Why Men Wear Hats in New Orleans

Ask any woman in New Orleans why men wear hats in New Orleans and they will tell you God’s honest truth.  It is all about style.  Style isn’t everything in New Orleans.  Honesty counts for more, but style is something.  Style counts in New Orleans.  I know.  I am both honest and I always wear a hat.

I wear a hat so often that most people think I’m bald.  I’m not.

I’m not talking about caps or beanies when I am talking about hats.  You know the kind I’m talking about: fedoras, porkpies, homburgs, tricorns, top hats, panamas, boaters, gamblers.  Even my shadow wears a hat:

WHY MEN WEAR HATS IN NEW ORLEANS

No matter what you think, I’m not bald.

Why men wear hats in New Orleans is no mystery.  When you look good, you feel good.  Everyone feels good in New Orleans.  Feeling good is a New Orleans state of mind.  Better a so-so day in New Orleans than three days, though not four, of good fishing.  I don’t fish.  I eat fish.  Seafood is as common as French bread and hot sauce in a New Orleans diet.  Where can you find the best oysters in New Orleans?  Wherever you are.

The one place to find the best hat in New Orleans is at Meyer the Hatter.

WHY MEN WEAR HATS IN NEW ORLEANS AT LA BELLE ESPLANADE

Most men don’t actually wear hats or caps at La Belle Esplanade.  I, your humble narrator, is usually the best dressed gentleman presiding at breakfast.  I am the host, after all.  You don’t pay good money to see me lounging in my inside-out tee shirt untucked from my torn sweatpants.  If that is what you prefer, I have some other New Orleans B&Bs I can refer you to.  You’ll love them.  La Belle Esplanade is a professional operation.  We dress like we run the #1-ranked place to stay in New Orleans.

Price is what you pay.  Value is what you get.  There are two Goorin Bros. hat shops in New Orleans, too.

Few visitors to New Orleans wear hats when they arrive.  I’m not counting ball caps.  I mean hats like fedoras.  I have very few caps.  I own a lot of hats.  Before yesterday, I didn’t have a yellow fedora.  Now I do.

Some recent guests (Hi Briana!) stayed at La Belle Esplanade for 10 nights.  It was their first time in New Orleans.  For all our readers who are not Briana—–This, my friends, is the stuff of which good memories are made: 10 nights off the typical tourist radar.  10 nights in New Orleans.  10 nights at La Belle Esplanade.  That is the stuff of which good memories are made—the kind of good memories that will last a lifetime.  I wish I had moved to New Orleans twenty years younger.  I would have that much more easy-going happiness in my life.

EVEN IF YOU DON’T WEAR A HAT, YOU CAN FIND A NICE JACKET IN NEW ORLEANS

I know a man who came to New Orleans to celebrate his 48th birthday.  10 nights in New Orleans!  What’s he gonna want to do when he turns 50?  We are always open for special occasions.  You are on the right website.

I wasn’t at the inn to wish a fond farewell to our recent guests but, as soon as I walked into the lobby, I knew I had missed them.  They left me a memento.  It was the gift of the yellow fedora that I never had until today.  Tucked into the brim’s ribbon was a note:

Everyone should visit New Orleans for a week or so.  Nobody ever says their visit is too long.  The longer you are here, the more things you will discover to explore.  La Belle Esplanade has been ranked the #1 place to stay since April 2014 on TripAdvisor.  We’ve also been ranked the #2 place to stay in the United States and #17 in the world.  If you want to experience New Orleans like you belong here, you belong at La Belle Esplanade.  The best New Orleans memories are made on our street.  You should stay in our CLIO SUITE.

Saturday, November 9, 2019: There was a shotgun house tour in our neighborhood today.  Some of our guests visited open houses of historic homes throughout Faubourg St. John.  Some of our guests went to the Mid-City Open Studios show on Toulouse Street.  Some went to the French Quarter to get their history and barbecue shrimp fix.  Some went Uptown to the Garden District.  There is always something to do in New Orleans.  La Belle Esplanade is a perfect location off the typical tourist treadmill to experience what it means to be in love with the real New Orleans.

Right now, the yellow fedora is on display in The New Orleans Odditarium.  I don’t like to name our guests but I would like to thank the two who bestowed La Belle with this yellow fedora.  You know who you are.  You have two friends on Esplanade Aveue.  Come back to visit with us any time.  Stay for longer!