Character Qualities #3

What can you tell about a person by the hat they’re wearing? Is it possible to base an opinion on someone’s character or personality because they’re wearing a hat or not? My manuscripts take place in the mid to late 1800s, a time when hats were seen on almost every head. Women wore bonnets and fancy hats, some with elaborate decorations. Men wore Stetsons, top hats, bowlers.

Today hats aren’t as popular. Some people never leave home without one, others don’t own one. A few wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one.

As a writer, I may see someone in town and decide that I need a character like that person. In those cases, I know nothing about them but what I saw. Maybe a man with a bushy mustache that bows on the sides until it touches his chin or a little girl with white ringlets and sparkling eyes.

It’s easy to do because those details stand out. But what about a group of men standing around talking among themselves? Let’s say there are ten of them, teenaged to seventy. Two are bare headed, one has a bandanna wrapped around his head, three are wearing baseball caps, one has on a stocking cap and the other three are wearing Stetsons.

I know what I’m going to think when I see them, based solely on their headgear. If you’ve been reading my blog posts, you have a good idea of which ones I’m going to look at and think hero material. Those Stetsons are going to get it every time.

But that’s because my heroes have always been cowboys. You can expect every one of my manuscripts to have a main character in a Stetson. And he isn’t wearing it because it’s part of his clothing, or because he wants to keep the sun off his face. He sure isn’t going to put it on to look cool. He wears it because it’s part of who he is. It’s as much a part of him as his hair.

Now that’s making assumptions about someone’s personality based solely on his hat or lack of one. I can’t know if one of those men got his Stetson from a machine in the store, right before he walked outside (but I can guess if he’s wearing flip flops with it), or if he’s wearing it because his son gave it to him and cried because he wouldn’t wear it.

So yes, I’m guilty of making assumptions based on hats. There are some I don’t notice, others I dislike, and a select few that will catch my attention every time. Blame it on my grandpa. I can’t remember him leaving home without a Stetson. And he never wore anything but cowboy boots. He was my first hero.

Which hat draws your attention?