From a storytelling perspective there's a pre-existing association

>>51926966
So everyone knows you are a witch/wizard at first glance.

Gosh, anon, this isn't hard.

Keeps the rain off your books?

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Because Gandalf was based on the wandering Odin who wore a big hat.

I guess wizards use to travel when magic had no institutions so they wore big hats and cloaks for shade and protection against the weather while traveling (though a big hat might be at risk of blowing away) and now it's tradition, even though the wizards don't have much of a need to travel except to find rare magics.

Hat size corresponds to dick size. for witches too

style points

>>51927002
You made me imagine the dumbest thing.
A wizard riding some kind of "bicycle" which is surrounded by waist-high bookshelves with rotating wheels under them
He also wears a hat with a giant rim large enough to cover himself, his bike and the ring of mobile bookshelves attached to his bike

>>51926966
So people know what you are and to not fuck with you ever. Unless they have ambitions that involve a lifetime of hopping from one lilypad to another before eventually being eaten by a Frenchman.

>>51926966
Wide brimmed hats catch people's attention. This makes them focus on you. Since people are part of the universe, this makes the universe focus on you more. The more flashy your outfit the easier it is to grab reality's attention and negotiate with it in order to cast magic.

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>>51926966
Many advanced magic users augment there intelligence and the power of there spells by literally making there brain bigger, the pointed hats were therefore the only kind of hat that would fit a truly mighty mage, apprentices wanted to look more intimidating so they copied the style and now thousands of years after the reason has been forgotten yet the fashion remains.

So you can survive having a farmhouse dropped on you.

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>>51927717
>tfw too intelligent to wear hats

Tradition.

>>51926966
Where else would I hide the shrunken lead cone against enemies casting AMZ on me?

>>51926966
One of the greatest wizards of all time used it as a signiture, because he liked the way it looked.

>>51926966
Because it's cute.

So they can be taller then Martials, and thus prove they're smug superiority.

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>>51926966
I can think of a few reasons.

To keep the sun out of their eye's and rain out of their face. Or bigger hats mean they have a bigger head. Or maybe they are meant to hang magical charms off the brim of the hat or keep a potion or item in the big cone of the hat.

It could also just be a fashion statement, traditional uniforms of wizard scholars or some sort of history or myth associated with hats. An example of this is the point of that hat points to the sun where wizards used to believe where they got the powers from.

>>51926966

You can hide a spare pouch of spell components in the tip.

>>51926966
To help the wizard to reach the required height to cast his magic - their magic requires them to be taller then any non-wizard around them

>>51929004
"keep stuff in the large pointy tip" is a decent explanation.

an alternative explanation is due to tradition. witches and hedge wizards running around in the out of doors and/or fringes of society could certainly do with a nice wide-brimed hat to keep the sun out of their eyes and precipitation off them. a cone and a brim out of canvas or something sort-of stiff is a cheap and easy pattern for someone who's not a professional milliner and has better things to do. as magic becomes a more academic persuit, the pointy hat becomes the standard for mystic field work, and so all the wizards anyone sees outside of their towers abd libraries has a big pointy hat. eventually there comes a cultural feedback loop as even among wizarding circles the pointy hat becomes a symbol of status and is ubiquitous

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>>51927206

>>51927136
>>>/d/

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>>51926966
Because they're cuter than practical hats and hoods.

>>51926966

Helps direct the flow of magic throughout the body.

>>51926966
I fucking loved Witch Craft Works.

>>51926966
Is this a cat in a hat?

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>>51926966
I've always thought it was a style thing where there is no deeper reason and it's just expected that if you're a wizard you're wearing robes and a big, silly hat. I'd think it would also act as a way to identify yourself as a wizard because it's accepted as the uniform.

If you want an in-universe reason, just think about how the peasants view wizards.

>Greetings peasants! I am the grand wizard here to help you! My name is-
>No you're not.
>What?
>If you're a wizard then where's your hat?
>I don't have a hat.
>And no robes either! What trick are you trying to pull?
>It's summer! I only wear thick robes in the cold.
>You haven't even got a staff!
>Look, it doesn't matter, I can cast magic and that's what matters.
>Oh, so you're a sorcerer, I see.
>No, I am technically wizard. I have a spellbook and everything.
>Then where's your hat?
>*sigh*

If you want the uneducated, shit covered masses to believe you're a wizard you gotta wear the stupid hat.

Dark Souls in-game reason for the one wizard who wears a big hat is that it blocks all distractions. Makes sense if you're going for the wizards are the studious/introverted type.

According to some sketchy websites I found, it was thought to enhance focus for various reasons.

These sources are hardly scholarly, though.

http://www.jamesakeating.com/maajak2a.html

http://dawn666blacksun.angelfire.com/Cone_Shaped_Hats.html

>>51929004

Hell, for most hats I've seen you could probably keep a spare component pouch, a few scrolls, your lunch and a sawn off inside.

