All right, gents, you willing to make a bet? I've got a $100 that says you can't
guess how long men have been wearing baseball caps. What do you think? 25 years, 55 years,
or 125 years? The answer, sorry, it was a trick question, because men have been wearing baseball
caps since 1849. Seriously, Gents, men have been rocking baseball caps for over a 170 years.
Now, initially, they weren't called baseball caps. They were called mercury
caps or pillbox caps. And the team that made them popular, the New York Nickenbachers,
I'm referring to the organized baseball club that was active from 1845 to 1870.
By the way, if you're curious as to what a nickenbacher is or how to get a piece
of that $100, stick around. I'll explain a little bit later in the video. But let's get
to the question that I'm sure if you're watching this video you've got, which is why did baseball
caps become such a fashion icon? Seriously, if you're in the United States, just look around.
It seems like every other guy is wearing a baseball cap. Where did this fashion trend
come from? Why are men wearing caps? And how could you bring one into your wardrobe? Now,
first up, let's define what a baseball cap is. Now in general,
it's going to be a cap that fits on the head with a visor, which is a simple definition,
because if we get any more specific, we need to talk about the different types.
Let's talk about fitted caps. These are made to a specific style and they're not adjustable. They
typically feature a structured crown, and they've got a flat or slightly curved brim.
This particular style is oftentimes worn by athletes and sports enthusiasts,
especially in baseball. Next up, we've got Snapbacks. They've got an adjustable plastic
strap on the back, which allows the wearer to customize the fit.
Now, with Snapbacks, we're often going to see a structured crown with a straight
brim. Occasionally people bend the brim, but a lot of people like to wear it flat
and straight. And these styles are going to be for the more fashion conscious individual.
They come in a wide variety of styles, colors, makes, and people love them for
their comfort and functionality and fashion. Now, strapbacks are going to be similar to Snapbacks,
except they're going to have a leather or other types of material strap on the back that makes
them adjustable. As of the cost of manufacturing, this type of hat is a little bit more expensive.
You're going to see that these type of baseball caps are going to be a
bit more refined. Next up, we've got dad hats. Now, these caps are
characterized by their unstructured low profile crown and slightly curved brim.
Now, most of these are going to be made from a cotton or canvas material,
and they're going to have an adjuster in the back. And as you can imagine,
these are going to be for a casual laidback appearance. Oftentimes you're going to see
celebrities sporting these people that just simply don't want to worry about their hair.
And of course, let's not forget trucker hats. Now,
in the fashion world, trucker hats had a major push in the last ten years.
But if you go farther back, you realize, hey, this stuff never left the country.
This was a very rural type of hat. It makes sense because it's relatively
inexpensive to manufacture. That being said, they're incredibly functional.
Why? Because the crown, it's all about being breathable. It's all
about that mesh on the back. In addition, you got the foam front,
you've got the curved or the flat brim and the adjuster on the back.
Next up, we've got flex fit caps. In the back. We're going to have a bit of flex.
We're going to have an elastic that allows the cap to be fitted without having to
have a snap back or strap. They often have a structured crowned, a flat or a curved brim,
and they're preferred by people that just want simplicity and ease with their
hat fitting. And next up, of course, let's not forget the five panel cap.
Now, five panel caps are made up of separate fabric panels sewn together with a single panel
on the top and two on each side. Now, this particular style really popular with skaters,
cyclists, and people that are looking for a unique look with street wear. All right,
so you got an understanding now of the different styles,
but how did we go from the 1849 nickenbachers to currently almost every guy having a baseball
cap in his wardrobe? Well, first up, let me answer a question I brought up earlier.
What in the world is a nickenbacher? In case you didn't know, nickenbachers refer
to a type of pants that the early dutch settlers wore in the United states. So if
somebody is referred to as a nickenbacher, they are referring to an original resident
of new york. So getting back to new York, 1860s, let's look at the brooklyn excelsiors.
The big thing that these guys brought to the evolution of the baseball cap is they
lengthened the brim as this cap started to pick it up with popularity with other teams,
this was known as the brooklyn style cap. In the 19 hundreds, the brooklyn style cap was modified
with a more structured crown and a longer curved visor. Simply put, it became more comfortable and
more functional as baseball started to take a place in prominence in the United states.
Now, in the 1930s and 40s, what we started to see were fans started to
get their hands on baseball caps and they would wear them in support of their team,
america's favorite pastime. At the time, baseball was the most popular sport, and this was something
you had just tens of thousands of fans showing up wearing the baseball caps, still considered very
casual. But all of a sudden, the average guy became accustomed to putting one on.
In the 1950s, all of a sudden, we started seeing celebrities like bing Crosby,
frank Sinatra wearing their baseball caps, and all of a sudden, it was looked at as
something cool. In the 1960s, the adjustable snapback was introduced to the general public.
All of a sudden, you could start getting a baseball cap fitted to actually work for you.
In the 1970s, actors like Robert redford, Paul Newman all of a sudden, we started seeing them
on screen and off screen wearing baseball caps. It became cool. In the 1980s, we saw groups like run
DMC starting to wear the snapback, and all of a sudden, it's picking up in the hip hop community.
