A well-chosen hat can be the perfect complement to your overall outfit. However, not every hat works for everyone. Your face shape will play a big part in how a hat looks on you.
To help you pick the best hat for your face shape, we’ve created a straightforward guide.
This article will explain how to determine your face shape if you aren’t already aware and then how to pick a hat based on that. Keep reading to find out what pairing suits you best!
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Why Do Face Shapes Matter?
Hats can change the way your face looks. They can bring out your face’s best features and highlight your natural beauty. However, they can also emphasize features that you want to avoid
Face shape matters because it lets you pick a winning combination. Matching your face shape with a specific type of hat lets you get the combination that lets you look your best.
Determine Your Face Shape
The first step in picking the right hat for your face shape is to determine your face shape. If you don’t know this, you won’t be able to match something to it.
While faces vary dramatically from person to person, there are six generally agreed-upon face shapes. These include diamond, oval, heart, long, square, and round.
Your face shape will be the one your face most closely corresponds to. If your face has sharp lines and a square jaw, you have a square face. If you have a sharp jaw, but other parts of your face are more rounded, you have a heart-shaped face.
If your face is rounded all over, your face shape is round. This makes determining your overall face shape pretty straightforward.
Picking Your Hat Based on Face Shape
Once you know the shape of your face, you can start looking for hats based on this face shape. Each shape has certain hats to aim for and certain hats to avoid.
Diamond
A diamond face is one of the more versatile face shapes. With it, you can get away with wearing more types of hats than most.
The thing you generally want to avoid with this face shape is anything that will shorten your face. If this happens, it emphasizes the wrong aspects of your face.
To prevent this, you can aim for hats with a slightly shorter or upturned brim. A cute felt pork pie hat fits this look perfectly! If you want to wear something with a longer brim, you absolutely can; just try to wear it further back on your head and angle it upwards to keep your face open.
Trying to find a hat with more angles? Check out our women’s fedoras to find something you’ll love!
Oval
If you have an oval face shape, you’re in luck! Oval is considered to be one of the most versatile face shapes. With this face shape, you can essentially get away with any type of hat.
Oval face shapes may also have slight similarities to other face shapes. For instance, a long oval face has the same general shape but is a bit more elongated than a round oval face.
So, if you’re in this position, feel free to go wild. You can get whatever type of hat suits your personal style best. You can also get multiple different hats so that you can wear something new every day. Ultimately, you have plenty of choices, and the final choice is always up to you.
Heart
With a heart-shaped face, you want to aim for hats that have a medium-length brim, as they will provide your face with a sense of balance. These can be anything from a neat fedora to a classic baseball cap.
Meanwhile, you’ll want to avoid hats with very large brims if you have a heart shape. These have the potential to make the proportions of your head seem exaggerated. So, avoid giant sun hats and some larger floppy hats.
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Square
If you have a square face, the angles and lines of your face are already well-defined. So, you want to avoid providing additional definition, as this will come across as being too much. This is why many people stick with bouncy and textured hairstyles when they have a square face.
To do so, stick with hats that are more rounded and circular. You can go with any number of hats that have rounded crowns to them or that have circular brims. These range from a nice rounded bucket hat to a wide sun hat. Any of these options will soften the edges of your face.
In contrast, you’ll want to avoid hats with sharp lines and angles. You may also want to avoid hats that have a very short brim or that have no brim at all.
Round
The rules surrounding round faces are essentially the opposite of those surrounding square faces. Instead of avoiding sharp angles and going with smooth curves, you want to do the exact inverse.
The biggest thing to remember about a round face is to avoid rounding out your face even further. Hats with round crowns will make your face look even more round.
Instead, aim for a hat with sharp angles. A cowboy hat or a fedora will have complexity that will break any sense of roundness.
In addition, hats that have a low crown and wide brim will further dispel this illusion. In this way, cowboy hats and fedoras are a good choice again.
Looking for a wide-brim hat to balance out your rounded face? Shop our selection of men’s wide-brim hats that suit any occasion!
Long
If you have a long face, you’re going to want to avoid extending the overall appearance of your face. You can do this with your haircut but can also do it through your hat.
To do this, stick with hats that are short and wide. Pork pie hats are great in this regard, as almost all of them are designed with this general shape. However, you can also find wide-brim sun hats, fedoras, and even cowboy hats like this as well. Just make sure that these options don’t have too high of a crown.
Choosing the Best Hat for Your Face Shape
By understanding face shapes and the hats that go with each, you are ready to go out shopping for a new hat. Just make sure to avoid hats that will emphasize bad aspects of your face and stick with ones that bring out your natural beauty. Doing so will guide you in making the right choice.
Related: Best Felt Hats for Women