Hats are back, big time, I hear. I read this a while ago in a couple of on-line fashion articles. Apparently there were lots and lots of hats on the runways for spring and summer 2020. Lots of hats at various fashion weeks, when there were fashion weeks. Baseball hats in particular. But also bucket hats, straw hats, sun hats, panama hats, even something called “dad hats.” And, you know, it’s only lately that I’ve realized the significance of this trend.
So yeah, hat head can be a good thing. Is, in fact, a good thing. Who knew? Isn’t it great when trends and necessity meet?
I found these shots below to illustrate my point. I love the denim A.P.C. baseball hat. And young Kaia Gerber in her plaid coat with her matching sneakers and baseball hat is the epitome of easy, casual chic, to me. That’s a look that anyone, of any age, can carry off in my opinion. Those bucket hats made me scrounge around in my storage drawers and haul out an old fishing hat that Hubby bought for me. The plaid one is Burberry and the green one is Etro. That green one almost makes me want to shop for a cool hat.
But that pseudo baseball hat with the crochet by Stella McCartney is a bit, ah, puzzling. And silly. Nothing like protecting your face from the sun and creating a patchwork of red and white lines on your forehead at the same time. This hat is strictly runway, I think. It reminds me of the post I wrote eons ago which included a bulky winter turtleneck that was missing a sleeve. Because in winter it’s good to be all cosy and warm with one freezing arm. Ha. The equivalent of thrusting one leg from under the covers when we get hot in bed, maybe? Fashion hyperbole can be so good for a chuckle.
But hair hyperbole, now that is no laughing matter. And the pandemic has created hair chaos for many of us. Okay, maybe not chaos exactly. But certainly a weekly evolution of colours and styles… or lack of colour and style. I’m not joking when I say that if I were not colouring my hair, I’d be 100% white-haired. And if I cut my hair today at the length I normally wear it, I’d be 50% white. But since I began to go grey in my late twenties, that’s not surprising. Lately I’ve been playing around with my hair, pulling it back off my face to try to visualize what I’d look like with all white hair. And you know, I’m not sure that I’m ready to go there yet.
As my hair has been evolving, I’ve also been pinning inspirational hairstyles to my “Bad Hair Made Better” Pinterest board. Looking for styling ideas for my growing locks. You can see that board here, if you’re interested. For the first time in years, my hair will be long enough and faded in colour enough that, when I finally see Carmen, we can try something completely different. And I’m not the only one, as you can read in this post on Disneyrollergirl. Navaz Batliwalla says she’s contemplating her post-lockdown hair choices as she “continues to grow [her] fringe.”
In the meantime, I’m going to attempt a different style the next time I wash my hair. And look for new and fun ways to achieve hat head. This is my old bucket hat. Hubby bought it for me as a fishing hat years ago. I’ll be employing it if the new style attempt is a disaster. And of course wearing it in the garden in the weeks to come.
And by the way, my new box-cut tee shirt was finally delivered from Everlane. I really like it. It’s pale pink. The cotton is really soft and quite heavy. Not nearly as sheer as my Vince tees. The crew neck is nice and high, and the boxy shape is just what I wanted, more fitted around the neck and shoulders, and loose around the middle. I ordered a size large. I’m wearing it partially tucked into my sweatpants in both shots, but when untucked it hits me at my mid hip. I’m going to order the box-cut tee with the pocket as well, I think. I did a tee shirt inventory and I am sadly lacking in tees to wear at home.
You know, I’d never heard the expression “hat head” until one winter in the eighties. Hubby was on a bus with his students travelling to Mount Tremblant for a ski day. And after everyone and their equipment was loaded, and he’d finally boarded, plunked himself down in the front seat, and told the driver to go, he pulled off his toque. The two girls in the seat across the aisle started giggling. He looked over at them inquiringly. “Sir,” one sputtered. “You have a mean case of hat head.” Then they burst out laughing.
I should say that back then Hubby had much more hair, and thick and curly hair at that. Since he’d left home at 5:30 A.M., having shaved the night before, and with no time to brush his hair before he rushed out the door, I can well imagine what it looked like when he pulled his hat off. A mean case of hat head, I guess. Ha.
So, yeah, hat head is a good thing now. Thank goodness. I always wear my baseball hat when I’m walking, but I think I will utilize my casual hats when I’m running errands. Maybe I’ll even try wrapping a scarf on my head. Although I admit, I’m much more of a baseball hat kind of person than the scarf turban kind. Still it’s better than displaying half a head of white hair, I think.
