. I was warm, comfortable, and felt dry, despite the fact that I was, well, walking to work in the rain.

And yet, a good half of the people I passed had wholly inadequate hoods, scarves tied over their heads, ineffective umbrellas (many of which turned inside out at each street corner), or the old classic of a newspaper over the head. The people who were wearing hats were black, oriental, Polish, or quite old. Hats are not that hard to get - why do Irish people not wear them?

Comments

[sharikkamur.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Although I find that there is a definite hierarchy in how effective they are. Woolly hats help against the cold, but if you really want to feel comfortable your hat must have a brim against the rain (and snow).

[loupblanc.livejournal.com]

Personally, I find it very hard to find the right type of hat. When I was over in the US, I have tried a few shops as I'm looking for one but could not find the right one. It was either too wide, the wrong shape, the wrong material or just the wrong colour...

Still, I might find the right one at some point, though I have no idea where to buy a hat around here

[cpio.livejournal.com]

Hats aren't really compatible with hair full of product (gel, wax etc). Not that getting soaking wet is compatible with these either, but at least you don't end up with a messy hat and/or a strange moulded looking head.

I like when my hair is short enough and product free that I can wear my hat - though I tend to wear it more in the summer to keep the sun off my face, ears and neck. It does work well in winter too, but I just don't trust it in windy conditions.

Remember, a baseball cap counts as a hat and it is also reasonably good for keeping the rain off one's head.

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

I have a bit of a langiage problem here. In Dutch there is a distinct difference between all the woolen affairs (they are called muts) and the more old fashion type (the ones you can lift in greeting, so to say, they are called hoed)

This year I bought myself a pet not quit a baseball cap but of that model. Only it has a fake fur lining and flaps to cover the ears. It is reasonably water repellent. It does make a tremendous difference. I bought it at a millitary dumpstore. After I bought it I saw it everywhere on the streets, mainly boys wearing it. (only they don't fasten the flaps under their chin and I do, makes me look silly but it is much warmer).

This doesn't at all help you in finding out why the Irish don't wear hats, I am sorry :-)

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I used to have a hat like your pet! It was great. (And when I wasn't wearing it, I could hang it off my handbag by the fastened flaps.) But I lost it. :-(

[silja.livejournal.com]

I think Irish people (younger ones) think they are "un cool", plus due to often strong winds, hats aren't always practicable. Personally, I think headcoverings are great :P I have had far less colds since I cover, plus no issues with "bad hair days".

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

My head gets hot, itchy and uncomfortable when I wear winter hats. I almost always wear hats in hot, sunny places though.

[saoili.livejournal.com]

I suspect that part of the reason is that while wearing a big, warm, wide brimmed hat is great in certain kinds of weather, it's downright annoying in others. This being Ireland, you can't really tell which forms of weather you'll get when you're leaving your house.

I also suspect that a large amount of it is that it's not done because it's not done. I've been a brimmed hat wearer myself (simply never got around to replacing the last one) and gotten slagged lots for it. I don't mind slagging much myself, but a lot of people do.

Is it possible that it may be a vestige of class?

[will-sample.livejournal.com]

....given that people who work out of doors find greater necessity to shield themselves against the elements, there does seem to be a propensity among the Irish to want to disassociate themselves from 'laborers' -- a Polish construction worker can acceptably wear a hat, but an office secretary not as much--- think of it this way; when you see a well-to-do gentleman about town, how likely is it that he is wearing a hat, and if he is, how practical a hat is it?

Just a thought.

Re: Is it possible that it may be a vestige of class?

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

a propensity among the Irish to want to disassociate themselves from 'laborers'

Yes. It winds me up how much my parents' generation look down on builders. With charming naivete, they actually believe education is purely meritocratic and people in the trades are there because they're stupid.

[nonhae.livejournal.com]

I love hats and the collection grows every year. Getting hats that fit is the problem with my big head full of tasty brains. It's incredibly difficult to find anywhere that sells hats in different sizes that are a suitable match for my outdoors attire. Too large hats get blown off just as I'm crossing a river, small hats hurt and look silly. Hat pins are wonderful things, though not before first morning coffee. But also sometimes difficult to find.

Also, there's the fun of hat hair afterwards. Never underestimate the problem that is hat hair.

[dangerdean.livejournal.com]

Some of us don't have a problem with hat hair. :)

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

I give myself hat hair deliberately! I haven't got a decent hairdryer at my disposal at the moment, and if it dries naturally it's all randomly wavy and stupid. If I wear my hat when it's damp, it's smooth and flat on top and flicks out at the bottom, which looks much less stupid.

That'll probably change when it gets longer.

I generally love my hat (fluffy grey trilby sort of thing) and have been loving how immune to rain it makes me!

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Oh, and pony tails - they get in the way and make some hats hard or impossible to put on, or stupid when they are on.

[ulaire-daidoji.livejournal.com]

I think it has a lot to do with (as people have said above) hair, class and fashions.

Also I think it has a lot to do with the motorcar. Hats went out of fashion at about the same time that the cheap family car became ubiquitous. No need to keep warm when you were essentially shielded from the elements all the time. I suppose this is another class thing?

[caturah.livejournal.com]

Following a discussion with a friend in work about hats (both of us wearing trilby variations) he told me that apparently the Irish have a slightly larger head size than most of Europe, making the finding of hands that fit properly damn hard. And don't get me started on the problem of quality vs. fashion in trying to find something decent...

[wyvernfriend.livejournal.com]

I wear hats most of the time, winter and summer and find that people are quite bemused by them. Winter I wear a hat for warmth and waterproofedness (women's hats have a strange tendency to have 'don't get wet' on them for unknown reasons) and Summer for shade. I have a collection that bemuses grutok

[followthebird.livejournal.com]

Hats are not that hard to get - why do Irish people not wear them?

I do but

A) My head is big so most hats don't fit my head (I have a big head..har har..its true though).

B) I keep loosing the ones that do fit me.