I like to wear a ball cap when I go places. I guess it's cause my hair doesn't always look the greatest...

I'm always getting harped on by family members because I basically own one hat at a time that I like well enough to put on my head. They're all like "Do you want a couple of extra hats to wear? or "Are you ever gonna retire that hat?"

I've made the mistake of accepting reject hats from these concerned people before. I refuse to make this mistake again because I don't want to wear a hat that advertises water heaters, car manufacturers, alcohol or sports. Mostly because I don't want to suffer through an agonizing conversation about any of those topics. (Not that there is anything wrong with these topics.)

So, last Saturday I found myself at the mall looking for ball caps. At the places that actually carried hats at all, ball caps were outnumbered by "snapback" hats 10 to 1. Some of the snapback hats had really cool designs on them but I just can't wrap my head around (haha) actually wearing one of those goofy looking flat billed hats.

To add insult to injury, I stood out in the mall area and counted the style of hats on guys as they walked by. In a 5 minute period on a Saturday afternoon, I counted 16 ball caps to 6 snapback hats.

Long story short - I bought no new hat because I couldn't find one I deemed cool enough to wear due to lack of selection.

I was going to put this in the geezer forum because when I was in my teens the only person that would be caught dead in a snapback hat was Earnest P. Worrell - ( I actually think that happened in Earnest Goes to Hell), but I wanted to hear from some of you younger members too.

Comments? Questions? Rants?

thephantombrain : I guess you didn't grow up in the 90's in the US then? Snapback caps were what most people wore. The only time you didn't wear one of those was when you spent like 3x as much for a fitted hat...but snapbacks were definitely the norm (Although they weren't called "Snapbacks" back then lol) One thing I will say is we CERTAINLY wouldn't wear the brim flat but we would only curve it so much to look "cool"

All that stuff from the 80's and 90's is back in style again. That's why you see so many sneakers re-released from the 80s, bright colors, raybans etc.

As far as finding a hat that doesn't advertise Sports, Stores, or any products. Good luck man lol

Jordanv78 : I guess I remember the 90's differently. Probably because I hung out in the grunge/metal crowd. We weren't really into bright colors.

I didn't say the hat couldn't advertise products, just not any of the products already mentioned. I saw several hats at Spencers and Hot Topic that I would wear, if not for the bill.

Since all that stuff is coming back, does that mean that it's OK to get my flannels, and Doc Martins out of storage?

thephantombrain : The bright colors was more a reference to the 80's stuff coming back in style. As far as the hats go, the "snapback" ones were what most people wore. That was the main product that was available back then for "baseball" caps.

As I had said before, the fitted ones weren't as widely available. Also, they were much more expensive. Everyone preferred to have Fitted ones no doubt, but those were much more expensive.

I grew up in the "grunge" scene as well. I grew up in the Northwest, so it was kinda hard not to ;-)

YUCK dude...I feel sorry for you my man. Snapbacks are sadly the norm all over but unlike Jordan I never saw those things in my life until the "rap scene" came heavily into play where I live. Now its all about people buying and caring for their expensive overpriced shoes and their...weird looking hats. I honestly use to wear ballcaps myself but not often because of my parents and my mother's obsession with genetics having given me "perfect" curly hair. 

These days, I shave my head completely. I may not wear baseball caps anymore but I wear Fedora's. Reason being is because my grandfather had passed away and had no material items to really give me, however, he left a note on some fedora's he use to own because I loved those hats and when he wore them. From there I wear at least one of them specifically because it was his favorite and I do my best to follow in the lessons and footsteps my grandpa taught me.

Sadly, I get made fun of a lot and all that from people with snapbacks or people who don't even wear that kinda stuff and I have no idea why. Either way, I love my fedora and ignore everyone else. Its become a very odd age of clothing at this point since the 90's ended. 

But like I said before, if you try looking for another hat again, I wish you luck on finding one that actually might look good.

zerothesaint : You never saw hats with a snap in the back of them until the rap scene? I'm just wondering where you guys have lived.

Sure, they haven't been around as much until recent years because manufacturers realized there were better ways to make hats. Like the hats that look fitted but are actually stretchy material.

In the 80's and 90's the Snap feature in the back was the most used by manufactures trying to make cheap hats back in those days. The hats now are just bringing that back because as I said before all that 80's and 90's stuff is back in style again all of a sudden. Although since you it looks like you are only 20 years old, I wouldn't expect you to remember that

Jordanv78 : In truth I see it as a good thing I don't remember much as far as style goes. But back then people weren't as bad as they are now, especially with their choice of clothing. I live in a small town in Ohio. Mostly just a farm area and everything. I literally kid you not at all though, I never once saw said hats until rap was becoming the big wave in social media.

Outside of that I always saw baseball caps, beanies, ect. That was about it. If anything, the hats were probably awesome back then and i'm sure even now they're pretty good. But with the designs on them now and what they're associated with..i'd pass. No contest on that. 

Jordanv78 : I misunderstood the definition of the snapback. Yes, it refers to the snaps on the back which I am totally cool with. 

When shopping online at several different places, every instance of what I thought was ridiculous was referred to as a snap back. The feature I don't like is the flat bill.

http://www.superherostuff.com/superman/baseball-caps/superboy-symbol-red-and-black-39thirty-cap.html?itemcd=capsuprdblk3930

http://www.superherostuff.com/superman/baseball-caps/superboy-symbol-9fifty-snapback-cap.html?itemcd=capsuprdblk950

Sorry for my confusion.

zerothesaint : Fedora's are cool. I just wish I could look good in them. 

thephantombrain : Yeah the totally flat bill thing is something I couldn't get on board with either man, so I hear ya.

Also as I mentioned before, back when we were young'ins we didn't call those kind of hats "Snapback" lol That's something else a marketing person came up with more recently (I guess)