Men’s Hat Etiquette Guide

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Just as the gentleman should have a variety of hats for different seasons and occasions, he should also be aware of the rules for when to have his hat on and when to take it off.

A great many menswear sources, if they do offer advice on hat etiquette, will typically advise that the most basic rule to remember is to wear your hat when outdoors and to take it off indoors.

While this advice may end up working out for the wearer, let’s say 75-80% of the time, we believe that there’s a better central starting point for approaching hat etiquette which is as follows:

Wear Your Hat In Public & Take It Off In Private Spaces.

Stated simply, a private space is any place where people live, work, or pay a fee to enter. Anything else is generally going to be considered public. Here then are some more specific examples of this philosophy in practice.

Bowler Hats & Caps in 1920
Bowler Hats & Caps in 1920
  1. A house is a private space but the foyer or entryway just inside the door can be considered a public space. This goes back to the era when a butler would typically greet guests at the door and take their hats and coats. Similarly, an apartment is a private space but their surrounding hallways, as well as the lobby, are public.
  2. This same general rule is typically true for hotels with the added caveat that spaces reserved specifically for hotel guests such as the pool or lounge are also considered private spaces.
  3. One unique distinction for apartment buildings, hotels, and other such multi florid spaces, an elevator is considered a private space. This goes back to the days when most elevators still had human operators. As such, you would consider the elevator the operator’s office.
  4. Related to the concept of entry fees are membership dues. As such, any club with specific members is also considered to be a private space.
  5. Office buildings where the lobbies and hallways are are public spaces but specific offices are private spaces. In addition, cubicle areas are collectively treated as private, basically functioning as one large office. This isn’t limited to the specific space inside each individual cubicle.
  6. If a doctor’s office has a separate reception area, that’s considered a public space but the waiting room is considered a private space because you’re already waiting for the doctor’s services and in a manner of speaking, already in the office.
  7. Also in the medical field, a hospital building is treated as an all private space. This goes back to the days when most hospitals were still run by churches.
  8. A theater is a private space since you have to pay for a ticket to get in, however, since you have to buy the tickets in the lobby most of the time, the lobby is considered a public space.
  9. Despite usually requiring a ticket for entry, an outdoor stadium is still often considered a public space because it’s outdoors and fairly large. An indoor stadium, on the other hand, is a private space.
  10. A restaurant is a public space, in general, but once you’ve been seated at your table, it becomes a private space since, in theory, you’re paying to be there. Curiously enough, however, the bar is almost always considered a public space at all times.
  11. Stores are typically public spaces with the exception being if you’re given specific attention from a salesperson. Because you’re requiring their services at that point, the interaction then becomes more private at which point, it’s best practice to remove your hat.
  12. Places of worship are generally considered to be private spaces but of course, some religious traditions do have specific rules related to men’s headwear as well as women’s headwear. If you plan to attend a place of worship and don’t know the rules relating to headwear, be sure to ask someone in the know. Hats can also be removed at certain specific times for such activities like prayer, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States, or for the singing of hymns or national anthems.
  13. If you’re in motion, your hat should remain on regardless of the method or openness of transportation. This harkens back to the days when transportation was pretty much all done out of doors, either walking, on horseback, or in an open carriage. Even though we have many new methods of transportation and a lot of them are enclosed, the tradition of keeping your hat on while you’re moving still remains in effect.

And there you have it! Using this public space private space motto, the hatted gentleman can be sure that he’s always observing proper etiquette when wearing his hat or as the case may be, not wearing it.

The lounge at a private members club
The lounge at a private members club

Why Remove Hats In Private Spaces?

The answer is that the uncovering of the head is a sign of deference that goes back millennia. It’s usually done to signal an acknowledgment of intrusion or to show basic gratitude. In other words, the hallmarks of a gentleman.

Hat tip
Hat tip

The Practice Of Hat Tipping

The tradition of tipping one’s hat has its roots in bowing to show respect. A practice that was common across various cultures for centuries. When hats became the dominant fashion for men and bowing was still common practice, the hat would have to be removed when a man bent from the waist so that it didn’t hit the floor. Bowing would gradually become less extreme over the course of the 19th century, culminating in the simple hat tip by the 20th century. These days in the 21st century, even that practice can seem a little outdated.

If you’re a regular hat wearer and feel totally comfortable in headwear, you can give a hat tip to people regardless of gender these days too but if you feel that the behavior would seem affected coming from you, you can go ahead and skip the tip.

Straw Hats in 1958
Straw Hats in 1958

CONCLUSION

Even if you don’t commit to memory every single example we outlined in this guide, you can still be sure that by following the basic model of the public space-private space paradigm, you, as a hat-wearing gentleman, will be courteous with your stylish headwear.

Note: the majority of the information for today’s article was sourced from the writings of menswear historian Bill Thompson.

Which of the etiquette rules we covered today came as the biggest surprise to you?

