Our digital age has only accelerated this, giving us the power to share, meme, and destroy a fashion choice instantly.
Too many accessories, feathers, or pins added to an otherwise simple hat. bad hat
Fast forward to today, and the "bad hat" is alive and well, though it has mutated. It’s no longer a battered top hat in London, but rather the "ugly" hat worn by a colleague, the "clunky" baseball cap at a black-tie event, or the "obnoxious" fashion trend seen on social media. Our digital age has only accelerated this, giving
The compulsion to ridicule a bad hat—or any "bad" fashion—offers a perverse sense of belonging. "It's the ultimate 'us vs. them' dynamic," notes psychologist Mark Ryan. "When we laugh at someone else's poor choice, we are reinforcing our own 'good' taste, our own place within the accepted group." It’s no longer a battered top hat in
"It was a way of enforcing a certain level of appearance," says cultural historian Dr. Elaine Smyth. "By focusing on the hat—the highest, most visible part of the person—the crowd was asserting a shared, albeit cruel, standard of propriety."