What you wear to work makes you feel good! (Who would have thought?)
Justine Jamieson wrote a fantastic article about how what you wear in the workplace affects how your feel and are perceived (read the article here). She talked about the importance of accessories but what about the humble hat?!
If, like me, you are follicly challenged, wearing a hat to the offîce is a must in Summer. But I, like many city folk am in my thirties and a baseball cap is an absolute no go! So how do I make sure I look the part and keep the harsh sun off my shiny pâté?
Find a hat that suits your style
It's surprisingly easy to narrow down your selection of your preferred office head wear.
1. What colour hat is right?
Answer - conservative colours are usually the way to go (unless you work for an advertising company or similar then go for your life!). Look for blacks, dark greys and blues as they will most likely match your outfit. If you wear Jeans and a shirt rather than a suit, you're still on to a winner. The trick is to have a conservative colour but with a little flair of design to give it an edge. Check out there Moretti Fedora Hat: a traditional Fedora with a white gosband for a distinctive edge.
2 Flat cap, Fedora, Straw or trilby?
The flat cap is the most versatile: go for a cheese cutter style and you have yourself a formal yet laid back hat. Ramp up the individuality with a newsboy hat and now we're talking baby! Get that tilt on and swagger your way to the next meeting.
Fedora or trilby hat? Again difficult and all about who you are as a person. A Trilby has a stingy brim and smaller crown than a Fedora Hat (check out my previous blog for more on the difference) so makes it a little bit more funky. The traditional Fedora is often seen to be a little bit more 'old school'. Personally, I love them - but my wife thinks they make me look old(er) so I stick to trilbys.
3 Where should I buy the hat?
OK, let me have one shameless plug. www.prohibitionhats.co.nz has a great range of hats each with its own distinctive style. We love hats (have you noticed?) and feel very passionately about making premium designer hats available to New Zealanders without the premium price tag. If you feel like supporting a small local business, check out our website. With your help, we can only get bigger and better.
4 How premium is premium?
Okay. Like beauty, premium quality hats and caps are in the eye of the beholder. One person's Mitchell and Ness is another's Goorin Bros. One thing to do is to take a look at the price tag.
If the hat is a 'one-size-fits-all, made in Taiwan special' and costs $30, it's likely that it isn't going to a) fit you properly b) look particularly good and c) last as long as it should (well constructed hats and caps should hold together when you wash them).
Take it from me, as a retailer, after you've covered manufacturing costs, freight, import tariffs and fees, distribution and marketing, you're not going to see a whole lot of profit out of your $30 RRP. (For the astute readers, this should give you a fairly good indication of the materials and per unit cost - ergo, what the hat is actually worth versus what you're paying.)
Thankfully, it actually isn't all that hard to separate the wood from the chaff. A good quality, individually designed, premium hat like the hats we sell online aren't all that expensive. In most cases, you're talking $60-$75 (often less if we're feeling generous :-) and you're getting a whole load of hat for your money.
You know what? I feel energised enough to write a blog entry dedicated to the debate: when is premium, well premium. And, more importantly, how much we think the great New Zealand public should have to pay!
Laurie Turnbull
Founder, Prohibition Hats NZ
www.ProhibitionHats.co.nz
www.facebook.com/ProhibitionHats
