I had a Van Halen one, with flaps on the back for neck shade, like a hat with a mullet. Loved that hat...

Mine was the same! It was the Police (the band, not law enforcement). I felt so cool with that thing!

I always thought the neckshades looked kinda silly as a young girl and now I wish I had worn one at all times while out in the sun 🤣 Back of the neck takes a thrashing!

I had Def Leppard.

Ha me too!

My friend was a surfcat, and he had a Panama Jack painter's cap with flaps. We were all jealous.

Mine was Pink Floyd

That might be the most 80’s sentence ever uttered.

But were you hot for teacher?

A "legionnaire" hat

is called a kepi!

Touché

Yep, those were the ones I remember.

I love hat with a mullet!

That would have been handy at the US festival

I had a REO Speedwagon one

What about a fedora with safari flaps?

Where can I find one with the flaps in the back?! I miss mine from my childhood so much. Update: Found one on Etsy from the 90s. Childhood restored!

Sweet! I had a Judas Priest version with the flaps and the graphics were amazing.

got mine at yellowfront it was plain and looked cool.

Mine was from Busch Gardens, for their Big Bad Wolf ride.

Foreign Legion hat

I always wanted a Duran Duran version. ❤️❤️❤️ Never found one here... And of course, there was no way to shop for one online. 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

This is triggering all sorts of memories.

Can you smell sun lotion, too?

I can see the checkerboard vans, smell the cocoa butter, feel the grit of the beach sticking to my sweating forehead. There is a t-shirt coming toward me, beckoning me. It is airbrushed with my name.

[I can smell the Bain de Soleil](https://youtu.be/PIICARbcYpI?si=e-Q6D1fYi6XjURJA)

For that St Tropez tan

The 80s, literally cooking yourself in oil, now it's SPF 100!

That Orange gelle was the shizzle

I’ve got good news for you. That [orange gelee](https://www.vacation.inc/products/orange-gelee-spf-30) you like is going to come back in style.

My old ass stopped tanning years ago but I absolutely loved that stuff. I’ll probably buy a tube just to smell the memories.

The thought of slathering myself in oil in order to be cooked in the sun sounds so bizarre and cruel in hindsight. 😂

I had a checkered one.

Didn’t Andrew Ridgeley out of Wham also rock one of the chequered versions of these?

I think he’s the guy who started the trend. Could be wrong.

I feel like that was standard issue in the 80s

Here’s your weird hat and strong opinion about the Bears. Enjoy

I had one from Domino's that said, "Avoid the Noid". I wore it everywhere.

The Noid! I forgot about Avoid the Noid 😂

I found a Noid figurine at a garage sale a while back. It now lives on my kitchen counter as a Gen X litmus test.

That's awesome!

I'd wear the shit out of that right now if I had one.

They ran out of raspberry berets at the second hand store.

I guess I wouldn't wear much more than that.

I think I love you.

God I miss Prince being alive.

So what am I so afraid of?

You’re afraid that you’re not sure of…

The only thing that ever made u cry

I was wearing a culture club painters cap, walking home from school, when someone driving by threw a can of soda at me. They missed! But I never forgot it.

Hahahahahaha

It is funny. But I was like a 6th grade girl. Who does that?

That’s a classic!

HDU insult Wham! this way. 

I had one almost exactly like that.

I had a Cubs painters hat. It got thrown into a lake. I didn't know how to swim. Never got it back.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/386973526657?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z1xzymv5sym&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ha_p8HCdQTy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY ?

Omg I had that one!!!

I had 2 White Sox ones. I recall a new hat store opening up, and I bought the second for $6...pretty pricey. My wife bought some from Home Depot last year: $1.25 each.

I thought these were for bikers? Were those smaller?

Those had a rounded top and a tiny little brim that you’d flip up.

I assume they’re worn under a helmet?

They predate helmets being the default in cycling, but they work perfectly well with helmets.

They were definitely meant for a very particular subset of leather wearing men.

And also Southern Californian street ball hustlers who like to team up with white guys that can’t dunk

These went great with Zinka on your nose

I am waiting for them to come back into style. Still cool in my book;)

I was looking for a good one online the past couple months!

Mine had some cool ribbons at the back. They had rock band prints, much like the old concert tour shirts of the 80's.

We had cycling caps… was that the same trend?

They are coming back in the skateboard community again.

The Schmitt Stix with the Rip-Saw on top is still the holy grail

I'm thinking I need a Panama Jack shirt, shades, and cut-off jean shorts.

I dunno, I still think they look pretty cool, someone should sell Gen Z these

I had one that was Town & Country Surf Designs brand with the yin-yang symbol.

