<Question>
You have 5 shirts, 6 pairs of pants, and 8 hats.  How many outfits can you make consisting of one shirt, one pair of pants, and one hat?
</Question>

<think>
<Plan_1>
Okay, so I need to figure out how many different outfits can be made with 5 shirts, 6 pairs of pants, and 8 hats. Each outfit consists of one shirt, one pair of pants, and one hat. Hmm, let's think about this step by step.

First, I remember that when dealing with combinations like this, where you have different choices for each item, you might need to use the multiplication principle. Like, if there are multiple choices for each component, you multiply the number of options for each part together to get the total number of combinations.

<prompt_1.1> Identify the relevant principle for solving the problem, considering different choices for each clothing item. </prompt_1.1>
</Plan_1>

<Execution_1>
<execution_1.1>
Wait, let me recall: the rule of product, right? If there are m ways to choose something and n ways to choose another, then for each of the m ways, there are n ways to choose the other, so total is m × n. Yeah, that makes sense. So in this case, shirts, pants, and hats are three separate choices. So maybe I need to multiply the number of shirts by the number of pants and then by the number of hats?
</execution_1.1>
</Execution_1>

<Plan_2>
Based on execution_1.1:
Let me check that.
So shirts are 5, pants are 6, hats are 8. So 5 × 6 × 8. Let me compute that.
5 times 6 is 30, and 30 times 8 is 240. So 240 outfits?

That seems straightforward, but maybe I should verify if there's any catch here.

Wait, the problem says "one shirt, one pair of pants, and one hat". So each outfit must have all three items. There's no restriction mentioned, like some shirts can't be worn with certain pants or hats. The problem doesn't mention any such limitations.

<prompt_2.1> Verify the calculation by considering potential restrictions on clothing combinations. </prompt_2.1>

Alternatively, maybe I can think of it as three separate choices: first choose a shirt, then a pair of pants, then a hat. Each choice is independent. So the total number of combinations is indeed the product of the number of choices at each step.
So first, 5 shirts. For each shirt, there are 6 pants. So 5 × 6 = 30 shirt-pants combinations. Then, for each of those 30 combinations, there are 8 hats. So 30 × 8 = 240.

Is there another way to approach this? Maybe using permutations, but since the order doesn't matter here—shirt, pants, hat are just categories—permutations might not be the right term. It's actually a combination of three independent choices, so multiplication applies.

<prompt_2.2> Consider alternative methods, such as permutations, and confirm the appropriate principle for solving the problem. </prompt_2.2>

Let me see if there's any other angle. Suppose I list out the possibilities.
If there was 1 shirt, 1 pants, 1 hat, obviously 1 outfit. If there are 2 shirts, 2 pants, 2 hats, then 2×2×2=8 outfits. So scaling up, 5×6×8 should be correct. Yeah, that seems to hold.

Another check: if I have 3 shirts, 2 pants, 4 hats. Then 3×2×4=24 outfits.
If I list them: each shirt can pair with 2 pants, so 3×2=6 shirt-pants, each of those 6 can have 4 hats, so 6×4=24. Yep, that works. So same logic applies here.

Therefore, applying the same reasoning to the original problem: 5 shirts, 6 pants, 8 hats. 5×6=30, 30×8=240. So 240 possible outfits.
</Plan_2>

<Execution_2>
<execution_2.1>
So the total combinations are just the product of the three numbers. 

Wait, but let me make sure I'm not missing anything. For example, if some hats couldn't be worn with certain pants, but the problem doesn't say anything like that. It's just a straightforward combination of one of each item.
</execution_2.1>

<execution_2.2>
So I think that's the right approach. Let me see if there's a scenario where addition would be needed instead. That would be if the choices were mutually exclusive. For example, if you could choose either a shirt or pants, but here you need both. But in this problem, since all three are required, multiplication is the way to go.
</execution_2.2>
</Execution_2>

<Final_answer>
Therefore, the total number of outfits you can make is $\boxed{240}$.
</Final_answer>
</think>