>>51926966
It's ceremonial garb, it's not supposed to be particularly practical.

>>51930753
I like this, imagine that the brim of fhe hat has spirals of precious metals which help direct the flow of magic to and from the mind, the point top acts as a Faraday cage to help concentrate when you've got magical energies swirling around you.

Earth wizards would have lots of dangling bits which channel mana from the ground.

Fire and water Mayes would have especially large brims to expand their magic influence line a radar dish

Wind Mayes would have very tall and pointy hats to better reach air mana in the sky

Magic, as a matter of course, involves negotiating with/facing down fuck-off-big monsters, demons and Things From Beyond. A smart wizard wears bulky wool robes to protect from sparks and acid sprays. A gigantic hat like >>51930544 is worn so that if the whangdoodle we're dealing with at the moment gets it into its head to bite off ours, it comes away with a mouthful of felt, buttons and blessed salt instead of highly valuable wizard brains.

>>51930897
You have shit taste.

I wanted to like it too but the two leads were so un-charismatic... there was good sound direction though.

>>51929103

On the subject, we have the hat of Archchancellor Ridcully from Discworld:
>It is a work of art. It was made specifically for him by a special firm of certified mad hatters (so as to avoid any of the problems that the other Archchancellor's Hat brought about) and is customised heavily. It has a tailored roll of oiled silk and four telescoping legs, which when extended produce a compact and serviceable tent, as well as having drawers in it, and little pockets, a spirit stove, three days' worth of iron rations and a small bottle of potent alcohol in the tip.
>The hatband is slightly loose too, so that he can stash at least one pistol crossbow in it, and his fishing flies are generally sticking out of it.
>And it is still, undeniably, the wide-brimmed, pointed hat of a wizard.
>All in all, a hat of magnificence.

>>51926966
Just go with our reason: famous depictions have pointy hats, so casters dress to look the part.

>>51926966
The true purpose of a wizard or witch's wide brimmed hat is to act as a aetherical lightning rod. Precious metals in the tip, combined with flowing runic inlays and embroidered arcane designs draw mana or aether or spiral power out of the atmosphere, directing it to the caster's mighty brain. This, of course makes a wizard more potent in battle and in the bedroom.

Which is why those of us at Mercurial Design Boutique are more than happy to craft such wide brimmed conical hats for our nation's mages, such as yourself. And if such inlays and metals are rare and therefore expensive, and such silks that channel mana are preciously and lovingly crafted (by hand, no less! No machine will do), then you can understand why a wizard, such as yourself, must unfortunately pay for the luxury of being better equipped than the more simpler hedgemage cotton coifs that our rivals insist are just as good.

Your king trusts us to make sure his magic soldiers are finely equipped; shouldn't you?

>>51926966
Students of the Imperial College who attain the rank of 7th Circleman or higher are given their very own tall, pointy hat (a fashion adopted in honour of the College's founder, Thanzarr the Magnificen). Given the difficulty in attaining even the lowest rank in the Circles, any student who manages it is naturally inclined to wear their hat whenever possible, to impress their friends and lord over their enemies.

Outside the College, mages are both respected and feared, being masters of both wonder and mayhem. For the sake of the common folk, mages are expected to wear their pointy hats whenever out on official College business, so everyone knows to stay out of their way. Evolution has ensured that bandits and thieves think twice before trying to rob a pointy hat - the rest didn't survive to breed.

There's no strict law saying that a non-mage can't wear a pointy hat. But the College takes a very dim view of unlicensed mages, so impersonating one is a good way to find yourself face-to-face with a squad of College Enforcers - battlemages renowned for having no sense of humour.

Because a proper pointy hat tells an onlooker everything they need to know about how to treat you.
Without one you have to spend a lot of time telling silly people to respect you, but the hat can be seen from a distance. By the time you get there it's the proper "hello mum good to see you again, thanks for all your help last week he's back on his feet already here's an extra loaf of bread I happened to make on accident."

Keeps things working, a proper pointy hat.

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>>51932341
>>51928978
I'm inclined to go with the "traditional garb/uniform" idea
They wear it because they are expected to and it is part of wizard culture

Same reason everybody wore those ridiculous wigs, despite their impracticality and all those disgusting fleas. It's fashion.

>>51926966
The higher you are, the stronger your magic is. That is why Mages desire the high ground and wear platform shoes and pointed hats to make themselves as high as possible.

>>51926966
Hats serve two purposes: protection from the weather and style. A hat being practical is not a requirement. This is why we have stuff like the top hat.

>>51926966
Because if you had a reason to wear a bitching pointy hat like that you would.

They're warm and keep wind and rain off your head.

>>51926966

Big Hat Logan wore, well, a big hat to muffle out the noises of other people

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Wide-brimmed hats are great for traveling. Keeps the rain off and the sun out of your eyes.

As for the peinty bit, wizards are typically concerneed with a higher order of affairs, so why not a hat that points towards the heavens?