Natural and organic straw hats are handmade. The straw fibers are braided, woven or crocheted.
Raffia palm has long leaves; often one strand is enough to make a whole hat. Raffia hats can be crocheted, woven, braided, or a combination is used to create a unique hat. Raffia hats are created in every hat style.
Raffia hats are lightweight and comfortable to wear. Tighter woven or braided hats provide good sun protection.
Tightly woven palm straw hats provide the ultimate sun protection, blocking harmful UVA and UVB rays. Durable and comfortable, made from renewable resources. Palm leaf hats are naturally water-repellent. Now available in a large variety of styles for men and women from XS to XXL sizes.
You'll recognize these beautiful hats for their yellow, green, and brown hues obtained from their natural coastal environment. Loosely woven seagrass hats are breezy and lightweight. More delicate than other natural straw hats, so give them a little extra care and always hold them by the brim, as constant pinching of the crown can break the grass strands.
Rush straw is thick straw with a green hue from seashore rushstraw. Hats made of rush straw are quite stiff, but they are lightweight and airy. This is why they are favored gardening hats and beach hats. Rush straw hats a loosely woven due to the stiff straw strands. Many of the rush straw hats have lined underbrim to improve sun protection.
Paper straws are processed from hemp, rice and often with a blend of cotton or polyester, and made into sheets or strands. Synthetic straws are made of polyester. These man-made straws mimic the look of a natural straws, and offer a cost effective, durable substitute that can be machine-made. In fact sometime it is hard to differentiate.
Toyo straw is made of rice paper. It is woven into smooth sheets, pressed into a hat shape, and glazed. Woven toyo hats look like Toquilla palm panama hats. When toyo yarn is crocheted, they mimic a crocheted raffia straw hat. Toyo yarn can be braided or woven and sewn just like raffia. Bangkok toyo weaving creates a knobby, bumpy surface and a fun look. Toyo straw can also be loosely woven to mimic the look of seagrass. Toyo straw hats are very lightweight.
The twisted paper strands are plaited into a continuous length of braid. With a slight overlap, they are sewn circularly into a basic hat form, then pressed into the desired style. Often blended with cotton or a synthetic material to achieve better pliability to easily pack, resist water better, provide better sun protection, or be lighter weight.
Shantung straw was originally made of Japanese rice paper, washi. It is stronger and lighter than other paper straws, though nowadays it is produced from the Manila hemp plant mainly in the Philippines. The yarn is machine woven into a flat sheet, then blocked into the desired hat shape. Shantung hats look similar to natural toquilla Panama straw hats, thus the name Shantung Panama straw. Shantung straw is also graded; just like Panama straw, the finer the straw, the tighter the weave, the better the hat, the higher the price.
Cotton is an almost pure cellulose fiber, spun into yarn to make textiles. Cotton is often blended with other natural or synthetic fibers, like linen, rayon, polyester, paper. Cotton hats are very comfortable to wear, breathable, hypoallergenic, washable and packable. Blends take advantage of other properties, to prevent shrinking, fading, wrinkling.
There are a variety of cotton fabrics used in hat making.
Classic cotton fabric is a simple over-under weave.
Twill is cotton woven in parallel diagonal ribs.
Denim is woven with indigo-dyed cotton on warp and white cotton thread on weft. Just like jeans, cotton hats are almost indestructible. Many bucket hats, baseball caps, and cadet caps are made of denim.
Terry cloth, loopy cotton, or linen. Moisture-wicking, soft fabric. Smaller hats, such as bucket hats and sun visors, are made of terrycloth, but most often the inner sweatbands.
Seersucker cotton has permanently woven-in crinkled stripes. Children's hats, sun visors, and hat lining are made of seersucker.
Gingham is a cotton fabric woven with a dyed yarn to create stripes and plaids. Has a soft, lustrous look.
Flannel is a soft and warm woven cotton fabric used to line winter headwear.
Sateen is a cotton fabric with a smooth, silky, luxurious sheen on one side and a rougher matte side. Looks very much like satin. It is warmer than plain cotton. Used for hat accents for its beautiful sheen.
Canvas is a cotton/polymet blend. It is a heavy-duty fabric; few hats are made of canvas, but often tighter woven cotton duck fabrics are described as canvas.
Weathered Cotton is only partially cotton, as it is blended with polyester to create an aged leather look or oilcloth. Most weathered cotton hats are water repellent.
Linen is made of the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is lightweight, durable, moisture absorbent, more lustrous than cotton, but it is a high-maintenance fabric, as it wrinkles easily. Linen hats are very comfortable, cooling on hot days. The classic linen weave often disguises other materials, usually cotton, as linen.
