You Deserve that Hat
It’s the end of summer and the hottest new accessory is in: the US open baseball cap.
Walking the streets of NYC you start to see them, one at a time, until they’re unescapable. Sure, the hats themselves are somewhat cute, but they have a very normal style to them. What seems to matter most is the “US open” logo planted in the center. It is so insane to me that people care so much about status symbols, that if we are able to go to this sporting event, we will not only spend hundreds of dollars to just eat and drink, but throw an additional $48 on a baseball hat.
Source: US Open Shop
Source: Atelier Cappa
I notice that we think it’s normal to spend nearly $50 on a mediocre (at best, sorry) baseball cap. It is inherent to us to wear our status on our heads. Using a hat as social status is nothing new to humanity. Yes, all of us. This dates back as far as we could know—back to ancient Egypt. The iconic Pharaoh headdress was not that of functionality, but to represent royalty and power. The accessory trickled down the timeline into ancient Greece and Rome, where there was an option for a headpiece to go with the toga if you were in a position of power.
When the Middle Ages arrived, society took the idea of a hat and ran with it. This is also a really great time because this is when humans found out they could be absolutely gluttonous. Thus, the crown. However, head coverings became much more vast in this time as every part of the royal decree wore some kind of head covering, denoting what level of power they held.
We went through the renaissance which brought us to wear wigs as your status symbol. They were the real pioneers of “bigger the hair, closer to god” (Rest in Peace, Dolly Parton). Skipping to the 19th century, we remember the top hats and the elaborate, large, brimmed hats decorated with feathers, for the women to signal your stance in the aristocracy.
Source: Atelier Cappa
I remind myself of our history, and I realize it’s not so insane. We're simply consumed by capitalism and our freedom of equality, which is why everyone gravitates towards this modern-day crown.
Sure, they can afford to live in New York City and go to an expensive tennis match and afford to buy a fifty-dollar, kind of ugly, baseball cap. But more than that, they are paying due respect—intentionally or not—to their ancestors throughout history.
Whether for tennis or royalty, hats show a level of ourselves to the world.
What is your go-to hat? How do you think it reflects you to the world? Leave a comment below.