We spend a lot of money for our favorite team’s gear.  Like any of our apparel choices, they help define our design style and more importantly, our personalities by just what type of cap we have our domes.

Men don’t want to come off as too neat and tidy when going out in public wearing these. Most men want to be seen as not “caring too much” about our appearances.  Care enough, but not to the point where we obsess.

So, ask yourself a few questions before breaking in your favorite fitted cap.  Understand your style first before forever altering the cap that defines you.

What type of hat (sports or other) is best for your personality?  Do you like to wear it retro and beat up looking?  How beat up and old should it look?  How much of a curve (if any) do you like on the bill of the cap?  Should the custom baseball cap be altered?

Get that beat up, classic retro look

Most men who want to wear their manly passion on their heads want the retro look.  They want the hat to look worn and tattered.  Matter of fact, many of the trendy stores started selling hats with beat up edges and torn fabric – on purpose as a style.  Go to any college bar or pub and you will find several examples of this.

To get that look with a cap you already own (or if you don’t want to spend the extra scratch to have them beat it up for you), here are some tips.

1. Wear it a lot. You will eventually get this look if you just wear it a bunch and wash it regularly.
2. Drag it. Tie the cap to a rope and take it on a bike ride or gentle car ride around your neighborhood.  With the price of gas nowadays, though, you better think twice about the car choice.
3. Use sandpaper. Take sandpaper around the edges of the cap and brim of the cap.  This will cause your hat to fray over time, but with some elbow grease, you can get it there much faster.
4. Rip it. In the event you want to get crazy, place a VERY small cut in the fabric on the brim.  Then rip the fabric ever so slightly to get the desired length of crapiness.
5. Place it in the sun. Letting the sun at it for a couple of days will fade the color and allow the hat to achieve a much more used look than that fresh out of the store feel.

Get the perfect curve or curl on the brim

The flat bill style is coming back, but if you want the baseball cap and you to look all grown up, don’t give into the hype.  Not to offend anyone, but that look seems pretty childish to me.  HOWEVER, you buy it, you wear it any way you want.

When curving, you have to make sure you don’t curl too much.  A hat with too much curve makes it look like you are overcompensating for something – huge detriment to ones masculine self and manliness.

Here are some tips to getting that perfect curve.

1. Use a coffee mug.  Place the bill of the hat in the mug overnight.  Wake up the next morning and you’re set.
2. Use a can or drinking glass.  Simply place a can or large drinking glass in the bill of the cap, making sure the bill fits snugly around the apparatus.  Tie it with a rubber band or some other non-abrasive elastic band.  Be careful on this one.  You may over curl it and look like, well, you know…
3. Manual curve.  This is the old fashioned way of breaking it in.  Hold the cap upside down facing you.  Use both hands and curl to specified curlness (this is not a word…)  Then turn the hat over and roll back and forth until you have the right symmetrical curvitude (again, made-up word).
4. Perfect Curve.  This is an actual product some fella came up with.  It is scientific in what it can do.  It can actually specify the amount of curve you actually get.  Check it out here.

Make sure it’s the right size

The old timing, big leaguers would essentially wear a bean cap with a bill on their head.  Check out any pics of Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth to see what I mean.  Now, I don’t think anyone wants to go to this extreme, but turning the custom baseball cap into a fitted baseball cap takes some work.  Try these steps…

1. Buy a cap that is slightly too big on your head.  If the cap is wool or cotton, we plan on shrinking it to fit just perfect.
2. Get the cap wet.  Use a spray bottle or dip the entire cap in warm water.
3. Put the hat on your head immediately.  If you don’t want to look REAL foolish, then you can let it dry a little before putting it on the dome.
4. Wear the hat until it is completely dry.

The hat has to be wool or cotton, though.  And you want to make sure you don’t shrink it too much.  If you feel it shrinking too much, stretch it out while it is drying. Remember, you have to work the fabric to get it to where you want it.

You will be astonished to see your baseball cap fitting around your head in a manner the old-timers would be so proud (see Ty smiling over there).  The cap will form around your noggin like no other hat in your stash.

