Redditor Sparks Major Debate Over Wearing A Santa Hat To A Cocktail Party

A Redditor recently shared a story about the holiday tradition that nearly broke his relationship. The OP has been in a solid, two-year relationship with his significant other, but their biggest fight came down to one seemingly silly item: a Santa hat.

For the OP, this isn’t just any hat. He’s worn it religiously every year since buying a real-life version of the rare and expensive in-game Santa hat he got in Runescape as a teenager. What started as a digital achievement became a lifelong Christmas tradition, complete with family, friends, and even some colleagues joining in for laughs.

The drama started when his partner invited him to her company holiday party, which had a strict “Cocktail Attire” dress code. The OP assumed the hat would fit just fine with his three-piece suit, as it had at past office parties, but his partner quickly shut it down, insisting it didn’t match the dress code.

The Redditor suspected embarrassment might be the real reason, but his partner insisted it wasn’t about shame at all. Still, the disagreement sparked the couple’s first major fight, which lasted an entire week and even flared up in the Uber ride to the party.

In the end, the OP reluctantly conceded and didn’t wear the hat, though he remained frustrated. The party went well, and the tension faded with the holiday season—until history began repeating itself.

Fast forward to the next year, and the same debate over the Santa hat resurfaced. This time, the OP decided he would put his foot down, claiming he wouldn’t attend the party unless he could wear his cherished holiday tradition.

In an update to the post, he admitted he ultimately received the message loud and clear and decided to drop the fight—for now.

The Redditor’s holiday tradition almost turned into a full-blown Christmas showdown.

AI-generated image

Here's the original post by Reddit user 'dboybaker'.

My SO and I have been together for \~2 years. We have a solid relationship and great communication, but hit our biggest fight on a seemingly silly topic: I want to wear a Santa hat to her company holiday party, and she absolutely does not want me to. Background on why I would feel strongly about this: I have played Runescape since I was \~10 yrs old. Around 13 or 14 I finally managed to buy a Santa hat in game. For anyone without context, this is a very rare/expensive item. It serves no purpose other than fashion but at the time I'd never worked so hard for something. As an extension I bought a Santa hat irl to wear during the Christmas season. Flash forward almost 20 years and I have worn this same hat every day from the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas every single year. Its pretty high quality and I’ve taken good care of it. Its a big tradition for me and all my friends/family expect and love it (or at least find it funny). A few people around me have even bought one and joined in. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I hope to be able to keep this tradition going as long as I have a head to put it on.My SO was quickly introduced to this tradition as we met in December and, true to my tradition, I wore the hat to our first date. The next year she invited me to her company holiday party in the middle of December. I was absolutely thrilled until she told me she did not want me to wear my Santa hat. Her reasoning was that the party was explicitly announced as “Cocktail Attire” and that the hat did not fit. I genuinely couldn’t imagine she felt the hat would be a problem with the dress code, and felt she was just embarrassed of me being introduced to her coworkers wearing it. After all, I had worn the hat to my own company holiday parties in the past and it was a hit. I thought it went just fine with my 3 piece suit for the theme. She was adamant that it had nothing to do with feeling embarrassed, simply that she decided it didn’t fit the dress code. This was the spark and gas for our first real fight. We fought off and on for a week. I ended up conceding and agreeing to not wear the hat, despite not understanding and being pretty upset about it. I did not want to miss this important event but could not shake my frustration. We even fought in the Uber ride to the event. We managed to have a good time regardless and focus on it fizzled out as the season ended. Here we are at the present approaching the same corporate holiday party with the same cocktail attire dress code and the same point of contention. After yet another argument over it I told her I will be putting my foot down. I will not attend the holiday party unless I can wear my Santa hat. I’m adamant it is appropriate to wear to a holiday party regardless of the dress code and its important enough to me. Am I being unreasonable? Does the hat break the dress code? *Edit:* Message received loud and clear, IATA. I'll be dropping it!

Here's how the Reddit community reacted.

Jodenaje

"Grow the F up!"

lordcommander55

"This a dumb hill for you to die on."

Cirquey

This is weird, dude!

carsonmccrullers

"Don’t make this a bigger deal than it is, OP."

PuzzleheadedData3023

YTA.

Most_Walk_666

"Keep the hat fetish at home."

tobby232213

"You’re not the main character in some stupid game."

Buffy11bnl

"Stop subjecting your girlfriend to this."

Distinct_Long_2615

"Put it aside for one night."

BaffledMum

"Are you a child?"

SoccerProblem3547

"YTA, and a very immature one."

DarkmatterBlack

"I would simply leave you behind."

FairyCompetent

"It’s a freakin hat, dude."

justhewayouare

"You can’t always wear a Santa hat numbnuts."

Fit_Section1002

Whether it’s a rare in-game item turned real-life tradition or just a silly hat, this story proves that sometimes the little things mean the most. In the end, compromise—or at least knowing when to drop it—might just be the best gift of all.