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Style & beauty

How do I keep my hat on?

(33 Posts)
teabagwoman Tue 04-Nov-25 14:56:59

I’m partially sighted and glare, especially when the sun is low in the sky, is a real problem for me. The advice is to wear a hat with a brim but I live near the top of a hill and it’s always windy. Can anyone suggest a way to keep my hat in place without resorting to elastic under the chin, something I did as a child that I can’t contemplate now.

M0nica Tue 04-Nov-25 16:49:19

hairpins?

kircubbin2000 Tue 04-Nov-25 16:51:42

A beanie type hat and sunglasses.

teabagwoman Tue 04-Nov-25 19:13:26

Kirkubbin, sunglasses don’t help my type of vision loss, life would be simple if they did. I need plenty of light but can’t cope with glare.

Ladyleftfieldlover Tue 04-Nov-25 19:16:55

When I was a management trainee at John Lewis in the 70s I sold hat pins!

Magenta8 Tue 04-Nov-25 19:22:20

Not ideal but you could try tying a scarf over the top of the hat leaving a brim at the front. Or you could sew a ribbon either side of the hat and tie them under your chin.

M0nica Tue 04-Nov-25 19:22:24

My firs reply was flippant. Here is a serious suggestion. I have trouble keping a hat on under any circumstances. I do not know wheether the cause is my very fine hair or my head size/shape.

What I have done in the past is buy some of those short curved hair combs and sew them inside the hat. I then push them into my hair as I put my hat on. It has always held the hat on very well.

I rarely wear a hat these days, even in winter, but when I do, I always sew a comb in first.

Whitewavemark2 Tue 04-Nov-25 19:23:49

I have hat pins 😊 different colours. They work quite well. I don’t wear hats much these days, but always a sun hat.

teabagwoman Tue 04-Nov-25 20:12:42

Thanks M0nica, I’ll give combs a try. I have very fine hair too plus a smaller than usual head. Back in the 60s, when I was training, I struggled to keep my nurse’s cap on despite using umpteen hair grips.

teabagwoman Tue 04-Nov-25 20:20:51

White wave, I didn’t think you could still buy hat pins but, prompted by you, I’ve just had a look at Amazon and there they are. Now I have two things to try. What would I do without Gransnet?

Whitewavemark2 Wed 05-Nov-25 00:14:58

I’ve had my hat pins for centuries😄😄

windmill1 Wed 05-Nov-25 02:42:32

No, indeed, the elastic-under‐the-chin strategy will make you look like you're on a day out from an institution for the 'Simple But Harmless'.

In days gone by ladies used hat pins and my Grandmother had some really artistic-looking examples. Mother-of-Pearl and creations with glazed Peacock colours on the handle.

But hatpins have been consigned to history now.

mum2three Wed 05-Nov-25 05:27:19

Would wearing sunglasses solve your problem?

LucyAnna5 Wed 05-Nov-25 06:55:52

teabagwoman

Kirkubbin, sunglasses don’t help my type of vision loss, life would be simple if they did. I need plenty of light but can’t cope with glare.

mum2three - teabagwoman says not -

Missedout Wed 05-Nov-25 12:29:43

When I'm out in an open top car, I wear a peaked boating cap (Musto brand - other brands are available). It has an adjustable headband (clip to tighten it around my head) and a 'tether' that also clips on to a collar or part of your outer clothing, so even if it blows off, it can't go anywhere.

teabagwoman Wed 05-Nov-25 14:12:10

Thanks Missedout I’ll look into boating caps.

hollysteers Wed 05-Nov-25 17:05:49

I’ve had to wear hats on stage for many years and the hat maker made us roll a piece of hair on the top of our head using a self holding foam roller, the hat went on, then the hat pins went in and made sure the hat didn’t move.
Perfect.

hollysteers Wed 05-Nov-25 17:06:28

The hat pins go through the foam rollers.

4allweknow Wed 05-Nov-25 17:10:04

Magenta8 idea and the ribbons/cords could be tucked into the hat when it's not windy.

Allira Wed 05-Nov-25 17:16:21

Instead of ribbons or elastic could you use cord with toggle which might look more trendy? A bush hat?

Rather like this one.

yogitree Wed 05-Nov-25 17:19:57

What about a skip cap with a band round the head that's elasticated - similar to what American ladies tennis players sometimes wear. It would certainly keep your hair in place - I know as I had one.

winterwhite Wed 05-Nov-25 17:33:18

I have this problem in winter and once tracked down some anti-glare glasses that weren't for blue light or night driving. Now I can't find them and would replace them if I could find what I need.

AuntieE Wed 05-Nov-25 17:45:14

Whitewavemark2

I have hat pins 😊 different colours. They work quite well. I don’t wear hats much these days, but always a sun hat.

Hat pins only work if your hair is long enough to be gathered in a bun as the pin goes through the hat and into your hair.

Since I cut my long hair, I have the same problem as OP, but I did manage to find a straw hat last summer that had a tape threaded through the lower edge of the crown so it could be tightened to fit.

I don't know if other types of hat have this kind of tape, or if it is possible to insert one in a hat, but I find it very useful.

Snowbelle Wed 05-Nov-25 20:14:34

winterwhite

I have this problem in winter and once tracked down some anti-glare glasses that weren't for blue light or night driving. Now I can't find them and would replace them if I could find what I need.

Polarised/skiing/fishing glasses?

Esmay Wed 05-Nov-25 20:25:06

Now we know why those hat pins were useful and according to the maiden Aunts in my family useful for nipping ungentlemanly behaviour in the bud.
We had three of them with the most extraordinary names and attitudes .

Seriously though -
MOnica has a very good suggestion.