Bald? There are a lot of us. Wearing Hats and Caps. Styles and Stereotypes. Or Not.

Worried about hair loss? Get over it.

However...; if you are young, hair loss might be a symptom of a medical condition. If so, you will need to get that checked out; an over-active thyroid is a good example.

Otherwise, if the baldness is just hereditary and/or the normal process of getting older, accept it.

Yes, there is bigotry and prejudice when it comes to being bald. What else is new? If your concerns are economic, as in prejudice in the workplace; then maybe hair transplants, Minoxidil, etc are legitimate options.

Whatever you do, don't throw away money buying a rug. You won't fool anybody. And people will laugh at you.

Another option is to wear a hat or cap.

Many hats and caps styles are representative of a particular stereotype. Choose the style / stereotype that is the real you; and wear the hat or cap that represents that.

If your self-perceived stereotype conflicts with your workplace objectives, then you have a decision to make. Then again, the amazing thing about caps and hats is that they are removable. You can wear one style / stereotype for work, and another for elsewhere; and another, and another, and another...

There is no universally “cool” hat or cap. Each hat or cap style is only “cool” within a specific stereotype.

Are you western? Then you already know what hat to wear. Are you sports? Again, you already know what cap to wear.

Are you literary, techie/techy, or otherwise nerd-like? Are you proud of that fact? There are no literary/ techie/nerd hats, but there are cap styles that can be fairly representative.

There are two broad categories of caps; those that are flat and those that are not. The flat cap can represent literary, techy, nerd-like, music oriented, and many other stereotypes and/or interests. Pretty much all styles are complimentary to the person wearing them. And there is lots of crossover; a single style can represent more than one interest.

There are three basic styles of caps. There are the leather and otherwise smooth-surface caps. There are the knit / tweed caps. There are the cloth caps.

So, now; back to stereotypes and styles. Taking a situation to a semi-extreme scenario is often the best way to really determine a societal stereotype. So here are some examples:

You are pulled over by a traffic officer...

A. You are into music and wearing a leather or other smooth-surface cap. That police officer is going to take one look at you and there is going to be a car search and background check in your immediate future.

B. You may or may not be techie, and/or are not particularly into anything, but you are somewhat nerd-like and somewhat cool. You are therefore wearing a cloth cap. You will generally be perceived as one of the good guys. Nothing out of the ordinary will probably happen during this routine stop.

C. You are literary. Or you are techie. Or you are otherwise nerd-like. And thus you are wearing a tweed / knit cap. Unless there is something contra-indicative in either your vehicle or your manner, you will have the best chance of not being cited.

As to patterned or solid-colored, this can be geographically dependent. Note what others are wearing at the grocery store, mall, etc.

If you are over 18 years of age, do not ever, ever wear any cap back-to-front. Well..., sports activities are an exception of course.

If nothing else, the glare will keep the birds away.

And there is nothing wrong with hats either.

Have fun with it. :-)

[Editor's Note: As for the author of this page, there is indeed a knit/tweed cap sometime in his future. Yep, he is bald and scaring away the birds as you read this. He don't care, but he does like the idea of eventually getting around to wearing some really cool glasses and caps.]