Why did people stop wearing hats

Looking at photographs from the last century we have asked ourselves many times: why did people stop wearing hats? Was there a decisive moment in history that made all people decide to go bareheaded?

Worldwide, the wearing of hats is at its peak from the late 19th century until the late 1920s, when the habit begins to weaken. There are many theories on the subject. Surely there is not just one single reason, but many factors that contributed to the decline of the hat.

One of the causes of this change of habits is the introduction of public transport and closed cars. On one hand the low roof of a car means that you can no longer wear a hat while driving, on the other hand the need for a hat as protection against inclement weather decreases, as fewer and fewer people are walking from home to their jobs. As the number of people with cars goes up, the number of people who wear hats on a daily basis goes down.

There is another theory claiming that after the Second World War in 1945 many men stop wearing hats because it reminds them of the time they have spent in uniform. After their time in the military they want to wear more casual clothes and the hat doesn't fit this new style.

In the late 1950s the hat industry still believes that bareheaded fashion was a fad. They soon realize that the decline could be permanent. In addition, the hairdressing salon is beginning to gain ground among young people. Now, more important than showing off hats or headpieces, is to flaunt the newest hairstyle.

And apart from the closed car, the war and the fashionable hairstyles, also the decrease in church attendance had its impact: as the visit to mass was the only time to still wear something on your head, in many countries the secularization is bad news for hat companies.

We, the hatmakers of MALEZA, do not consider it a symptom of decay of the modern world that the vast majority have stopped wearing hats. We do consider it a shame to see that many people think that they cannot wear a hat. The type of hat that persists through history is intimately related to a classic look, and therefore many people think that if you do not dress in a classic way you will not be able to wear a hat.

Our hats have no gender or prescribed dress code. Before it was striking not to wear a hat, now it seems to be the other way around. For some it will be a challenge and an exercise in self-confidence. It is time for people to know that there are other hats, which fit better with the different ways of dressing of the moment. New shapes and different finishes for another era.

In MALEZA we are committed to a new paradigm: the hat as a game, without pretensions, the hat for its own sake.