So you want a new hat? Good. That’s an excellent choice because hats are roaring back as a must-have fashion accessory. But . . . 

You shouldn’t choose just any hat or even one that looks great in the ad or on the mannequin in the store. Even if you fall in love with a particular hat or style of hat, that does not mean it will look good on you.

Nope, you need to select a hat that is right for your face shape. That means a style of hat that works well with and complements the shape of your face. Otherwise, you’ll be sporting a less-than-desirable or even incongruous look. And you don’t want that.

There are so many hats to choose from: beanies, berets, bucket hats, fedoras, trapper hats, and many, many more. So what you need to do is, first, determine your face shape and then select a hat that is right for that shape.

Read on to find out how to do those things . . . 

Determine Your Face Shape

And Choose the Right Hat for Your Face Shape

The first step in selecting the right hat style for your face shape is to determine exactly what shape your face is. The six common face shapes are oval, round, oblong, heart-shaped, square, and diamond-shaped.

Once you’ve determined the shape of your face with some accuracy, it’s time to choose the hat style perfectly suited to that shape for the best look possible. Here’s what you need to know . . . 

Oval Face

“An oval face will have a length that is roughly one and a half times greater than your face width. The forehead is a bit larger than the jawline, and the angle of the jaw is a bit more round.” If you have an oval face, it will look much like the shape of an egg.

Oval faces work well with many different hat styles, so you’ll have a range of suitable choices. Typically, though, a wide-brimmed or medium-brimmed hat that sits just above the eyebrows works best. This type of hat will contrast admirably with the rounded, soft features of the egg shape.

Round Face

This one’s fairly obvious. A round face will have basically the same width and length, with full cheeks and a round chin. The good news is that people with round faces often look younger than people with other face shapes.

If you have a round face, you’ll need a hat with opposite features to those of your face. Look for a hat style with some angularity such as a fedora. Also, hats with tall crowns will help to elongate the soft, roundish curves of your face, and irregular brims will provide a contrast with the obvious symmetry of your face shape. Retro styles are often called for here.

Oblong Face

“An oblong face will be longer than it is wide. The forehead, cheekbones, and jawline of an oblong face will be similar in size. Oblong faces may feature high foreheads.”

With this face shape, since your face is longer than it is wide, you’ll want to avoid tall crowns, which will only make your face look longer. Choose, instead, a hat with a wide or flared brim to provide balance. Basically, almost any hat with a wide brim (a cowboy hat, for instance) will serve the purpose because it will cut across your forehead and give the appearance of reducing the length of your face.

Heart-shaped Face

This is one of the most common face shapes. The characteristics of a heart-shaped face are a broad forehead, wide cheekbones, and a narrow (sometimes pointy) chin.

Heart-shaped faces also can accommodate a variety of hat styles. Generally, though, a medium-sized hat with a fairly prominent crown works best, a baseball cap, for example, as it will help balance out forehead width. And be sure to avoid hats with floppy brims because the extra volume around the top of your face may exaggerate the width.

Square Face

As with a round face, a square face has a width and length that are nearly equal – that is, “the distance from forehead to chin and from cheek to cheek are roughly the same.” It’s just that this kind of face is blockier than a round face.

No one’s face is truly square, so this shape gets its name primarily from the pronounced, square-ish jaw line, wide forehead, and wide cheekbones that give the illusion of squareness to the face. If you have a square face, you’ll want to opt for hat styles with rounded crowns that offer an attractive contrast to the sharp jawlines. 

Diamond-shaped Face

Also known as triangle-shaped and pear-shaped, diamond-shaped faces are “characterized by a large jawline, slightly smaller cheekbones, and the smallest forehead.

If you have a diamond-shaped face, the way you wear a hat may be just as important as the particular style of hat you wear. For best effect, because your face/head will be wider around the top with a narrow jawline, it’s best to wear your hat farther back on your head. This will help you avoid the effect of a shortened face. With respect to hat styles, choose something with a shorter crown that you can wear toward the back of your head, a pork pie hat, for example.

Final Tips for Choosing the Right Hat Style

Ultimately, though, the final decision is up to you. Yes, wearing a hat suited to your face shape is important, but comfort and confidence also play a big role. You should wear a hat that gives you the look you like, that gives you confidence, and that you enjoy wearing.

Maybe the hat you like really isn’t the best fit for your face. But if you enjoy wearing it, that’s what you should do. 

What we’ve provided here are just guidelines. We hope they help you choose the right hat for your face shape, but feel free to try out different styles.

Just be sure to get your hats where you can be assured you’re getting quality hats at great prices.

Where to Get Quality, Affordable Hats

If you want a selection of hat styles to meet your needs, we’ve got you covered (literally).

Why not go to the hat source that offers both quality hats and great prices coupled with superior customer service – Bandana.com?

Here at Bandana.com, we offer a wide selection of all kinds of headwear, including bucket hats, bandanas, and doo rags. You can get more information about us here.