From the Corn Belt to Hollywood and now ASU, the trucker hat trend keeps on truckin.'
The mesh hat popularized by such Hollywood hipsters as Ashton Kutcher and Justin Timberlake went mainstream several months ago. Now, this white trash meets uptown chic look is popular than ever at ASU.
"I bought my hat because I thought it was funny," said broadcasting senior Andrew Brown, who regularly dons a camouflage mesh hat. "It says 'Buck Fever' across the foam."
Referred to as trucker hats or mesh hats, they are a cheaper version of baseball caps. They are made with a plastic mesh back and an adjustable clasp.
The large foam front that was once a billboard for such products as farm machinery, auto parts and beer has been altered and now displays slogans such as "Jesus is my homeboy" and hipster logos such as "Von Dutch."
Students can be seen on campus and around Tempe and Scottsdale dressing down with their trucker hats cocked to one side.
"I wouldn't wear the hat to Axis-Radius, but I would wear it to Devil's House," Brown said.
Brown, who said he bought his hat three years ago, said he finds it comical that the trend has caught on and that he will continue to wear his despite their newfound popularity at ASU.
Not everyone at ASU is welcoming these foam chapeaux.
"I'm not sure why it's become trendy at ASU," said journalism senior Joanna Brinjak. "Maybe the people who are wearing these hats are just trying to accomplish a laid-back look, but it just comes off as looking stupid."
The unflattering look of trucker hats has been given mainstream credibility, not only by Kutcher and Timberlake, but by The Neptunes front man, Pharrell Williams.
Williams catapulted this phenomenon by donning the hat in his videos several years ago.
Trucker hats are the staple of the trucker wardrobe. They wear the caps because they are lightweight, cheap and shield the sun from their eyes on long cross-country trips.
As the trend rose out of the trucker sub-culture into mainstream fashion, their price soared. From truck stops to the mall, once designers caught wind of this inexpensive trend, companies such as Von Dutch began marketing hats for as much as $85 each.
"The Von Dutch trucker hats have been the No. 1 item for back-to-school," said Nikki Jones, co-owner of Urban Angels on Mill Avenue.
Jones said she believes that the hats will remain in style as long as designers continue to introduce new colors and designs.
But if history repeats itself, as one can only hope, this trend will run out of gas and every hipster at ASU will hang up their hat once and for all.
Lauren Carper is the fashion columnist for the Web Devil. Reach her at lauren.carper@asu.edu.
