Interesting, thanks for sharing. I am also on the west coast, and wear wide brimmed hats (usually cowboy hats), which is somewhat unusual and many of the people comment on it, complement it, or ask me about it.
The truth is, I’m not really trying to make a fashion statement, I’m just bald and don’t want to get cancer on my head… and this hat design is uniquely functional in that it blocks the sun, doesn’t blow off in the wind, and doesn’t look incredibly dorky and non-breathable like the nylon sun hats they sell at REI. Yet people make a big deal about it and the social dynamics of peoples reactions are confusing and surprising to me.
The social reactions are interesting… I am shy and introverted, so it ends up being a good ice breaker, as people approach me about the hat frequently, and they notice and remember me a lot more readily. I have (rarely) had some really negative reactions, usually also from very leftist people that say the hat made them assume I was a “conservative piece of ****” or something along those lines, and were very surprised I didn’t fit that stereotype after talking to me. I very often get asked the exact same thing word for word: “I love your hat, where did you get it?” Yet those people are almost always already choosing to not wear hats, and I assume don’t and won’t actually buy and wear a hat, so I am a little confused about this question. My best guess is that they are trying to complement my style while qualifying that they aren’t trying to ‘hit’ on me.
As I mentioned, I do actually sometimes get negative feedback from people, but overall the effect is positive, because it causes people to interact with me spontaneously when I have trouble initiating social interactions, and I’ve made quite a few good friends just from that. Being polarizing is way better than being neutral for meeting people and making friends. I also suspect being avoided by a person that would negatively judge someone they don’t know just for wearing a hat is probably also a positive thing. It’s a functional thing I need because I’m bald with pale skin and spend a lot of time outdoors in a sunny climate, so people that think that is “cringe” are most likely not nice people. I didn’t choose to be bald, or sun sensitive, and haven’t found anything else that works as well- and trust me I tried because I felt very awkward about wearing a noticeable hat at first. I would liken that to thinking eyeglasses, a wheelchair, or a cane are cringe.
Once I was publically mocked by a group of guys in eastern Europe (Czech Republic) that thought it was hilarious that I was probably a local, trying to dress like an American cowboy or something. It made their day, and mine when I responded verbally with an American accent, and they started apologizing and laughing.
Being polarizing is way better than being neutral for meeting people and making friends.
This is really important. If I meet 100 people and make 1 really good friend, then it doesn’t matter whether the other 99 like me or not. Being polarizing helps filter for the small number of people I want to talk to.
It’s can also be fun to play into American stereotypes overseas. It’s not everyday that a Czechian gets to meet an authentic American cowboy. I much prefer that look to the generic sloppy baseball cap + T-shirt.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. I am also on the west coast, and wear wide brimmed hats (usually cowboy hats), which is somewhat unusual and many of the people comment on it, complement it, or ask me about it.
The truth is, I’m not really trying to make a fashion statement, I’m just bald and don’t want to get cancer on my head… and this hat design is uniquely functional in that it blocks the sun, doesn’t blow off in the wind, and doesn’t look incredibly dorky and non-breathable like the nylon sun hats they sell at REI. Yet people make a big deal about it and the social dynamics of peoples reactions are confusing and surprising to me.
The social reactions are interesting… I am shy and introverted, so it ends up being a good ice breaker, as people approach me about the hat frequently, and they notice and remember me a lot more readily. I have (rarely) had some really negative reactions, usually also from very leftist people that say the hat made them assume I was a “conservative piece of ****” or something along those lines, and were very surprised I didn’t fit that stereotype after talking to me. I very often get asked the exact same thing word for word: “I love your hat, where did you get it?” Yet those people are almost always already choosing to not wear hats, and I assume don’t and won’t actually buy and wear a hat, so I am a little confused about this question. My best guess is that they are trying to complement my style while qualifying that they aren’t trying to ‘hit’ on me.
A lot of people find wearing fancy hats “cringe”. If you didn’t get negative feedback, that may be because people don’t want to be rude.
As I mentioned, I do actually sometimes get negative feedback from people, but overall the effect is positive, because it causes people to interact with me spontaneously when I have trouble initiating social interactions, and I’ve made quite a few good friends just from that. Being polarizing is way better than being neutral for meeting people and making friends. I also suspect being avoided by a person that would negatively judge someone they don’t know just for wearing a hat is probably also a positive thing. It’s a functional thing I need because I’m bald with pale skin and spend a lot of time outdoors in a sunny climate, so people that think that is “cringe” are most likely not nice people. I didn’t choose to be bald, or sun sensitive, and haven’t found anything else that works as well- and trust me I tried because I felt very awkward about wearing a noticeable hat at first. I would liken that to thinking eyeglasses, a wheelchair, or a cane are cringe.
Once I was publically mocked by a group of guys in eastern Europe (Czech Republic) that thought it was hilarious that I was probably a local, trying to dress like an American cowboy or something. It made their day, and mine when I responded verbally with an American accent, and they started apologizing and laughing.
This is really important. If I meet 100 people and make 1 really good friend, then it doesn’t matter whether the other 99 like me or not. Being polarizing helps filter for the small number of people I want to talk to.
It’s can also be fun to play into American stereotypes overseas. It’s not everyday that a Czechian gets to meet an authentic American cowboy. I much prefer that look to the generic sloppy baseball cap + T-shirt.