It’s lucky when our fashion needs dovetail with a current trend, don’t you think? But whether that’s kismet, karma, or plain old pragmatism, I have no idea. I’ll let you be the judge.
So, do tell, my friends. What methods are you employing to keep pandemic hair issues to a minimum?
P.S. The link to the Everlane tee shirt is an affiliate link. If you make a purchase after clicking my link, I will make a commission.
Linking up with Monday Runway at Pocket Full of Polkadots.
33 thoughts on “In Praise of Hat Head.”
Your video is adorable. I am a faithful reader of your blog, as I share your love of fashion and enjoy your writing style! I am dying my root grow-out with Clairol Natural Instincts, which is a demi-permanent dye and not as harsh as a permanent. Easy to use, and I am not ready to go gray or white yet. I admire women who have taken this step, including my two sisters, but I have set myself a goal of age 70 for going gray because I am not ready emotionally. Even my husband prefers that I keep it colored for a while yet. I was at home for nearly two months but returned to work this past week and do not regret that I did not have to go back with an inch or more or gray roots showing. : ) You look really cute in your baseball cap- I can’t say the same is true for me. Keep up the great writing. You are appreciated.
Thanks so much, Debbie. I thought of buying some colour, but I wanted to see what the brown out colour looked like, so I didn’t. And Carmen offered to talk me through a cut on a video call, but Im just mostly growing it out. Then I’ll have a clear shot at something completely different.
P.S. Readers and commenters are much appreciated too. 🙂
First, let me tell you how much I enjoy your blog. You are a great writer and storyteller. Plus, I like your style!
I have been keeping hair issues to a minimum by experimenting with new hair products and styling techniques. It has been very fun! I have a pixie that I cut very short in mid-February and it hasn’t been cut since. It is now a very grown out pixie, but I have to say I like it. I have been experimenting with all kinds of products to give it some volume and lift and texture. I just discovered “hair powder”, which I figured would just be dry shampoo, but its not! Its a hair volumizer and texturizer. LOVE IT. Also, the volume and lift disguise the roots. My hair is naturally a very dark blonde with some gray in it but I have been coloring it a medium golden blonde. I have about 1.5″ of brown roots. The lift I get from the hair powder hides my roots. So, I am finding that I actually like this grown out long pixie but only because I have the right products to keep it from going flat. I intend to keep it in some variation on this longer style. Also, I have also been wearing my hats more — sun hats with big brims to keep the sun off my face, and fedoras when I want something more stylish.
Thanks, Lisa. Your kind words are much appreciated. I’ve been thinking of going a bit longer as well. With more feathering, like the cut that was featured in Disneyrollergirl.
I’m fortunate in that I had a cut and color one week before lockdown, so I’m only dealing with roots and my fringe, not an overall crisis (I usually have a cut every three months). I snip my fringe with my sharpest scissors (vertical cuts only!) every couple of weeks in a very conservative manner, so no disaster so far, and if I happen to be going out (doctor’s appointment yesterday, or say, picking up food from a restaurant where they know me) I hit my roots with Color Wow so they’re not too disgraceful. At 10 weeks, I can see enough of my roots to know that I’m not ready to go grey yet (maybe when I’m 70, like Debbie), and luckily, my blonde makes it easier to hide the new growth.
No…I’m not ready yet either. I’ll go grey when my older sister goes… and not before. Ha.
Allowing the natural hair colour free rein is such a personal decision. I decided about 10 years ago that I couldn’t be bothered dyeing my hair so let it go natural. At the time I had a very short pixie cut so it was a quick and simple process that I have never regretted. Currently my hair is a mix of silver and mid blonde I hope is ends up white like my mothers and grandmothers. I cut my hair myself about 6 weeks ago and it could do with a tidy up but it isn’t too bad. In Sydney hairdressers are starting to reopen but I am not sure that I want to get that close to a stranger yet. I should explain that at the moment I don’t have a regular hairdresser so I need to trial one.
One of my sisters, who has had short pixies in the past, but who had let her coloured hair grow a bit longer, went totally grey in two cuts. She went back to her very short hair and stopped colouring, and it looked great. But she has dark eyes and a darker complexion than me. But that might just be an excuse on my part. 🙂
Tying head scarves. I am not a natural at this sort of caper but am getting better. After all, I have plenty of time to get it right. My usual short hair (very) is getting fluffy at the edges and annoying me so it is best if I can’t see it. And I have a great pile of scarves in my cupboard so might as well put them to good use. I do feel quite jaunty.