Ramie is made of the inner bark of stems from a wide variety of nettle family plants. Ramie is one of the olders fiber used to make fabric. Very easy to care for, it does not shrink or lose its shape; it becomes stronger when wet, and gets more lustrous with washing. Also referred to as grass linen.
Synthetic fabrics mimic the look of natural textiles with some added benefits. Synthetic fabrics are lightweight, durable, stretch, wrinkle, fade and shrink resistant.
Polyester fabrics are durable, stretching, shrinking, and wrinkling resistant. Hats made from polyester keep their shape and color, are washable, and dry quickly. Polyester is often blended with other materials. It can be woven into a flat sheet or made into yarn to be plaited and braided, just as straw. One advantage over natural or paper straw hats is that they can get soaked without damage.
Nylon is lightweight, durable, stretch-, wrinkle-, fade-, and shrink-resistant. Nylon hats absorb moisture better than polyester. Nylon can be lustrous or dull. Nylon hats are easy to maintain in good shape. The smooth nylon fibers prevent dirst to stick. Hats can be cleaned with a moist cloth or washed, and they dry fast.
SUPPLEX® Nylon is an advanced nylon fabric. It is engineered to combine the soft feel of cotton with the advantages of nylon. Supplex® nylon hats stay new-looking longer, will never fuzz, and will retain their shape and color through repeated launderings.
Acrylic is a lightweight, soft material that can mimic wool, cashmere, or cotton. It is often blended with other natural or synthetic fibers. It is washable and colorfast.
Organza is a sheer fabric made of silk or synthetic fibers. It is light as air, transparent, smooth, crisp, and has a subtle sheen. Many of our fancy dress hats are made of organza fabric. Embellishments, bows for women’s hats and fascinators are made with organza fabric.
Satin weaving creates a smooth and shiny side, and a matte reverse side. Originally made of silk thread, but now it is mostly polyester. Hats, scarves, and gloves made of satin or accessorized by satin look luxurious.
Chiffon is a light, sheer plain weave fabric. Mostly used for embellishment. Long ties on women's hats, bows and bands.
Crinoline is a coarse, stiff fabric used to make hat or fascinator bases, or to accent them.
Horsehair nowadays is made of synthetic fibers, nylon, or Saran. Horsehair nets are open-weave fabrics. Many of our fascinators and hat embellishments are made of horsehair.
Tulle is a fine, small hexagonal mesh net lightweight fabric.
A cool fact about wool: it keeps you warm due to its insulating properties, and keeps you cool due to its breathable air pockets. Wool fabrics are durable, wrinkle resistance, moisture wicking, flame resistant, hypoallergenic.
Wool hats are made of soft animal fibers. Most often merino sheep or lamb, but can be alpaca, camel, llama, or angora goat. Because of the insulating air pockets, wool hats are warm. Wool yarn is used to knit and crochet hats and mittens, or woven into textiles.
Boiled Wool Hats are made by shrinking knitted or woven wool or wool blend fabrics in hot water. This creates a tighter felt-like fabric. Berets, beanies, and hats are made of boiled wool. These hats have a stretchy, comfortable fit. Boiled wool hats are washable as they are preshrunk. They are packable.
Wool Felt Hats are made from wool fibers matted together in steam and alkali. It is not woven, so it won't unravel. Natural wool has a waxy coat on its surface that makes wool hats naturally water- and stain-resistant.
Wool blend felts, usually wool felt and rayon blend. Softer than 100% wool felt, wrinkles more easily, only slightly water resistant. How much of the benefits of wool is retained depends on the percentage of wool vs rayon in the blend.
Bouclé yarn is made of two plies of uneven tension, creating loops and curls. Bouclé fabric can be knitted or woven of bouclé yarn. It appears nubby. It can be wool, wool blend, acrylic, etc.
Tweed is a closely woven, rough-surfaced wool fabric. Woven from multicolor wool yarn by plain or a variation of twill weave (herringbones, diamonds, chevrons, check weave. Tweed is also made of wool blends.
Cassimere is a closely woven wool fabric.
Cashmere wool is obtained from cashmere and other types of goats. Cashmere wool is softer, finer, stronger, and more insulating than other wool. But not all cashmere is alike. There is an enormous price difference due to the length and strength of fibers.
Leather is made from the skins of animals, mainly cattle, sheep, and goats. The surface of the leather is abraded to remove imperfections (full grain is not sanded). Leather is a timeless hat-making material that is used to create unique, classy, fashionable hats and caps. Sometimes leather is further treated to mimic a worn look. Leather hats are sun protective, durable.
Suede is a leather with a napped finish. Suede is also used to make all styles of hats and caps.