Reader Comments

  1. Great article. How I would like to see hat coming back. I fell alone when I have mine.
    The place where I bought my hat told me that the “inside” of the hat should not be shown when I’m walking with my hat off. Like, according to point # 3 (this one suprised me, as in B&W movies men keep their hat on in elevators from what I can recall).
    Do you confirm the showing the inside stuff ?

    1. Whilst walking along with a hat off (if you must), I think it’d be best to keep the inside of your hat kept towards your body rather than showing – because it prevents ladies from having to see a potentially sweaty inner headband. Holding the brim, it is possible to rest the outer part of the hat along your arm.

      Whilst walking with company along a roadside, (where you’d be best positioned on the outside, alongside the curb), I’d recommend keeping the outside of your hat pointing towards the road, leaving your other arm free for offering help to whomsoever is walking beside you.

      Whilst at the theatre, I’d recommend one avoids placing their collapsible opera hat inside upwards on your lap, for the same reason – pop it behind your back, on the seat.

      Personally, I would not consider a lift a private space – after all, it is in use by the public. Even in the days of lift operators, the lift operator would wear a hat.

      1. I was taught that wearing a hat in an elevator was acceptable until a lady boarded, at which time, it was “Hats off gentlemen.”

  2. Great article and sorely needed in a time when men have become so casual about dress. I notice no distinction was made between hats and caps (nor should there be in my view). Unfortunately it appears that baseball style caps have become a physical body part like an ear or nose in America. Additionally this practice of wearing them backwards is the equivalent of holding a sign that reads “I’m stupid, I don’t understand purpose”.

    1. Oh, William I so agree! Baseball caps are now the lazy males way of keeping their hair out of their eyes!

  3. Great video and quite informative, thank you. I wear a hat every day and have many different hats, usually for the season or the formality of my dress. My question is, should a hat match your suit or your coat? For example, if I am wearing a navy blue suit with grey vest, I would choose my grey hat, but if my coat is brown, should I choose my brown hat? And how does this alter when a coat is no longer necessary, but it’s not quite time for a Panama or straw hat yet?

    1. I think the answer is: it depends! When putting an outfit together, try both hats and use a mirror – and consider whether the majority of your day will be spent travelling (in which case, favour your hat and coat going together well), or if you’ll be spending more time with your coat off, favour your hat/suit combination.

      I personally wouldn’t choose a brown coat, blue suit and grey waistcoat and hat together, unless all three colours happened to go really well together.

      There are lots of options for hats in that transitory period between tweed deerstalker and Panama hats – try a trilby, fedora, coke, boater or fez – or if you’re brave, and the situation is right – the top hat!

    2. I used to wonder the same thing; but now I think differently. In my view (e.g. dress fedoras), ‘non-basic’ hat colors (moss/olive/sage, taupe, camel vs. basics of black, brown, gray) seem to match easier and even better with almost any basic color coat or jacket. And, just about any color seems to match well enough with a standard tan raincoat.

  4. What are the rules when you’re aboard a cruise ship? Hats okay in the “public” areas: passageways, staircases, the Grand Foyer, the arcade? And does the class of cruise ship matter; for instance, Disney vs. Cunard?

  5. Hello Gentlemans Gazette,

    How wouuld you classify a public workplace versus a private workplace?

    Does that mean wearing a hat is okay to wear in a public workplace?

    Thank you.

  6. Removing one’s hat when entering a hospital lobby area was one formality I didn’t know. After hearing the history of why, it then made perfect sense. As one who has become more of a regular hat wearer, I think I have discovered something interesting. That common “glance”: others often give to a hat wearer, may be less of oddity and more of interest as in a, ‘what does that guy know that I don’t’, kind of look. Perhaps with an afterthought of, ‘you know, that looks pretty good on that guy’. I have noticed one thing, when attending an event the guys who wear hats always seem to find each other when at the bar.

  7. One thing about wearing a hat today is that the world is no longer set up to accommodate men wearing hats. Restaurants, theatres and such once had cloak rooms that also had shelves or racks specifically reserved for the proper care/storage of hats. When I wear my hat to such establishments today, eight times out of ten, I end up having to keep my hat with me – quite a bother at table – because what passes for the cloak room can not safely care for my hat, nor a full-sized umbrella, often as not… Some establishments specifically state that they don’t want the responsibility.

    1. depending on the eatery… I’ve found it’s occasionally necessary to get a little assertive. If that means parking your hat on an adjacent chair, and letting the waiter work out what to do, then better that, than running the risk of putting it under the table, or giving offence by placing it on he table.

      Surprised the Cancer Council doesn’t have more input on this issue, considering the money they spend banging- on about the UPF benefits of wearing a hat.

      If they want the business, they provide the service.

  8. In my own study of hat etiquette, it seems that men’s hats come off in an elevator when there is a woman aboard. While stopping to speak with a store clerk or someone in the street, again, take the hat off for a woman. This represents a small element of a gentleman’s chivalry.

