Quote Originally Posted by Hamish View Post
Could it be that the majority of our American brethren consider themselves, maybe subconsciously, to be undressed unless they have a hat on their heads? Whilst here in Europe, we chaps mostly do not wear hats at all. Of course there will be exceptions to this and I am thinking very much in general. Take care, Ham.
I think the "exception" may be greater than some think. Last year at the President's garden party in Phoenix Park about a third of the gentlemen present were wearing hats; a quick glance around the cloak room of the Kildare Street Club and it looks like between one fourth and one third of the members are hatted. Now these are "proper hats", not baseball hats, flat caps, or watch caps of the kind worn by all sorts of people everyday. Without getting into the socio-economics of hats, I'd say that probably more men go hatted everyday than don't (here in Europe). It's just that fewer wear "proper" hats as opposed to the other kinds of headgear. So, in the words of Sean Connery in THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING: "Hats, ON!"