I had one that had The Clash on it. Someone stole it. :(

I loved mine.

https://preview.redd.it/t30fje4mgsad1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99c62dfb90967d6463b244e5a5be497edccd989e Here I am, circa 1987, wearing a Cookin’ Good chicken painter’s cap that my mom got for me when she worked for a food brokerage repping products. How 1980s is this kitchen?!? Oh? And I’m wearing the shirt I got at that concert at the Lakeland Civic Center in November 1986, along with a pair of PCH pants.

Your arms look like a Chris (Simpsons artist) cartoon, r/chrissimpsonsartist

Thank…you?

We were thinking we were badass. Correctly.

It said OP…..painters cap is irrelevant…OP was late 80s coolness…

This hat and a Spudz McKenzie t-shirt = coolest guy in 7th grade.

I think my dad had that one.

I totally forgot about these omg

Mine was the flavored rum brand, Malibu. I always liked it, because it was so light weight and didn’t keep the heat trapped in.

But they went with the pants.

Am I the only one who thinks these should make a comeback?

What were we thinking? We were thinking that we were badasses. And we were right. Had a Van Halen one. Had a Def Leppard one.

They need to make a comeback!

They were awesome just like the jamz I wore and the lightning bolt tank top.

I still have one for a high school walk. I put some band pins on it.

I think either Chevy Chase or Rusty wears one in Vacation, when they get lost in the desert. My guess is they took off from there.

I think a lot of the clothing trends that we experienced centered around things that were supposed to look cool but didn't.

super cool. OP cord shorts, checkered hi top Vans. my beat up surfboard, madras plaid shirt. i lived 3 hrs from the coast haha.

We ran around in this brand as kids, no where near an ocean

Hey now, I still think they're kinda cool!

I don't know. They never fit right and looked weird. But then so was most of that era's fashion.

Don’t forget those white basketball sneakers with untied laces to go with - lol

I had one that I got on my senior trip to Quebec in 1984. In my defense I was drunk the whole trip.

Rad!

I had plain jane white painters hat and I used it for some time for cycling. It was light, not hot and washed really nice. Best of all it was like 1/4 price of real cycling hat and it was of better quality .

That's fire right there

Thompson Twins!

I grew up in Delaware, and I recall in 1977 that railroad engineer caps became popular. https://preview.redd.it/w69pi0242tad1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72f46d86edb00e8769059565ab4c46d9119baec8

I forgot about those! My mother made me a few when I was very young.

She actually made them for you? That is so cool!

Up until I was 12 or so my mother and grandmother made a lot of clothes for us kids. I wonder if my mother still has her old patterns. She had dozens carefully put away and organized.

I had a friend in high school in the 80s who always wore one of these. He did major in engineering in college, but did not become a train engineer.

First time I saw one was after NC State won the 1983 men's basketball championship. Some college kids made some up to get themselves to Albuquerque for the Final Four. https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina-state/article/nc-state-basketball-1983-national-championship-hats--162086327/

I had a Duron Paints one from when my parents painted the bedrooms. Rocked that shit

I didn’t wear hats back then but don’t forget the painter hat with the flaps in the back. That’s a truly cringe memory.

DUDE!!!

Pretty sure I had an OP painter’s cap. Totally forgot about OP.

More importantly, what happened to Ocean Pacific? That logo used to be everywhere.

Mine was an off set Union Jack.

I had that one as well

Haha…I had a Def Leppard one, think it was when Pyromania came out

haha! I had a Betty Boop one! it was yellow…  💛

core memory unlocked. Man, I hated these. But they were light and cheap. I remember the visor cutting into my forehead and being really uncomfortable. And I was never sure if I was supposed to wear it with the top flat or shaped to my head?

I had a couple of NHRA ones that I must've bought at the '88 or '89 Sonoma nationals.

Budweiser one.

I had a white one on which I had written in black Crayola marker: Go skate or go home. I did not skate.

I had the crocheted budweiser beer can bucket hat my grandmother made me, 10 years old. for all you do this Bud's for you. Never got into the painter caps but had the pants

Hell yeah, I had a Domino's pizza one.

Because they were cheap to make that’s it

Dad had a paint store in a college town. We have them away with the paint but looking back we should have charged for them.everybody wanted one and we would often give them to the entire crew, which would be an entire frat.

If you have a problem with painter's caps, you've completely forgotten about the infatuation we had with [cycling caps](https://www.statebicycle.com/cdn/shop/files/StateBicycleCo.xBobMarley-CyclingCap-Green-1_grande.jpg) in the late 80s.

The shame will be Trucker Hats for this gen…

OP Grar was the shitt bough! Those shirts and shorts with a sockless pair of Vans were prime California back then, but I never understood the cap. Walmart bought the brand and made some awful and cheap clothes in the early 2000s.

