InStyle Magazine Hats
Last weekend when I picked up GQ I also picked up the September issue of InStyle magazine. For the last couple years InStyle has had a good number of hat mentions and a lot of their advertisers include hats in the ads. This month was no different. In fact, I counted at least a dozen advertisements with hats in the ads which doesn’t include all the photos of celebrities wearing hats. The list of advertisers using hats in their ads include DKNY, Burberry, Lord & Taylor, Tiffany & Co., Gap and Neiman-Marcus just to name a few.
The Gap has an ad with a woman wearing a Newsboy (or Newsgirl) cap similar to the Betmar Boy Meets Girl shown here:
Overall, there were two hat styles that appeared several times throughout the magazine. First was an oversized knit hat similar to the Kangol Assimilate Long Pull-On or the Kangol Wave Tex Pull-On. The other style was a felt fedora both in small brims, like the Betmar Femme Fatale, and larger brims.
One style that was missing was military caps. I found this a little odd because it’s still a big customer favorite here in the store. Maybe they’re on their way out after a couple years of very strong sales.
Whatever your style, get a hat on.
Aaron
September 26th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Speaking of hat styles and trends, as a retailer of hats (and various other items) how volatile does the chapeau (hat) market tend to be in relation to the popularity of different styles?
Personally, I’m a heavy flat cap wearer, with the occasional donning of a fedora. I imagine this will probably remain true for my entire life (but who knows!). Is this how a lot of people end up wearing hats? (My grandfather used to wear newsboys almost exclusively, with a very rare fedora thrown in for family get togethers, etc.)
September 27th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
There always seems to be a particular style that is popular. A few years ago it was red hats for the Red Hat ladies. Then those faded out and military caps took over. Of course, the latest Indiana Jones movie helped bump the hat market and ever since the popularity of country music it seems everybody going to a summer concert wants a straw cowboy hat with the rolled up sides.
For the last couple years I’ve seen a lot of men go from wearing a ballcap into an Ivy or Newsboy cap. If my hunch is right, in a few years those same guys will start to transition to other hat styles like a fedora or a fedora/western mix.