They're not altogether useless. They keep the sun off your face and neck, which can be very useful in some climates. In Australia, where I live, a hat is now a compulsory part of every school child's uniform, and they are expected to be worn in the playground, because we have very high rates of skin cancer here. I don't know if that will translate into adult fashion or not. It might be too early to tell.

I suspect watches may diminish but will always be around because they signal status in a way that hats don't.

One doesn't need a Vacheron in order to be able to wear a watch.

It's not (only) a symbol of wealth. Within limits, any reasonably classy watch will do. But wearing one is self-selecting into a certain group - someone who cares about the details, cares about time, wants to make a good impression.

I don't want to overstate the point, but I definitely notice a nice timepiece, just like I notice well cut clothes, cufflinks, good shoes, neat hair, an elegant piece of jewellery, any number of things people can do to make an effort. It's signalling, and it does make a difference, for better or worse.

Ah yes, the old "the suit is dying" clarion call that everyone hears once every few years.

But suits will never die, and neither will ties. They, frankly, make men look better. A suit that fits well makes a man look slimmer, taller and more broader-shouldered. It accentuates his chest. It hides fat and bad composure in ways that T-shirts and polos never can. Ties also make you look taller, and add fantastic unity to the collar.

The main reason hats are dead, still, is because there's no gray area for them to come back. Fashion cycles: you have wider ties, then skinnier ties, then wider ties again. But if you stop wearing an accessory completely, it's harder to bring it back. Say, for a second, that no one wore two-piece suits. But people would still wear oxford cloth shirts, khakis, and blazers, which is only a few hops away from a suit. You can wear varying degrees of formal wear, but there are two options for hats: wearing one, or not wearing one. Which means that the man who wears one suddenly finds himself in a start minority...unlike someone who wears a suit in a room full of khakis and oxfords, which is slightly different, but not THAT different.

I doubt watches will ever disappear. First of all, they're effectively the only piece of "jewellery" that men can legitimately wear in many situations. And, secondly, they tend to be a lot more efficient for knowing the time than a mobile, as you don't have to pull it out of your pocket and then (often) push a button to turn the screen on (not to mention problems with sunlight).

at the very most, your unadorned smartphone costs $1000. That's hardly comparable to a watch.

> Watches? I am not wearing any since I started to carry phones.

Watches get secluded from utilitarian+jewelry to purely jewelry. Rolex sounds like Dior, Prada or Louis Vuitton. Swatch on the other hand struggles in the lower segment (but they're pivoting into jewelry and higher end more and more). For youngsters, the cheap McGyver watch is dead, while Rolex still make (some) people dream.