OT (very OT): Clothing Etiquette

Curious about your opinions on clothing, specifically hat, etiquette. I don't want this to turn out like that machinist tattoo thread where everyone just bashed on the guy that happens to like tattoos. Please simply state what you think is appropriate or inappropriate and move on. Maybe read some of what other people think and POLITELY ask questions.

PLEASE NO ARGUING just because you have a differing OPINION than someone else. Everyone has the right to have their own opinion. As one of, if not the youngest, members on here I can already tell you that my opinion is likely far different than many of yours. Which is why I am curious about the reasoning behind what I suspect yours will be. My generation is good at asking "Why" and we often receive unfulfilling answers like "because I said so".

I personally don't wear hats unless I am outside on a bright day for an extended period of time. But, I have a few friends who wear baseball caps as part of their daily attire. It also just so happens that all these friends are US Military at some level.

All of these friends are all in college, some after serving, some getting what they can done between deployments, and some in ROTC ready to deploy after college. They are all comfortable with wearing hats to classes. One professor (never military, but he acts like he was) finds it extremely disrespectful that these students wear hats indoors, even when in civilian clothing.

I think this is fairly comparable to me forgetting to take of my safety glasses when i'm not in a lab or shop. I am just so accustomed to wearing them, that they usually stay over my eyes or at least on my head all day. The same thing could be said about someone wearing a hat. But nobody (including that professor) has ever asked me to remove my safety glasses when not in a lab or shop. The safety glasses are not going to be useful at all in a classroom. The same could be said about a hat.

So then, what is it exactly that makes wearing a hat disrespectful? Personally, the only time that I find any clothing disrespectful is when it has an image or phrase that is specifically disrespecting a specific person or group.

Honestly, I don't understand most formalities beyond greetings. Who wants to be uncomfortable? If they weren't so flammable, loose, and non abrasion resistant, I would wear pajama pants to work. I honestly get less done when wearing "nice" clothing. It is often times uncomfortable (causing a distraction) plus you have to be careful not to damage it since it is so expensive. Do I wear the appropriate attire for meetings and formal events? Yes, but only for as long as I have to. Once the meeting is over i'm off to the bathroom to change into something that I can actually work in (good shoes or steel toes, jeans, t-shirt).

What are your thoughts? Any stories about weird clothing policies or etiquette mishaps?

I believe in the military it is considered proper to remove your hat on entering a building. Aircraft hangers and garage shop not clear to me.
It used to be proper etiquette to remove your hat when going into a building but they provided a hat rack so you did not have to watch it and keep it with you. Does this university provide hat racks in the classroom in question? In old movies night clubs had hat and coat check girls.
I believe JFK, 1960, was the first US president not to wear a hat at his inauguration. Today if a president wore a formal hat he would be laughed at.
Bill D

Nothing MAKES wearing or not wearing a hat inherently respectful or disprespectful. Like may cultural institutions the origins of hat courtesy are lost in time.

When I was a kid, hats for men were the style. Men wore or removed them as indicators of courtesy. A man doffed his hat to a lady of any age or calling, men of senior years, when being introduced, on entering a building or a church, at solemn events, hats were never worn when eating at a table, etc. There were distinctions in that men had different hat rules from women. A woman's hat was an article of apparel often pinned in place so women never removed their hats as a matter of social interaction. Men's hats were easily removed and replaced and being the the stronger sex, were obligated to display courtesy to a greater extent than women and children. Many of the courtesy cues were indicated by hat manipulation. Silly now maybe but once culturally important.

That said, I'm still put off when a man wears a hat indoors and even more when he sits down to a formal dinner.

As far as clothing is concerned, it never hurts to be as neat and clean as practicality permits. Once the choice of clothing was pretty well defined. Not so much now. I've seen people go to church wearing their Sunday outing apparel beachwear, athletic uniforms, mechanics or gardening clothes, skiing duds. Back in the day etc etc. Personally I like these less restrictive times where different occasions don't require a complete change of outfit.

But I'm a dinosaur. I still think courtesy and good manners is, in the final analysis, a survival trait.

Where I live (in the Country) Men wear a Stetson for very practical reasons, they work in them, and root around in a Livestocks shit sometimes, but throughout the day it doesn't really come off their head, it is a part of the Tool.

That said, a Man's Hat out here is a filthy POS, so yeah take it off, especially if you are around people that don't gravitate toward that smell. Particularly if you/we are eating---for beyond obvious reasons.

Also a Man hides his eyes behind the brim of a Hat, out here a Man is taken very seriously from his handshake and eye contact. A course it is 2018 and it's sort of fading away. But you talk to anyone older than 40 and they know it, whether the acknowledge it or not.

R

I wear a baseball cap for most general purpose work, I wear glasses and have very thin hair. It's vitally important to have SOMETHING to catch the sweat. In dirty work clothes, with dirty hands I try to keep my glasses clean cause I may not be able to clean them all day.

If I'm not working I generally don't wear a hat, but I'm working and wearing a hat I generally wear it where ever I go.

At the university folks wearing all sorts of casual clothing is very common. Including hats indoors. The professors that care about stuff like that are generally the ridiculous pedantic ones.

Over Christmas brake last year I worked for a dirt contractor doing the foundation for a CVS. I was the ground guy, spotter, roller driver, truck driver, etc. I was all over the site, spotting trucks shotting grade, what ever.