As I stated, I love baseball caps.  I love the way a fitted baseball cap feels on my head, and like most men, it serves a special purpose.  It’s a very masculine way to show our design style or show everyone who’s our favorite team.

LINK:  Want to see what they wore way back then?  Visit the National Baseball Hall Of Fame’s page on the History of the Baseball Uniform to get some official lingo and styles.

There is nothing that can ruin a good suit more than scuffed up shoes. It is imperative that we pay attention to our shoes when dressing formal. After all, this does contribute to one of our core manliness traits: A Man’s Appearance Matters. It is something often overlooked until we at the point of putting the shoe on and realize their shoes look like they have been run over by a truck several times.

Men have several options to keep their shoes in good working order and in spit shine readiness. If you travel often, you will do as I do and actually wear the shoes that need a good shine to the airport. There is always an old-timer there that has done about 2,937,819,374,092,843 pairs of shoes. You want this person if can get him/her.

He (or she) will whip out their tools with the speed and accuracy of Clint Eastwood hawking his 45 in a Dirty Harry flick. Also, when I see them wearing the rubber gloves to keep their hands from being ripped apart, I get excited. I know I am in for a heck of a shine…an experience to say the least. The entire process for both shoes should be roughly 5-10 minutes. A little trick some will play is to add flare and mystique to their presentation. It is an art form for certain and the experience is what they want you to have. You walk away happier and most likely tip better. BTW, you should always be generous with your tips for the good ones. They earn it.

When you get your shoes done at the airport or other public place, it is like going to your favorite barbershop – you will have tons of small talk and chat about just about anything under the sun with the shiner and other patrons. This is part of the experience.

However, if cash is tight, you don’t travel much, or if you simply don’t want the experience, you will have to learn to do this for yourself. This can not only save you the $5-10 being done by a pro, but you will also have the satisfaction that comes along with taking care of your professional gear yourself.

Here are the items you will need to perform the task:

1. Shoe trees for shoe care
2. Shoehorn for ease of on/off (if needed)
3. Cream polish and/or shoe wax
4. Application cloth or toothbrush or on brush
5. Off brush (usually longer than on brush and softer bristles
6. Shammy or sheepskin cloth for final polish
7. Finishing polish (optional)

There are some really good shoe shine kits on the market. Take a look at these all inclusive solutions to take all the guess work out of what is needed.

Here are the general steps to the shining your own shoes:

1. Take out the shoe tree if you use one (the shoe tree is used to keep the form of the shoe while not in use)
2. Take out the laces. This is often overlooked, but it is best for long term care of the shoe. This allows you to make sure tongue is polished fully. If not done, the tongue will fade over time.
3. Select your cream polish or shoe wax - cream polish is better for subtle shine and shoe wax is better for waterproofing and a harder shine
4. Remove all dust and dirt with on brush or off brush.
5. Apply polish with cloth or toothbrush (toothbrush is better if you are traveling). You can also use an on-brush (has stiffer bristle than the off-brush and is about half the size). Also, when you have serious scuff marks, apply two coats of polish. Apply all polish in a round motion
6. Don’t forget the bottom of the shoe. Yup, if your shoe has a leather bottom (not the dirty part but the one right before the heal) don’t forget to polish this part. It will be seen if you cross your legs.
7. Set the first shoe down and start work on the second shoe. This will allow the polish to soak into the leather for a better shine
8. Polish shoe with off-brush. Use a light flick of the brush with the rist. Don’t use the elbow as this takes much more work and time.
9. Do a final polish using the shammy or sheepskin cloth

TIP: Remember to remove all shoe polish on the top ridges of the shoe. This is often overlooked and ends up on your trousers.

Polishing your shoes on a regular basis increases the life of your shoe and makes the entire ensemble look much better. There should not be any question IF you can afford the 5-10 minutes it takes to perform this task, it is just a matter of how ofter you really need to do it. That is, of course, personal preference, but the more you do it, the longer you shoes will last and the better you will look.

Finally, the International Institute of Modern Butlers put out this VERY educational video on the topic. It is not the best quality video to ever hit the net, but this gentleman really knows his stuff. Take a look…