Pre-1960s - why did everyone wear hats and

[DuckyMcDuck]

Why did we stop?

I've been killing time looking at historic photo videos on YouTube and in the 1900-1960 photos, everyone is wearing a hat!

Anyone know why that was?

At the very least, we need to bring gloves back.

Marvellous Mrs Maisel, fab outfits and the hats are very glamorous.

I think as well, in the past, people were more concerned about the sun.

My DP looks like that Don Draper photograph. Wears similar hats, too.

I quite often wear a hat. I have a selection of them (not bobble hats or caps, though).

I was born in the wrong era.

I always wear gloves, too (proper ones). I was well ahead of Covid.

Lots of different reasons depending on time, place and class. Eg

• pollution - all those coal fires meant lots of bits of black soot in the air, would fall into your hair/face and dirty it
• skin tone - pale skin was seen as desirable and hats shaded the face
• religion - covering your head is a sign of reverence to god
• sexuality - showing your hair was seen as immodest/brazen for a woman, only whores did it
• fashion - hats are natty
• warmth - hats keep your head warm in days when people didn't always have many clothes or thick/waterproof coats

@Scardanelli very envious if your dp looks like Don Draper!

My grandfather on my mother's side always wore a hat when he was out. He even wore a hat when he died about 5 years ago. He asked for euthanasia (this is legal in my country), he drank the medicine he was given, combed his hair with brillantine, put on his hat and died a few minutes later. It was so typical for him! He worked in commerce and told us that hats were for gentlemen and caps were for farmers.
My grandfather on my father's side was a farmer always wore a cap (not to die though). My uncle who is 60 and also a farmer still wears a cap when he goes out.

PieceOfMaria Far from Heaven is good for 50s costumes and interiors too. Beautiful colours

I have some fabulous photographs of my grandad's older sister, born around 1900, who always wore a hat but never a bra. She was fond of a silk blouse too, which compounded the effect.

Keeping warm/ dry/ shaded
Less hair washing
More walking around in the elements and no central heating to warm up once you hot in and sat down.

I like hats. With the mild, wet winter I wore them less than usual which was a bit odd as most days I needed my hood more.
I usually wear a cap for running as it keeps the sun/ rain off and keeps the tickly, wispy bits of hair at bay.

It was colder! No universal central heating.

The Queen wouldn't looked properly dresses without her hat.

*dressed

FIL always wore a flat cap to keep his combover in order.

I do like hats, but they're quite expensive, and difficult to keep clean (as I don't think you can just toss a old-style hat into a washing machine).
I wear a beanie or a beret for about eight months of the year... at least they're washable.

People were so much more exposed to the elements in those days, even inside it would be draughty and cool most of the year, and it was very difficult to get things dry. I find myself constantly caught out by the great British weather, but I can just hop back in my car and drive back to my double-glazed, insulated, centrally-heated house. Even in the sun, I can pop up by sun umbrella thing in the garden and stick some sunglasses on.

What doesn’t fascinate need though is how they got things washed and dried? On TV their outfits always look immaculate.

My grandmother always wore some very nice stylish hats in the 1940/1950 era's. and my Grandfather always wore a trilby. My grandmother liked to dress up if she went shopping in her local town,even just to go to the market to get fruit and veg and cheese etc. She always went in a little cafe after,for tea and cakes,and meet her friends,who were all dressed in a similar way, as in nice hats,best coats, and their best costume jewellery.

I was born in 1942,so remember it all very well. My own Mother never got dressed up though,except for a wedding, but my GRAN was like a mini Queen round the market stalls.

Not hats now, but I have a photo of myself on my shelf,taken in 1962 when I was 20. I was ultra slim with a tiny waist,and went with my boyfriend to Ilfracombe for a holiday. The photo shows me in a lovely pale yellow dress. a bit off the shoulder,and a matching belt round my 21 ins waist. I was walking up a high rugged incline near the sea, wearing this dress, with white stilletto healed shoes, and a little pair of white lacy gloves, and a little white handbag, and a film star hairdo. ha ha

If you go back far enough women wore headdresses very similar to what Muslim women wear now in the UK.

A head covering of some sort, veil, hood, head dress, wig or hat seems to have carried on till the 70’s.

I look really good in hats but awful in baseball caps. Fashion designers are missing a trick because we’d all buy them if they decided hats were in vogue again and not just for weddings.

I don't have any photos of my gran wearing a hat unless she was dressed up for church, although I remember her wearing a headscarf regularly to preserve her hairdo (she would have a shampoo and set once a week and wear a hairnet)

My DGM always wore hat and gloves. She taught me to take off the right glove and hold it in the left hand in case I had to greet anyone.

I love hats but always feel daft wearing them.

People in Europe have generally worn headgear for centuries, since Medieval times at least. It's a Christian thing, I think.

Didn't JFK popularise going hatless in the early 60s? I heard somewhere that he was very proud of his luscious locks, so he usually went hatless when he was campaigning to be elected president.

Is it a 'Christian' thing or more common in people living in cold climates and/or fair skinned people in summer? (Afaik other cultures wear hats and other headgear too )

You lose a lot of heat via your head-warmth was definitely a factor.

Fashion designers are missing a trick because we’d all buy them if they decided hats were in vogue again and not just for weddings.

I bloody wouldn't. I don't suit hats at all. I think I've been on trend twice in my life and that was by accident