    1. This is my understanding as well. In a public building, the hat can stay donned unless a lady is also on the elevator. Then it is doffed.

  9. What are the rules aboard cruise ships? And are the rules different for a Disney ship and a Cunard liner?

    1. I think that, generally, on the Cunard liner, hats with ears are considered inappropriate before 6:00 PM.

      1. LOL! I’ve been pushing for a “No Shorts On Men Over 30” in public areas rule!

  10. There is just one thing on this page that makes me uneasy, and that is the very first photo that appears on it. Preston is holding a fedora at the top front of the crown. This is the very worst way to handle a fedora! It compresses the front of the crown, narrowing the pinch until it becomes a crease and the hat looks terrible. This is not a matter of etiquette but of proper care of one’s garments. When you handle your hat, hold it either by the brim or with your thumb on the inner band and your index or other fingers on the ribbon.

    1. Argh! Will you please delete my previous comment? I just looked more carefully at the photo and I see that Preston is NOT holding the hat by the crown but by the brim.

    2. That is the post I was looking for, someone who knows the basic handling of a hat. I remember my grandfather, when attending church, would always remove his “Fedora” by the brim. That was also when in the pews there were hat hangers next to the hymnal holders. I just couldn’t remember how he held his hat over a period of time when standing with it.

  11. Excellent and timely .
    I keep my fedora on in a lift ..and tip when another ,female or male, enters at a different floor …and tip again as I leave .
    For a salesperson , tip at the beginning and the end , but I do not keep it off .

  12. Good Morning,
    Well, a very interesting and educational video with lots of new things for me – I am wearing a hat when leaving my apartment since I stick with the proverb:
    A gentleman without a hat is no gentleman at all!
    I was especially surprised about the transportation part – I did not know that one keeps the hat on on the train or bus!
    Great series and I am looking forward to part three!
    Yours sincerely
    Ginger C.

  13. Great article & video.

    I keep my hat on in shops but off in cafes. Never do “the tip” of the hat.

    I guess some of these “rules” will depend on where you live in the world and what the local customs are.

    I look forward to the 3rd hat video.

  14. What surprised me most was the advice that a hat should be kept on while the wearer is in motion. In an aircraft ? … driving a closed top car? … seems wrong to me. I’ve always subscribed to the view of James Bond, expressed in ‘Goldfinger’, that men who drive closed top cars whilst wearing a hat are invariably very poor drivers who should be given a wide berth!
    Otherwise an interesting and informative piece, as always.

    1. I nearly always remove my hat in a closed car for the simple reason that most cars today are small enough that the wearing of a hat becomes clumsy. In a roadster, a cap is great for shielding from sunlight, and I generally wear one there. I would also wear one on a bus or a train, but I think it would look a bit strange on an airliner.

  15. Hello
    One additional comment on hat tipping or removal not covered in this article.

    If you are at a formal military parade or occasion and you are the Guest of Honour or on the dais or stage in a party with the guest of honour, and the guest party receives a salute from a uniformed, military Armed Forces member, either alone or as the commander of a military party such as in a parade march, from British military tradition there is a protocol to follow :

    If you are the Guest of Honour receiving the salute:
    1 if you are in full military uniform, you MUST wear the uniform hat and you MUST return the salute
    OR
    2 if you are not in full military uniform, you MUST wear a civilian hat and TIP the hat to acknowledge the salute.
    NOTE: you NEVER return a Military salute from a civilian hat.
    This is why you can see many photos of Winston Churchill tipping his civilian hat to a Military Parade Commander but never returning a salute from a civilian hat.
    OR
    3 if you are caught out without a hat at such a function, this is very bad etiquette and disrespectful.
    You see contemporary politicians committing this ALL THE TIME. Do not allow yourself to follow the example of these oafs!!
    Also, you DO NOT EVER return ANY salute, bareheaded.
    In this situation, the proper etiquette is to simply stand to Attention while you receive the salute.

    If you are NOT the Guest of Honour receiving the salute but simply a member of the Honour Party, regardless of whether you are in military uniform or civilian clothes, the protocol is to leave your hat ON and stand to Attention while the Guest of Honour acknowledges the salute.

    Also, if you are at a formal Military commemoration ceremony and wearing your medals and honours, over the left breast pocket, in either uniform or civilian dress, it is appropriate to wear either military or civilian headdress.
    However, at certain points in the ceremony it is required as a mark of respect for you to remove your headdress with your right hand and cover your medals and honours on your left breast with the hat that you have removed.
    The symbolism of this is that you are saying to the Fallen:
    “My honours are not as great your ultimate sacrifice”

    Hope this helps those who attend parades and commemorations.

  16. Hats off for this great article. Thank you so much for sharing this guide, learned a lot about hats etiquette.

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