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Fact Box

Hat do's and don'ts:

Do:

Wear a hat that is complimentary to your skin tone. Not everyone looks good in black or dark colors.

A hat does not have to match your outfit perfectly. You can wear a bright purple hat with a neutral beige outfit. If your suit is navy, wear a beige hat with a navy trim.

Use hat trims to bring out the color of your eyes.

Always get a hat that fits you perfectly.

A good rule of thumb is never wear a hat that exceeds your shoulder length. The taller and bigger the person (woman or man) the bigger the hat they can wear.

Be ready for compliments and attention from people when you wear a hat. People love hats although many people are too intimidated to wear one. Men especially love women in hats.

You can tilt the hat to one side or other to create a more jaunty effect.

The most important thing is to feel comfortable with the hat you are wearing.

Don't:

Don't wear a hat of any style that is too big for you. Petite women and smaller men look good with smaller hats.

Never wear the hat too far back on the head. When putting on a hat, make sure that it is no more than two inches above the eyebrows.

Don't wear a hat with lots of flowers on it with a floral dress. This would be too busy. If the dress is print, wear a plain and simple hat.

Source:

http://www.hatsandveils.net

You're at the swimming pool or the beach and you feel your scalp begin to sizzle from the sun.

It's time for a hat.

The wind begins to blow and howl, raindrops fall, and leaves whip around the corner. Your hair is standing tall, flying in two or three different directions.

It's time for a hat.

You love sporting events like baseball games and tennis and soccer matches, but it's hard to see the action through the bright sunlight.

It's time for a hat.

You are picking tomatoes at the farm and can't wear sunglasses because you need to see the color, but the sunshine is making your task uncomfortable.

It's time for a hat.

Especially in summer, it's time for a hat.

"I'm a real hat person and wear a hat most of the time," said Ann Amash of Marietta. "I make hats and I have lots of hats. I have my silly summer hats and my knitted winter ones."

Amash, owner with husband, Charles Thomas, of Riverboat Alpaca Ranch in Devola, makes good use of genuine alpaca fiber to create her hats. She believes hats are coming back, not only for functionality and comfort, but for fashion.

"If you watched the Kentucky Derby this year, you saw examples of really fashionable hats," Amash said.

Her hats all have ties so that when she is gardening or caring for the animals, they don't fall off her head.

"My hats are not so much fancy in summertime," Amash said. "I do knit them from a very thin fiber, and they usually have a brim because I do a lot of gardening."

The right hat for the season and the job is critical.

Hats can be complex or simple, fashionable or functional. Almost every person of every age wears a hat at some time.

A functional hat can provide protection from the sun, wind and rain, or keep a wild mane under control.

"I pretty much just wear a ball cap when I'm off work, as long as my wife lets me," said Steve Tornes, 50, of Marietta.

At work, Tornes also wears a hat, but it's not his beloved "Dodge truck" ball cap.

"I wear a welder's hat at work," he said. "It goes under the welding hood to protect my head from that. It's more like a little cap."

For Pam Meyer, a forest service technician with the Wayne National Forest office in Marietta, a hat is a necessity, part of the staff uniform, and is worn year-round.

The typical "campaign-style" brimmed hat is worn by rangers in the National Park Service, not by forest service rangers, she said.

"We wear baseball caps with our service emblem," Meyer said. "It's not so much for sun protection, but for identification when we're out there."

Meyer said proper identification is important when a ranger is in the woods for any reason.

Forest service officers are outdoors most of the time, she said.

"A hat does block the sun, too," Meyer added.

Hats are "hot" as a summer accessory, according to Karen Briley with Schafer Leather Store, 140 Front St.

"I love hats," she said. "When I'm hiking, a hat helps cool your head by wicking moisture. We even have vented hats. Of course, on the beach, you just want to look good."

The Wallaroo hat, a wide-brimmed, fabric hat that comes in a variety of colors, is more of a fashion hat for ladies in the summer months, she said. The Tilley hat is an outdoor hat designed for men and women, made of a canvas or microfiber material. It's often used by people when they are fishing, camping or walking through the woods.

"With both these popular hats, the UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) is high, which helps block ultraviolet light," Briley said. "It is great for golf, yard work, the beach or boating, and it will actually float."

In men's fashion, the Stetson dress hat is making a "huge" comeback, she said.

The beauty of hats is often the price - all the way from a plain baseball cap at $5 to the less than $50 for the Wallaroo and less than $100 for Tilley hats, Briley said.

"We even have had Tilley hats prescribed by doctors because of the issue of skin cancer," she said.

There is seldom a time when Dave Westfall, owner of Valley View Farm, three miles north of Reno, isn't wearing a hat.

"I prefer a ball cap, but that's just me," Westfall said. "We (farmers) are used to wearing a hat all the time. It's just like carrying a wallet."

For Westfall, a vegetable farmer, a hat keeps the sun out of his eyes. It's about being practical.

"When I'm picking tomatoes, I can't wear sunglasses because I can't tell the color of the tomato I'm picking," he said. "My hat protects my head from the sun and keeps the sun out."

A hat with a brim, whether wide or narrow, works best for those working in agriculture, he said.

Not every person finds it necessary to wear a hat - summer or winter, either for comfort or fashion.

"I'm outside a lot, but I don't ever tend to wear a hat," said Kristyn Robinson, 40, of Marietta. "A hat always makes me too hot and seems to hold the heat in. I'm a sunglasses wearer."

Robinson is water quality coordinator with Friends of the Lower Muskingum River Inc.