Choosing a hat to fit your face

MANILA, Philippines - Contrary to what Ashton Kutcher may have led you to believe, one trucker cap does not fit all. Especially with the weather capable of going from hot to wet and windy in the same day, choosing the right hat is important in keeping your head dry, keeping your cool and keeping you from looking like a card-carrying member of the Douche (and Douchette) Squad.

Selecting the right hat includes paying attention to factors such as your facial shape, features, height, and even your usual uniform.

For moon-faced men, the height of a gambler, panama, or fedora hat can visually add length and subtract fullness from their visage, while men with longer faces can help balance their features with a homburg or a derby hat.

Strong, solid jawlines and prominent chins can be balanced by hats with more height, like a fedora. A trilby or a pork pie hat, meanwhile, can bring attention away from a weak, receding chin and give an illusion of a sturdier jaw. Wide-brimmed hats can also play down distinct facial features, such as a long nose or ears that stick out.

For women, some of the same principles apply: a tall, wide-brimmed fedora works well with a round face, while hats decorated with feathers or flowers give a softer look to long, rectangular faces. A wide face can be minimized visually with a beret, while thin, narrow visages can be made to look fuller with a cloche hat. Lucky for those with heart-shaped faces, they can pull off all types of hat choices.

Petite or stout women can benefit from the height that a fedora can give, and tall, lean figures can carry off floppy hats with wide brims. Newsboy caps and berets are the most figure-friendly hats, as they suit most body types.

When wearing a busy-looking attire, a hat done in muted colors would be a sensible choice. A structured outfit, such as a suit, works well with angular hats like fedoras or panama hats, while a printed or colorful newsboy cap or beret can break a long, monochromatic silhouette. To spruce up a plain get-up, don on a floppy hat or a cloche hat designed with gem stones or a bow.

All of these pointers may seem too much for an accessory used mainly to hide bad hair and protect the hair and scalp from the elements, but a hat can do wonders to one’s appearance. The world-famous Kangol brand, established in 1936 in England by Jacques Spreiregen, knows this well, having touched the heads of the likes of The Beatles, Princess Diana, and Samuel L. Jackson. Keeping with the times, despite a mid-20th century decline in hat-wearing, Kangol has expanded from knitted beanies to more urban, hip-hop styles that can go from street to society seamlessly.

For 2010, Kangol promises a casual yet funky look, with its collection of berets, cloches, newsboys, homburgs, pork pies, and fedoras. With the traditional solids come plaids, prints, argyles, and checks in an assortment of bright and muted colors, a selection that can cover any hat need between running errands on a weekend morning and making an entrance in a swanky evening party, between puffy-cheeked looks and long, gaunt appearances.

Kangol hats are available at Bratpack Greenbelt 5, Rustans Makati, Urban Athletics Greenbelt 3, R.O.X., Philosophy at The Fort and SM Mall of Asia, Tough Jeans at TriNoma and Shangri-la, and The Travel Club at TriNoma and Rockwell.