And of course, we can't not talk about Michael Jordan at
press conferences after he would play a game. He's wearing a baseball cap,
in case you didn't know. A huge baseball fan throughout the 1990s.
We saw tom Cruise, will Smith, fred Durst in the beginning of the 2000s. David Beckham,
jay Z. Farrell Williams, kanye west, justin Timberlake.
Into the 2010s. LeBron James, justin Bieber,
kendrick Lamar. Chance the Rapper tyler the Creator travis Scott post Malone today
timothy Shalmette odell Beckham Jr ASAP Rocky harry Styles jonah Hill and Patrick Mahomes.
Seriously, when I think of one of my favorite actors and what seems
to be a pretty darn cool dad that's got it all,
ryan Reynolds. I mean, he's always wearing these baseball caps now, and of course,
he's got great hair. He doesn't need it, but it just seems like it's become part of his style.
All right, so now you got the history. Now let's talk about why you want to
bring a baseball hat into your modern wardrobe. First up, practicality.
There are mornings, yes, even for me, that I just wake up, I don't have time to shower,
my wife needs something from the store, I'm still in my sweats, finish my workout,
and my hair is all over the place. What do I do? I throw on a baseball cap. Next up,
let's talk about the functionality of keeping the sun out of your face.
Yes, you could wear sunglasses, but baseball caps do a great job of physically protecting
your face from the sun. You've got skin cancer you want to worry about. And I
think more importantly, you just want to be able to see clearly,
mix and match them with sunglasses, if that's what you so choose.
But even if you don't wear sunglasses, having a baseball cap on that brim out there in front
does a good job of allowing you to see better. And let's talk about the practicality of maintenance.
They're usually made from a washable material, so if they get dirty, something happens to them.
You can just simply throw them in the wash, reshape them. It's pretty darn easy, and boom,
you can wear it again and not really worry about it and reinforcing that functionality. I have to
say, with a lot of other types of headwear, you worry about the wind blowing it off your head.
Most baseball caps, especially if they fit well around the head. There's a lot of surface area
that's touching your head, so they just seem less likely to get blown off than bucket caps or any
of the other types of larger brimmed hats that go fully around. Those just seem to get blown off.
Baseball caps stick and stay on your head. And last but not least, the right baseball cap can
be a great fashion trend, an easy way for you to be able to stand apart without having to do
too much. So how to choose a baseball cap? These are the five rules you want to know.
But before I get into those rules, I want to introduce you to today's sponsor, Vitamin. Now,
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We'll get you your money back. So rule number one to choosing a baseball cap that's going to fit
into your wardrobe. You want to go with a neutral color, nothing bright, nothing over the top.
Go with a simple black, dark blue, navy gray. Something that's going to be easily
paired with all the other clothing in your wardrobe. The goal here, gentle,
is for you to start wearing the cap interchangeability.
You can put this on gray. It's a non color. You put that cap on, it's going to match anything.
Next up, you want to find the right fit. It sounds obvious, but oftentimes guys go out there,
they try a hat on, and for some reason, they bought it a little bit too tight.
Maybe they thought they were saving a few bucks to get it in that particular size.
But here's the thing. If it's too tight or way too loose,
you're not going to wear it. So as tempted as you are to go buy a cap online,
I highly recommend that you just go to a store in your area and you try a few on.
This is going to be big because you don't have to deal with the returns.
You can simply try on five different caps. You can see the different styles out there.
Next up, choose the style that suits you, the style that when you put it on, this feels right.
Now you don't want to push it too much here. Again, you want something that is easy to wear.
So maybe, hey, you're a baseball fan. And then simply, yeah, you're a Cincinnati Red fan,
maybe you're, I don't know, Seattle Mariner fan, whatever it may be,
support your team. And again, it doesn't have to be baseball.
Maybe you've got other sports that you want to wear their cap. My son,
he's an f one guy Ferrari, so he wears the Ferrari caps. Now,
this next rule seems a bit excessive, but I think it's a great way to jumpstart it.
And that is don't be afraid to pick up your hat at an event or to buy a particular hat
for an event. I brought up the f one Ferrari, so my son, whenever we traveled down to Austin,
Texas, it was a big deal for him to get a hat right there. And it was expensive.
I overpaid for it. But for him, this is his go to baseball cap. And I love
it because he wore it the entire time we were down there in Austin.
And it was just something that all of a sudden he's connecting with other Ferrari
fans. It's just something that if you can jumpstart this by being able to pull
it off to a game over a weekend, finding an occasion, all of a sudden you just associate
good feelings with wearing that cap. And finally, Jens put in the reps practice.
Wear it with other outfits. Of course you're not going to pair it with the suit,
but most of you guys aren't wearing suits on a daily basis. You're wearing more casual clothing.
So see how this looks in the wardrobe, get the opinion of others, or just simply like I said,
when I'm running to the store first thing in the morning, I throw it on and all of a sudden I'm
supporting my team, having a little bit of fun, bringing a fun accessory into my wardrobe. Hi,
Jen. So what video to watch next? Well, how about why in the world old did men stop wearing
pocket watches? You've ever wondered? Guys, I got you covered in this video right here.
It's a good one. Check it out. Why did they
stop wearing pocket watches? They seem pretty cool, but.