What's up with dumb hats wizards wear? Does it do anything or is it a fashion thing?

I think this is correct. Most of the lore and imagery that constitutes modern fantasy comes from germanic and scandi folklore.

The wise old man with magical powers and a staff wearing a wide brim, old decrepit hat and unassumin robes likely comes from Odin's mortal personal as the wanderer.

It's hard not to blame this on Tolkien as he clearly drew inspiration from this to create Gandalf which sort of created the stereotypical fantasy wizard.

...

High hats mask your silhouette, so when the eldritch idiot-god you just summoned goes nuts and tries to take your head off, he gets a mouthful of stale felt instead.

anybody who posts this is an autist

Protects against rain.

This.
He's partly wearing it because it reinforces his wizardliness to himself. Little mind trick that goes a surprisingly long way.
But mostly to let everyone know WIZARD. And with everything that comes with that.

So, what's under the hat?

Wizard brain.

It's symbolism; the tall conical hat invokes the tower, breaching the boundaries between the heavenly realms from which magic originates and the mundane world.

No, seriously; wizards were supposed to wear pointy hats to make it easier to draw magic into their body. Staves, wands and swords had similar symbolic purposes.

The hat and outfit come from a postcard from somewhere scandiwegian that Tolkien based Gandalf on. Pretty sure the postcard itself was influenced by Odin.

I kept cigarettes in mine

When a man walks down the street with a hat like that, it's pretty clear he give no fucks whatsoever.

I like the reason why Big Hat Logan had a big hat :

"Gigantic hat worn by the great sorcerer Logan. It completely hid his face, which led to his nickname "Big Hat." Famously antisocial, Logan used it to block out noise and people's stares so he could focus on his own thoughts, but it does not possess any special magic powers."

Step one: craft 6' tall metal cone
Two: shrink it down to about a foot tall
Three: insert into hat

Upon entry to an anti-magic field, the shrinkage will be dispelled and the cone will enlarge to become an enshrouding defense. AMF operates by line of sight to the person and their worn items, which the cone no longer is. Thus, within the cone, magic works normally. Teleport to safety, leaving only an enigmatic monument topped by a silly hat, much like the Naval Academy does every year, except without the grease.

I read somewhere that concentrating on a spot just above and behind your head stimulates the area of the brain in charge of reading comprehension. Hence the tall "wizard hats" of Chinese scholars and other "booky" figures. No idea if that's true though.

Hey, I remember that

In my high magic setting wizards wear big pointy hats and long robes because there is more space to fit enchantments on them.

you're thinking of charkras, magical points of energy running along the spine and the top of your head

The Chinese wore tall hats to keep their long hair in. That's pretty much the only reason.

It's the only answer anyone can give to such a vaguely phrased question without lying.
Wizards wear pointy hats because it helps their magic? In some settings that's not true and you know it.
Wizards wear pointy hats because it's tradition and nothing else? In some settings that's not true and you know it.
Unless the OP specifies a setting, there is no single correct answer.

Cause they're wanderers and it's to cover from sun and rain. Can also be pulled over face at night for calm. Can be used as a bag. Many uses.
Gandalf actually had it for pragmatic reasons. All other "wizards" are just posers and pseuds.

I know, right?

His familiar presumably.

Derived from ceremonial or travelers' headgear, I imagine.

Spare change, power bars, a knife, materials for making joints...

My level 1 wizard got mauled almost to death by an eagle snatching his scalp so he hides his scars with the hat

Another, smaller, pointer hat.

The hat itself is an inverted Bag Of Holding. A wizard needs a hat like that to store all of the reagents he needs for his spellcraft.

>Inverted bag of holding
So, like... The universe is one giant bag of holding, and the wizard's head is blocking the exit to the outside?

>not having a practical hat

...

It's not actually a hat, it's a symbiotic mushroom that contains the wizards mana. The larger the hat, the more powerful the wizard.

Women will often eschew this to store their mana in their tits and ass.

A woman with a big hat AND giant tits is not to be crossed.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm more of a hooded cloak kinda guy myself. True arcane might only comes through mastery over the ego. A large, ostentatious hat only reinforces it. A formless, concealing cloak symbolizes the selflessness and lack of lust of result necessary for successful magical workings. Also it conceals those somatic and material components, giving a slight edge in battle.

Found the warlock

I owe my soul to no being. My Will is the Will of the universe. Acting according to my True Will, I accomplish everything, by doing nothing.

>Wizards = Hats
>Clerics = Full Helm
>Druids = a leafier hat, probably covered in bird shit
>Sorcerers = some kind of half-shaved pink hairdo because NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!!!
>Warlocks = whatever their pact master tells them

>tfw I cannot even find my favorite wizard art

I have too much art and not enough organization. He has a flat top with a wide brim and red tassels hanging from it while he looks like he is swirling into a cloud or from existence with lots of blue.

what does each sect of magic wear

necromancers like crowns, but what about pyromancers, cryomancers, geomancers etc

>what about pyromancers
Pic related. Or helmet + gas mask.
>cryomancers
Very warm fur hats that cover the ears. They are notoriously bad listeners.
>geomancers
Turbans that usually double as storage for various material components and a boatload of sand.

>Gandalf
>Stereotypical fantasy wizard
>Uses magic once or twice
>Fights with a sword every other time

It's formal dress for their order. They don't travel in it, they wear it to lecture to students and stand next to the king looking scholarly.

Keeps the snow off your neck and the rain off your head.
Useful when a single distraction can lead to your spell blowing up in your face.

It's to conceal the Elogra, parasites that attach to the brain and lead to either madness or great magical insight. Or both.

>Uses spells once or twice

He uses spells about 5 times in the mines of moria alone.

Not all spells are fireball user.
Most are more subtle.

It's not meant to have a single correct answer, nimrod. Like any (almost) proper thread, it's the jumping-off point for a discussion involving multiple viewpoints and invoking multiple settings. This shouldn't have to be explained.