How to Wear a Baseball Cap: The Ultimate Style Guide

Baseball caps don't only serve a practical purpose—they're also a reflection of your personal style and can add something extra to your look. But even stylish baseball caps don't automatically look good with any outfit. As with any accessory, there's an art to wearing a baseball cap with style, and you might not naturally know how to do this.

Practice makes perfect when it comes to knowing how to effortlessly style baseball caps with your clothes. Here, we're sharing our top tips for how to wear a baseball cap, including with a ponytail, and offering some inspiration for hat-and-cap matching to get you started.

Tips for Styling a Fitted Baseball Cap

Looking for styling tips for your favorite baseball cap? There are a few different baseball cap styles, but these basic rules apply across the board.

First, fit. Your cap should sit snugly on your head, not so loose that it can blow off in the wind, and not so tight that you end up with a headache. The bill or visor should rest just above your eyebrows without falling into your eyes.

If you want to make things easier, do yourself a favor and buy your baseball hats in neutral colors like black, grey, beige or stone, and navy. That said, not everyone prefers the understated look, and if you're a fan of wearing bold patterns or bright colors, you might want to be more adventurous and pick a more standout color to match your shoes or pants.

Best Ways to Wear a Baseball Cap with a Ponytail

If you’re wondering how to wear a baseball cap with a ponytail, we've got some specific advice for you here.

First, you'll want to look for a cap that has an adjustable strap or an opening in the back. Having a large keyhole opening means there'll be plenty of room for your hair even when it's up. Sadly, very high ponytails (we're talking on top of your head, rather than behind) are out when you're wearing a cap. You can wear a lower ponytail, though—you might just need to adjust your hair so it sits below the strap.

The easiest way to wear a cap with a ponytail is to tie your hair up first, then pull it through the opening. If you want to get a bit more creative, you could also braid your hair and wear it with a baseball cap in the same way.

Tips for Styling a Fitted Baseball Cap

So, that's the basics out of the way—but if you don't wear baseball hats often or you've just bought your first one, you might still be wondering about how to wear a baseball cap with different styles of clothes.

For all your casual outings, you can wear a fitted cap with pretty much any outfit that matches its tone. Regardless of your hat's shape, if it's a solid-color cap, there's a good chance it'll look good with a plain tee and jeans.

Things can get a bit more complicated when you’re wearing streetwear or athleisure, but these outfits also give you the opportunity to be more playful when it comes to your hat's colors or logos.

Our final tip is to choose your hat as you're planning the rest of your outfit, rather than selecting it as outerwear before you leave the house. That way, you'll know for certain that it matches your look, and it won't end up looking like a hurried afterthought.

Outfit Ideas to Pair with a Baseball Cap

The good news is that you've got plenty of options when it comes to wearing baseball hats with your everyday outfits. Here are a few ideas to spark inspiration.

The Casual Look

If you're styling a look that needs to work for a day of errands, outdoor activities, or lounging around, you'll easily be able to pair your cap with joggers or leggings, sneakers, and a t-shirt or hoodie. This look is hard to get wrong, especially with a more casual hat like a dad hat.

A More Put-Together Style

For something a bit more polished and put-together, you could wear a hat with a pair of slim jeans and a basic tee, finished with a bomber or denim jacket.

Summer Fits

When you're wearing casual summer clothes like shorts, tank tops, tennis skirts, and low-profile sneakers, a cap will add a stylish touch every time. Go for a snapback cap for more of a streetwear look, or a visor for a sporty feel.

Winter Looks

You can still wear a cap in cooler weather, even though there's a bit more to think about! It usually works well to match it with a hoodie layered under a coat or lightweight puffer. As a general rule, you'll want to keep your outfit simple and coordinated so the cap adds to the look instead of clashing with it.

Dos and Don’ts of Wearing Baseball Caps

Let's finish with a quick list of things you should do and things you should never do when you're wearing and styling baseball hats.

• Do wear your cap in a good, clean condition. Nobody feels good in sweaty or dirty headwear.

• Do pair it with outfits that suit your personal style, whatever that looks like.

• Do experiment with different ways to wear the bill (you have the classic forward-facing look, but backward can also be cool with a casual look).

• Don’t force your cap into an outfit where it doesn’t belong.

• Don’t wear a baseball cap in a formal situation, like a wedding or a job interview (unless it's specifically on the dress code).

• Don’t avoid wearing hats because you're not a sports fan. Nobody said you had to emulate your favorite sports team! Caps are a timeless accessory, and they're certainly not only worn by sports fans.

By now, you should be pretty confident when it comes to how to wear a fitted baseball cap in a way that suits you and your style.

If you're looking to buy a few more caps for your collection, you've come to the right place. At Notch, we sell everything from trucker hats to performance hats in different materials, including styles with cotton and mesh paneling, so you're guaranteed to find the hat you love with a proper fit. Shop our full range here.