Choosing The Best Hat for Your Face Shape

Learning to accessorize isn’t about following an arbitrary set of rules. It’s about finding what works best for your face and body. This definitely applies to the choices you make when picking out hats.

Similar to choosing a haircut, picking out a hat can be much easier when you know your face shape and how to tailor your choices to it. While fashion rules are made to be broken, it’s all about finding the right balance to make you feel more comfortable.

Whether you’re ready to go all-out with your style choices, or you’re simply wondering if you’re wearing the right beanie for you, there are many ways to figure out the formula for your face shape. Here’s some general advice to get you started.

Learning Your Face Shape

The first step in choosing the right hat for your face shape is actually figuring out what your face shape is. Diamond? Oval? Round? Oblong? Take your time, because this step matters.

Sometimes, you can tell simply by looking at yourself in the mirror. But those results aren’t always trustworthy — especially if you’re a bit biased or desensitized from seeing your own face all the time.

While some people can figure out face shape by measuring things like your chin and your forehead, you can also evaluate your features and deduce which shape looks most accurate to you. There are even some online tools that can help you figure it out more easily.

Learning Your Style

Once you learn your face shape, it can be helpful to figure out what kinds of hats are within your realm of style.

If you’re mostly interested in wearing beanies, it won’t matter much if your face shape looks good in a cowboy hat. If you know your personal style and what kind of hat you’re going for, you can even look for similar styles if they work with face shapes adjacent to your own.

It’s also necessary to consider the size of your head. In recent years, the average size of a man’s head has increased to about 59 cm. This may not sound like a lot, but settling for a hand-me-down hat may be an uncomfortable proposition.

1. For the Diamond Faces

If you’ve determined that you have a diamond face shape, it means your forehead and chin are both narrow, but you have strong cheekbones.

This means you may want to go for a hat with a moderate brim to balance out the sharp angles. In this case, newsboy caps and safari-style hats are great. Alternatively, going for more angular styles can accentuate your bone structure — with choices such as cowboy hats or brim hats.

2. For the Round Faces

If you have a round face, that means your cheeks are your most prominent feature in terms of face shape.

If you want to add a bit of angularity to your face, wider brims and sharper silhouettes tend to be your friend. Think wider brims or even snapping the brim down if you like that visual impact.

If you want to accentuate your face shape, try smaller brims or slouchier styles like beanies and newsboy caps.

3. For the Long Faces

 Long faces are a lot like oval faces, but just a bit longer, as the name suggests. If you’re looking to balance out the length of your face, going for hats that sit lower on the hairline can bring some of that balance.

In particular, beanies, newsboy caps, and cowboy hats look great on long faces. However, the same rules apply if you want to accentuate your face shape. Choosing a hat that sits farther back like a beanie can do exactly that.

4. For the Oval Faces

Having an oval face shape means you have a broad forehead and a tapering jawline. If you happen to have an oval face, wide-brimmed hats can be great on you. Specifically, hats with flat brims like more modern fedoras can be great, as they can sit lower on the hairline.

If you want to elongate your face, even more, going for a higher hat to add volume on top can create that visual effect.

5. For the Heart Faces

Many people with heart-shaped faces mistake themselves for round faces, but a more pointed chin and broader forehead characterize the heart-shaped face. If you’re looking to bring some angularity to your face, asymmetrical hats or hats with sharper lines can be a superb choice.

Specifically, hats with brims can look great. However, going for slouchier styles can highlight your cheeks if that’s what you’re looking for.

6. For the Square Faces

Square-shaped faces are some of the most angular, with a sharp, square jaw and defined cheekbones. If you’re looking to highlight these features, strong shapes like brimmed hats and flat, modern fedoras might be what you’re looking for.

However, if you want to bring a bit of softness to balance out the angles, softer styles like berets, beanies, and newsboy caps will likely be your best bet.

7. For the Triangle Faces

Triangle faces are similar to square faces but with pointed chins rather than square jaws. This brings a bit of length to the face but still retains that sharpness.

If you want to emphasize the angularity and length, shapes like tall, wide-brimmed hats tend to be the best option. However, if you want to balance out the angularity with some softness, slouchier styles like beanies and berets can be helpful.

Taking Risks

Once you’ve learned the techniques of how to emphasize or balance out your facial features, you can play around with what works for you. Finding a hat that works great with whatever outfit you’re wearing can be a great start, along with picking out the features in your face you want to focus on.

Take some risks! It’s the best way to discover your true style.

The Right Hat for Your Face

Finding the right hat style for your face shape can be difficult before you know what to look for. But once you learn your style and pair it with your face shape, there are so many options for exploring your personal aesthetic!

Whether you’re the type to don a beanie, a beret, or a cowboy hat, it’s all about finding what works best for you.