Well I would get covered in dirt, mud, sometimes diesel. The boss liked to go have lunch at a very nice bar and grill down the road, the sort of place with dark lighing and tall chairs.

One day we (mostly me) were pumping water out of the pit we were excavating. I left my rubber boots at the farm, so had been working in my redwings. I was COVERED in mud.

We go to that nice restraunt, and I just look like a complete loser. I'm tracking mud all over the place, I'm covered in mud. I felt really bad and out of place.

But the staff didn't seem to care, we had been eating there 6 days a week for over a month so they sort of knew us. But I felt really out of place, didn't have a choice, but still.

If a guy has a good looking head of hair - show it off - The ladies like it!

Forrest Addy said:

But I'm a dinosaur. I still think courtesy and good manners is, in the final analysis, a survival trait.

Click to expand...

They absolutely are, at least when first starting to work with someone. Over time, conversations may shift to be more casual. The key is figuring out how that works if the other person is higher up than you are.

I always use the public vs private standard. If it’s a public space like a school hallway you keep your hat on. When it’s a private space you take it off.

I know some guys who will go ape shit if they see someone wearing a baseball cap backwards. What the fuck is up with that?

As it happens, I teach academic classes at a university, and I require my students to remove their ball caps.

I have two reasons. The first is that I am older and believe that wearing hats in the classroom is disrespectful, not of me personally, but of the circumstance, the importance of the educational enterprise. But mostly is because the ball cap (especially the current style of down-curved bill) puts the face in shadow. Couple that with a beard, and what is left of the face under a ball cap becomes indistinct, pretty much anonymous to my ageing eyes. I suspect that anonymity is what some of these young men subconsciously seek, a desire to slip through without being noticed.

There are always some older vets in my class, and they don't seem to mind. They are used to rules. When I was in the Army we were required to remove our fatigue caps indoors. Kim Steiner

I don't care if a person wears a hat or not as long as they know when to and when not to. Baseball caps you do not wear in church or when attending a funeral. I have male pattern baldness and I don't wear one to cover that up. I'm not that vain. I do not like to wear baseball caps but I do if its raining and I have to go out. Funny, I have been swimming all my life or other forms of getting wet, but I hate getting rained on. Go figure.

Old school vs. younger folks.

Old school says the hat is a utility item and as such is removed when you come indoors. Younger folks think hats
are for decoration and fashion, they stay on indoors.

Almost nobody wears hats these days - my brother does wear a ball cap with large visor, he has his bald spot get sunburned
and the visor keeps the sun out of his eyes. Co-worker used to wear fashion hats, but has stopped I think mostly because
it's one more thing to keep track of.

Back in the day it was *extremely* disrespectful to keep a cattleman's hat on indoors or at a social occasion. I think part of this
was the idea that if a host goes to the trouble of providing a nice place for the gathering, then keeping your hat on is basically
saying, "it's not nice enough."

For example if you look at old photos of machine shops, about half the time guys are wearing hats. Because the shops had
inadaquate heat. Hat kept your head warm, so you didn't get chilled. The 'hats off indoors' rule did not apply because
the shop owner did not heat the shop.

Larry Dickman said:

I know some guys who will go ape shit if they see someone wearing a baseball cap backwards. What the fuck is up with that?

Click to expand...

You mean like this?

Hats...

A hat is more or less an affectation for most people. Like a cane. Of course, if you are actually deriving physical benefit from it at the time (like shield from the sun or sparks) that's a different story.

When I worked in the shop there were certain guys who ALWAYS wore a baseball hat. We politely, laughingly, and always behind their backs referred to it as 'the poor man's toupee'.

Then there are the girls who turn wearing a baseball hat into an entire 'Look at me! Look at me!' production.

Anyone who wears a Stetson and isn't on a horse while attacking a cow has emotional issues. Big time. Same goes for the vest....perhaps the most useless of all clothing.

i would never wear a hat unless my head were cold, or to keep weld/grind sparky stuff from catching my head on
fire. if someone wants to look like a douchebag.... i say let it go. it makes it that much easier for the
rest of us to avoid them.

just one less decision to make.

I wear a hat more often than not. In cooler weather for obvious reasons. At summer fairs, antique machinery shows and other extended outdoor activities to prevent sunburn and keep the sun from my eyes for better vision. I have noticed that many, maybe most, eating establishments have removed coat & hat racks. If available I remove my hat and coat. If not and there is no suitable place to place a hat I will wear it. At a club meeting it depends on the group but hat is always removed for the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem.

Bob
WB8NQW

I will add that a baseball hat, interestingly, offers right at "zero" in terms of keeping your head warm in cold weather. In fact, I can't recall any hat keeping the head warm if it does not cover your ears.

O tempora, o mores.

In here the Americans walking inside house with their shoes on would be extremely rude.

It's really hard for me to understand how an adult could invest time/thought into if another individual wears a hat or not? I can't imagine caring about such things.

It's actually kind of interesting/pathetic that so many have even have an opinion on the subject. I've never even considered this before reading this thread.

Must we FIND things to disagree about. How trivial...

The background to removing your hat when you enter a house dates back centuries and was for a very good reason.

If you were helmeted, removing your helmet and exposing your head and neck was an indication that you came in peace. However you would be regarded as hostile if the helmet was still on.

If you come to my house I do expect you to remove your hat if you are male. Different for the fairer sex.