Canada: Where You Don’t Have To Be A Hipster To Wear A Toque

Spring is here and you’ll most likely need an umbrella and not a toque in Canada. But before you tuck the wooly in the trunk for the season, remember:

 You are Canadian and you can wear that toque with pride, regardless of the weather.

It’s a great time to be a Canadian, fashion wise. Toques have found a place in high fashion across the globe within the last decade. It seems most celebrities can be seen, on occasion, sporting a toque, even on warm summer days.

However, when I see pictures of David Beckham in a toque, in down in LA, in the spring time, I think, Poser! Because, you see, it is a little ridiculous to wear a warm woolen toque in LA. That’s the down side of being a non-Canadian fashion hipster, you must wear a toque regardless of the weather or season and that sometimes looks silly.

This is when being Canadian has an advantage. First of all, Canadians coined the term “toque”when referring to a woollen knitted hat. Toque is a French word that used to refer to hats way back in French history. However, Canadians are the first and only nation to snatch the term and use it to describe the knitted hats we like to wear to keep warm in winter weather.

If a Canadian is seen wearing a woollen knitted hat in July, that person has the advantage of not being labeled a “poser,” simply because they are Canadian and Canadians are the original hipsters (a nippy night in July is not unheard of in Canada). So, go ahead, wear your toque in all sorts of weather, without fear of being labeled a “poser,” because after all, you are Canadian and you invented the toque.