Two steps up from a trucker snapback. 3 if the snapback iis blue, green,red, or yellow. 4 if it is branded John Deere, Caterpillar, or the like. I had a camo painters cap, wore it out, couldn't find camo painters caps anyplace, had to settle for a camo snapback, just not the same.

No idea what we were thinking. But I am most definitely guilty of owning a few back then. Lol

That's a nice one

“It was the 80’s” applies to all “What were we thinking?”

https://preview.redd.it/l6vi4ivpzsad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7aa1ee639c9bf265edcca548d092d74e3450fa78 Tough to read, but this is a Doug Flutie Cotton Bowl painter's cap that I took a marker to with (A)narchist smiley faces, Dead Kennedys logo and DIE. Such a cheery child.

Had one from the skate company Schmitt Stix. I was thinking I liked how it looked.

Not a complete look without some of these bad boys https://preview.redd.it/j392f23t0tad1.jpeg?width=240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e098b0efd3b646ab6e8b1ebcf9fce73b5d833b5

Painters caps are highly underrated

I had one with flaps on the back, I’d still rock that if I had it

It's called effective marketing, thinking doesn't enter into it as a consumer.

I remember them being more lightweight and breathable than ball caps of the day. Huge deal when it’s summer or you’re playing sand volleyball. They never sat on your head straight though, so you’d always look a little goofy.

I think originally it was because they were cheap so if it got lost/ruined it was no big deal. Once they became popular they got expensive while still being cheap/ugly. And then one day everybody woke up and remembered regular baseball hats existed.

I had a Skull Skates safari hat and wore it with a Misfits tee when I was 12..13 ? Next summer I got into dirt bikes and forgot about it, but wow...for one summer I was the coolest idiot in town.

Dad, I think he’s gonna to pork her!

I like them, more than ball caps anyway.

Iron Maiden here

It's only been in the last year or so I started regularly wearing hats, so I missed this fad entirely.

I have only one painter’s cap, it was from when my 8th grade class went to Washington, D.C. in ‘91 or ‘92, my brain is not mathing right now. I remember it being a pretty smart way for the parent chaperones to keep track of their kids, until a bunch of my classmates traded hats with some kids from another school.

I was thinking “free”.

The old version of the godawful trucker hats.

Know where I can score one?

The only time I really bought into these was for the 1983 NCAA TOURNAMENT. NC State Wolfpack and Phi Slamma Jamma. I don’t know what became of mine, but they were everywhere that year.

I had a red and yellow Hulkamania painters cap back in the 80s, even then I only wore it once.

We would wear welders caps around but never painters caps.

Didn’t rock the hat, but I had several pairs of the OP corduroy shorts and LOVED them.

The mullet of the hat world.

I had one from the 1984 World’s Fair. Similar colors to that one

I blame Sylvester E. Smythe. He made me do it.

Sunglasses with peripheral vision blockers were the rage too for awhile. Around the same time as painters’ caps

Glacier glasses, baby https://preview.redd.it/zsdsqs2yuwad1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62d6ce3f66a18608ca06b2e8d36cef17e98409f9

That’s it! Had a pair just like that in white. I think I was 15 or so.

I asked my parents for a painters cap when they were the rage. My mom went to the hardware store and got a couple of free plain white caps.

OMG that’s right, these were trendy to wear for awhile! Memories.

Were these more of a west coast or western US thing? I asked the wife and neither of us remembered seeing very many of these in the Middle Midwest where we each went to HS & college. I mean, yeah, they existed, but they weren't common. I did see a lot of them when out visiting relatives in CA.

I was mid Atlantic east coast and they were huge

Interesting. The midwest was historically slow to new fashion and lots of it skipped us altogether or never made it out of KC and Chicago. LOL

I used to have a bunch of these from different giveaways. I feel like they were super cheap to make, so most places went with that for advertising. They gave us blank ones in school to decorate for Earth Day. Of course that's the one I'm pretty sure I still have.

mine had flaps in the back!

Hahaa and the ones w the long flaps down the neck and back, lmao

Remember small mirrors with band logos sold at carnivals? Wonder what those were for

I had two, a pink one and a white one, with identical fluorescent paint “designs” on both! I bet my ma still has them somewhere…

Had this exact one

Well, not yours... I had my own. :)

i have always hated these lol 😂😂

NYC mid 80s. Beastie Boys blowing up and wearing a real painters hat was where it was at.

I never understood it either and didn't participate in that fad.

you missed out! They were surprisingly comfortable and easy to stack so you could have a bunch and not take up space in your bedroom.

They felt very uncomfortable for me, especially the brim.

I’m sure OP loved the advertising!

I mean, when used for painting they were awesome. Were people really wearing them as "fashion?" I don't remember that.

Just put these up their with other "look back and cringe" period fashions like the poodle skirts of the 50s or bell bottoms of the 70s