I have seen your hair scarves on Instagram – very stylish! 😊
Your headscarves have been brilliant, Annie. I’m afraid I’ll look like I’m off to a costume party. Still…. I may give scarves a whirl.
Your outfits look so comfy and cozy! I bought a dozen multi colored bandanas from Amazon ($16.00 for 12!!) to use for face masks. Well, they’ve been working great pulling my now long Bobbed hair off my face (headband style) and kind of hiding the 1.5″ of gray. Yay, for dual purpose, ha!!
Like we wore in the sixties, eh? I remember having all kinds of little bandanas to wear. They were all the rage.
I laughed at you pulling your hair back to check how much white there is . I do that nearly everyday . My youngest sister is a lovely pure white , the next up has no grey & I think I’m going to be in between . If it suits me I shall leave it , if doesn’t I won’t & it really doesn’t suit everyone . It’s longer than it has been for years & I’m liking it , especially as products around now give it the lift & body I need . In my teens I used to try lots of hats on as I loved the sophisticated effect but now they add ten years on me . I just don’t have the face for baseball hats either . So just brimmed sun hats for me & a woolly pull on in winter . You have a good ‘Hat Face ‘
PS Like Renee above , I bought those cheap bandanas , for the dog to wear – but I’m wearing them !
I love that you two are borrowing your dogs’ bandanas. I’ve been perversely examining my roots each morning. Because I know that I can get rid of them if I choose. And I probably will choose; I fear the white all over is not for me, makes me look ill, I think.
P.S. Gardening is in full swing here. We’ve had some warm-ish and sunny weather. And this week looks to be hot, even!
Manitoba has opened up a little bit after the lockdown and I was lucky enough to get to my hairdresser at the beginning of this week…she works from her home, only has one chair and her 90-year-old dad lives with them so she is exceptionally careful. Her front door was locked rather than her usual open door policy, she greeted me with a bottle of hand sanitizer and we both wore masks…lovely to see her AND to get hair attended to! I’m not ready to change very dark hair for grey or silvery-white just yet and am not giving myself a date or age to change over…have thought about it but neither myself nor my husband are ready for that drastic a colour difference. Love classic hats…not so much a baseball cap type (although I do own a couple) but do wear a wide brimmed hat while gardening to keep sun off my face. My grandmother always said “A hat completes an outfit” and while times have certainly changed I still agree with her even though I don’t wear them often enough! Thank you for your blog, fashions and video…lovely to see and hear you!
That’s how Carmen operates. One chair, one client at a time. I’m still hoping to be able to keep my June appointment.
Love your blog and videos. I also like both of your hats. You wear them well. I like how the one frames your face. I was supposed to get a cut and color the day my salon closed. Like you I have fine hair but a lot of it. I have a long bob getting longer and longer. My roots are more Dark than my warm blond colored hair but sprinkled with silver and I have silver at my temples and front hair line. My salon just opened up. I am a little nervous to go in for a full appointment so I may just go in for a cut. I am debating letting my now brown/silver hair grow out and maybe highlight it in the future. Love the pale pink tee.
Thanks, Pat. I am loving that Everlane tee. I’m going to order a couple more.
It’s been almost ten weeks since my last hair appointment, and I usually get a root touch up and trim every 3.5 weeks or so. There is definitely a noticeable line of demarcation between my dark brown hair and gray roots. It’s skunk in the front and mullet in the back—a great look! Ha! I’ve always planned to let my gray grow in at some point, and since it has a head start (no pun intended), I think the time is now! My mom is 89 and has a beautiful head of white hair. She stopped dyeing at 50, and I’m now 63. Hats are another thing! I’ve been searching for a new golf hat and would love to wear a baseball style, but I look like a pinhead with my small head and pixie cut! I think I will try a bucket hat next, fingers crossed!
It’s thirteen weeks for me. And wow, this week even my cobbled together trimming over my ears and a bit of the bangs can’t make it look like anything but a total mess. My mullet curls on the bottom and lies flat everywhere else. Ha.
Hi Sue, I was kind of having a melt down today, really missing all my clients. Well you made my day with your video. And your hair does not look that bad, well not sure about the flip inthe back! Ican not wait to have you back in my chair! I will fix all your hair woes and no more hats!!
So happy my post made you happy, my friend. That flip is embarrassing isn’t it? You may want to start denying that you do my hair. Maybe I’ll start wearing a sign that says.. “This hair is not Carmen’s fault!” Ha.
