How to Wear a Boater Hat: Stylish Outfit Ideas for Every Occasion

A boater hat is a typical fashion accessory and it is considered very elegant. The boater hat has been worn for more than 100 years by the most elegant men and women´s life. It has a flat crown and a wide flat brim which is a classic hat. It is a timeless view that is a bit nostalgic and you can match the boater with an old-fashioned style or a new modern view. We will go inside all the tips to wear boater hats. In this guide, we will be covering all the aspects of how to wear a boater hat.

From choosing the right cap to wearing it the correct way and the perfect occasions to wear a boater. Also, we will be covering all the accessories to pair different outfits with boater hats, top celebrities, and influencers who are wearing them, and how to maintain your new fedora to keep it in prime condition. By the end of this post, you will be a professional at wearing boater hats.

Choosing the Right Boater Hat: How To Wear a Boater Hat

Choosing the right boater hat is important in nailing this classic piece of headwear. Your hat can make or break your outfit, especially with boater hats, and every hat is unique. Consider these things before you buy a boater hat:

Materials Matter

Made from straw (often tough sennit, akin to the hats of olde England). Boater hats have seen a great comeback in modern days and can come in a variety of options. From natural or synthetic straw to felt or even leather, each offering a distinctive texture to the look. Choose the material that suits you best and style, and the occasion you’re focusing on.

Color and Ribbon Styles

The ribbon band often a wide one is a signature feature of the boater hat and a place to add a pop of color or pattern to your outfit. For a bold look use complementary colors or contrasting colors, or go with a tone scheme for something subtle.

Brim Width and Crown Height

Any woman trying it on, you watch them pivot eagerly to see themselves in the mirror or walk immediately over to a friend to ask, ‘Does this look good?’ The brim is typically about two inches thick, but depending on your preference you can find wider or even narrower brims, while the choice of crown is usually low, but you will find some boater hats with higher crowns or even more tapered crowns. You want a hat, in other words, that while it pays homage to the mannequin founder of your secret society, it also makes your head look fantastic and flatters your face.

Boater Hat Styling Tips

And since you chose a boater hat, let’s create a look out of it! Formal or not, these babies go with anything. Here you go:

Casual Outfits: Keep It Relaxed

Wear it with a summery dress or high-waisted jeans, and you’re ready for a laid-back holiday appearance. If you’re going for a look that harks back to the trad-indie cool of the late teens. Pair your boater hat with Breton tops and trousers, mid-dragons, and summer linen shirts. Plus the requisite skinny jeans, loafers, and slim ties. A loose, gently mussed-up style will complement the renegade attitude of the charismatic boater.

Formal Looks: Elegance Personified

Wear it with tailored suits, a maxi dress, or a jumpsuit of culottes if you’re dressing up. Make sure your fancy hat or boater is immaculate and unsoiled to keep your outfit looking sharp.

Seasonal Suggestions: Adjusting for the Weather

Boater hats are undoubtedly a summer staple in the light fabric and head-addressing sun shades. Make them very appropriate but whatever the weather, play up the hat’s lines. For winterwear, contrast with a darker felt version and partner with a warm coat and high-heeled boots.

Accessorizing with a Boater Hat

Accessories complete a boater hat outfit, providing the detail and flourish that can turn a wonderful ensemble into a magnificent one, and a fine hat into a fabulous hat. Here are some ideas for accessories to go with your boater hat:

Sparkling Sunglasses

When the sun is shining, rounding out your boater headwear with a pair of sunglasses is a glamorous finishing touch. Opt for classic aviators, or for a more modern look, choose oversized angular frames.

Scarf Sophistication

A silk scarf knotted under the hat’s band or around your neck will revolutionize your existing look. This timeless combination is modern but extremely versatile and can be matched to your outfit to create a coordinated polished look.

The Right Jewelry

But when you’re topping off your look with a boater hat, a little goes a long way. A single statement piece can counterweight the heaviness you’re placing upon your head a big pair of earrings or a thick choker. Or you could go the more girlie route and pile on a bunch of delicate pieces.

Handbag Harmony

Match your hat by selecting a partner that doesn’t try to outdo a boater (by picking a clutch, crossbody bag or tote to accompany it, depending on your setting and reason for hat wear), and color-coordinating your bag with your hat to solidify your style credibility.

Celebrities and Influencers Rocking Boater Hats

One of the best things about boater hats is that the cap is acceptable to celebrities and social influencers. Don’t get me wrong, there’s already been a backlash against caps (Kanye West is kind of ruining it for the rest of us), but the cap is still a regular part of men’s fashion. So, there are lots of cap-wearing celebrities out there. From the big screen to the social feed, here are a few of the people who wear caps better than the rest:

Classic Hollywood Icons

Think Laurel and Hardy or Charlie Chaplin, and even Marlene Dietrich or the elegant Fred Astaire. They were the golden age of movie stars who made and mainlined the boater hat. They continue to inspire boater hat fashionistas to this day.

Modern Day Influencers: How to Wear a Boater Hat

Nowadays, people such as Olivia Palermo, Camille Charrière, and Lucy Williams frequently feature themselves in Instagram and blog posts wearing boater hats as a way to demonstrate how to wear the boater hat in contemporary urban contexts.

Maintaining and Storing Your Boater Hat

Doing so will keep your boater hat in good order and retain its shape over the years. Here’s how to look after your boater hat:

Regular Cleaning

Straw hats should be dusted with a soft, damp cloth for more stubborn stains, use a mixture of very mild soap and water (do a spot test first). Felt hats should be brushed with a soft brush.

Store Properly

Your favorite bower, not put in the sun, where the rims of the straw will snap off. Must be kept in a cool dry place in the hat box if you can. The larger and rounder hat baskets the better, with their edge covered in cloth or tissue paper, to retain the round shape of the hat.

Handle with Care

Don’t lift your boater with the pinna but handle it with the vertical – by the crown, I mean or hold it here – with both hands, one by each side, and say LIFT.

Conclusion

And, frankly, they’re not going anywhere soon. Ever the meeting point between old and new, formal and casual, young and old, nothing could better reflect these paradoxes of the boater hat than becoming a fashion statement in its own right. There you have it, then make these tips and tricks part of your shopping list for that next boater, or just wear the boater you have at home more often, more easily. There are more ways than you know to look good in it! Wear it forever! For more reading about boater hats, visit our Boater Hat Pinterest Board right here.

On the track, on the pond, or just to bring a touch of sartorial class to your man-on-the-street routine, there’s nothing more upmarket in hat wear in goodness knows what direction than the boater. In learning to rock the boater, you develop greater fluency in the idiom of the boating hat repertoire, arriving at a style recognizably your own. Wear it mean, wear it sleaze, pull it off, shine your nails, curl your hair, or somehow make the soft, snug, obeisant crease in your hat a telling metaphor for what’s going on with your life.