Hats can make an ensemble more elegant and refined, but hat wearers must be careful not to commit any social faux pas. The rules regarding hat wear are more relaxed now than they were in the first half of the 20th century, when hats were a necessity. However, there are still a few essential guidelines for women to follow when donning a hat.
Dressing With Hats
Hats come in a variety of shapes and styles. Just as you wear matching shoes, it is important to match your hat to your dress and to the occasion.
Some hats are designed for day wear and others for the evening. By dusk, a woman should remove a daytime hat (usually brimmed or simpler in design and decoration than evening hats). A hat worn with a dinner suit or dress, on the other hand, may remain on throughout the evening. If she does want to take off the hat, after dinner is the best time to do so. A formal evening dress never takes a hat.
Feel free to dress up the hat with a feather, but anything attached to hatband should rest on the right side of the hat for women.
Hats come in varying materials for the different seasons. Warm weather allows for straw and cotton hats, which breathe more easily than heavier materials. In the winter, wool protects from the elements. Knit, fleece and flannel hats also are warm enough for colder temperatures.
When to Remove Hats
For the most part, women are exempt from the stricter rules regarding hat propriety that men must follow. Women often pin their hats to their hair or have ribbons and bows to untie, thus making removal far more difficult. In general, women remove their hats when stepping into the office to work or if their hats block someone else's view, like at a theater performance. They may rest their hats on their laps until the performance's end.
It is considered superfluous to wear a hat inside your own home unless you are hosting a christening, wedding, funeral or wake. In these cases, the house becomes a house of worship for purposes of hat etiquette.
If a woman wears a baseball cap or a masculine hat (such as a cowboy hat or fedora), then she follows the rules for men. She takes off her hat when at home, at work, at mealtimes and at restaurants or cafes, at a theater, when the national anthem is played, when the national flag passes and at religious services. With a ladies' style hat, a woman does not remove it during the national anthem.
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