While you look great in a baseball cap, the same cannot be said of me. However, I do have a supply of other hats–several bucket hats and even more straw-woven hats. Up to this past week my relatively short hair has been manageable. Only trimmed the front sides so far and swept the fringe to the side, but the last few days have shown that the days of controllable hair have now past (12 weeks since last cut). Colour isn’t an issue. Already silver/gray.
Like you, if I dry my hair with a brush, the size of the bouffant is becoming alarming. If left to air dry (as I did yesterday) it will sort-of curl–but not nice curls like Frances or Duchesse have–mine are more like a mix of half-#ssed curls and bends rather than all curls. And because my hair is now much longer, the top has gone almost completely flat and the back is looking mullet-like. Like others, resorting to bandanas–borrowed from my dog (fortunately, he has a collection from his groomer). Hairdressers may now schedule appointments in our county with major safety issues being addressed. My appointment is still a few weeks away. Fortunately, my hairdresser works from her home–a separate entrance to a large. isolated basement area. Almost never more than one customer there at a time even before the lock down. Will wear a mask–perhaps not just for safety sake.
I do not look the best in a ball cap either. It’s something about the proportion of my head versus my face. I’m going to try the bandana thing for sure. I don’t have a dog, though. 🙂
Love your videos…you have such a pleasant voice! And so glad to hear that baseball caps are in. I have quite a collection and many of them have travel memories. But my current favorite is a lovely seaglass, one of my favorite colors. DH bought it for me for Christmas one year. I hope it lasts forever.
Your roots are actually a lovely blend with the rest of your hair, which I really can’t say for mine. And your “mullet” back is curly! Mine is straight and awful right now. But I’m leary of cutting back there…I can’t see it and probably need clippers to do it…too iffy. Like you, my hair is fine and abundant, and I get “big hair” when I wash and blow dry it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an appointment in June or July. Or I will have to take extreme measures. (I did cut my bangs and sideburns a bit after reading of your success and need to do that again.) YAY for baseball caps!
Thanks, Laurel. All of my ball caps are souvenirs. The one I wore in my video was picked up on our trip to northern B.C. and the Yukon. They come in handy for post-drying big hair. 🙂
Like this post on hats! You look good in a baseball cap Sue. I have lots of hats, but don’t wear them much – must get them out. I had a friend who said, “if I wear a hat, I am committed to it for the rest of the day!”. I can relate, because I get a “mean” case of hat head if I wear one (as she did too). I have cut my own hair (cut 5 inches off at the beginning of the stay at home time). It wasn’t easy and my husband helped. I have been snipping at it ever since. We are hanging in there, but it isn’t getting easier.
Love that comment about being committed. I had a friend with a smooth bob, and she regularly wears lovely hats which she can take off in restaurants etc. Not me. Like your friend, mine’s on for the day.
I have a large collection of ball caps in many different colours as I always wear one when I’m golfing. Nice to know that they’re on trend this spring!
Good to know, isn’t it? But we’d be wearing them anyway, I think.
Hi Sue, I’m really enjoying your videos. You’re a natural! Plus they add an extra dimension to your well written and entertaining blog! ( I know how much time and research you put into your blog posts… and it shows. )
I cancelled my hair appointment just before we went into lockdown, as I was starting to become concerned about contact with people outside the home. I’m lucky, colour wise as my grey is mainly around my hairline and temples so only really shows when the wind blows! No worries about that now as I’m mainly in the garden or on quiet walks! I’ve considered cutting my fringe, but I’m just sweeping it to one side. Or tying it back and wearing a headband when exercising. On the plus side I’m able to wash it less and leave it to air dry which can only be good for it. I’ve tried leaving it curly, which looks great when it’s wet but somewhat crazy, old lady when it dries, regardless of the product I use. You mentioned on IG that I could have a ponytail Sue, but apart from maybe once or twice on holiday, hiking I don’t think I’ve tied my hair back in public since my teens. I really hate it tied back. 😆
Thanks for posting regularly Sue, especially at this time. I really look forward to hearing from you.
Rosie
I tried a swept back look yesterday. Whew… so much grey. Plus, sleeping makes my hair go into crazy impossible to shift variations at night. When it was shorter, I’d wake up and it would have hardly moved. Nowadays it looks very weird in the morning. That’s where morning hats come in. Ha. Hope you and your family are all well, Rosie.
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