The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Summer Straw Hat
Summertime fun in the sun is top of the agenda for everyone wanting to enjoy the very best of the season, and making sure you have your perfect hat in tow is a great way to beat the heat!
When considering where to even start with summer straw hats, one key point is function. First and foremost, it's important to decide how much of a priority sun protection will hold in your hunt for a new hat, because that will dictate where you want to start thinking in regards to brim width. It's generally recommended to seek out straw sun hats with brims that are 3 or more inches wide for optimal sun coverage, and tight, flat woven straws will provide even, solid shade to boot.
Another important detail to keep in mind is the fit of your hat. Most men's straw sun hats will come sized, so you'll want to make sure your hat is properly sized and fitted. A general rule of thumb is you'll want your hat snug enough so that the wind won't immediately take it off your head, but not constricting--you don't want to get a headache! You'll also generally be able to still pass your finger between the brim of the hat and the top of your ear. If it's sitting too high, it's too small.
Too low and pushing down your ears? Too big! For rounded crown, floppy straw summer hats for women, the nature of that crown style is meant to hug the head, and while the more feminine styles will generally be limited sizing or OSFM (one size fits most,) they often will have hidden ribbons and ties to be able to adjust the fit small as needed.
Now, what about flair?
This is wearer's choice. Do you go with bright seasonal pops of color with brilliantly dyed straws or do you want flexibility with a neutral or natural straw color? Even then, don't feel like you're lacking in ways to elevate your hat's look!
Ladies, if you have a cute sash scarf you wore during the spring, tying it on over an existing band and letting the bow's tie trail down your back can add an instant romantic and cute touch to not only a beach look, but any outing from winery to shopping downtown paired with a fun sundress. We also carry replacement hat bands for any gentlemen wanting to give a whole new look to their straw porkpies, fedoras and trilbys as well as feathers to really give that extra touch of style.
Top 10 Stylish Straw Hats for Summer 2024
Looking for the hottest hat hits of the summer? From travel-ready cloches and buckets to sleek flat brims, here are ten hats topping our charts this season!
With a crocheted raffia body that is both cute and crushable, the Belfry Sara is a cloche that is travel ready! Fully packable, it can handle being folded and rolled up to stash in your bag without any fuss, and better yet, it comes in limited sizing while also still being adjustable to get your fit just right.
Buckets with a twist are part of the summer craze, and what better way to embrace the trend than the Belfry Beronia? With its funky mixed texture of crocheted lightweight blended cotton and synthetic straw in equally bold block coloring, it can add a touch of whimsy and fun to your everyday look.
For the romantic at heart, the Belfry Antonella is a perfect match. Wide brim summer straw hats paired with a trailing ribbon band take the usual floppy hat and elevate it to the perfect companion of a sundress. There is of course the added perk of it making sure you're staying cool and covered from the sun as well!
Equal in classic summer straw hats for men is our Belfry Venice. Seen as the gentleman's hat for the summer for decades, it's hard to go wrong when pairing its vintage inspired navy and red band and sleek Panama straw body with a suit for any event, because our answer will always be yes, yes, and yes!
Looking to make big and bright statements with your summer look? The Belfry Alfonso brings the heat with its bright and bold orange tones paired with subtle silvers in its spiraling Panama straw weave and band. This is a hat definitely made to bring a pop! to your look, and can be dressed up or down. It's also limited supply, so get it while your size is still available!
If you're a fan of stingy brim styles, the Belfry Milano panama stingy brim fedora and Belfry Donato trilby are must-haves for their trim silhouettes and neutral tones that bring flexibility to the table so that you can feel comfortable wearing them whenever, wherever all summer long.
For a more classic summer straw look, the Belfry Perto Cayo is a sleek snapped Panama straw fedora that comes in bleach or natural straw options. With its bubble crease crown this hat is super comfortable to wear, so enjoy many hours out and about sporting carefree, casual style.
Flat brim styles are fashion musts, and thankfully, we have a just the straw flat brim for you to trade out for your felt this season! The Belfry Arlo is the perfect summer wide brim straw hat to top your look at any music festival or party, and with its extended sizing, you're sure to find the perfect fit! (Also, side bonus: the Belfry Uno is the exact same blocking and material, just in a gorgeous mauve color instead!)
Finally, a staple for any seasonal hat arsenal and a perpetual top ten for us every summer is the safari brim fedora. Safari brims like the Belfry Daley make fantastic beach hats just as readily as they do everyday hats with their lightweight straw bodies and sloped brims focused on offering maximum coverage through the day. This hat is perfect worn out to the farmer's market just as readily as it tops your look a late afternoon garden party or even combing the beach, making it one of the very best hats in sheer styling flexibility. It's a customer favorite for a reason!
How to Style Your Summer Outfits with Straw Hats
We've mentioned a few times the ease you can find in styling your new summer straw hat, even dressing it up or down depending on whether it's a more formal event or a casual day out, but if you're just getting into hats odds are you may be scratching your head a bit as to just how this all works. Don't worry - it's not as crazy or intimidating as you may think it is. Here's a some quick tips and points to think about while styling your fresh summer looks, hat included!
So first things first: consider where you're wearing your hat. For a day out? The beach? Or to an event like a garden party or something else a touch more formal?
Natural straws in classic silhouettes are going to be one of the most flexible options to have in your arsenal with their neutral tones able to fit to any manner of colors or patterns in your outfit. They make for great companions for everyday looks, so enjoy playing around with your everyday style!
For ladies, hats like the Belfry Toretta with its classic swing or wide brim style and round crown pairs nicely with a light summer dress and sandals, and if you wanted to add some extra flair, consider accenting your look with some boho chic jewelry with fun wooden beads or flashes of metal and crystals.
Similarly for men, the Belfry Spello offers a classic safari brim fedora shape and with its simple suede band, it's a no-fuss option to add to a simple shirt or button down, shorts and sandals to keep you cool as you enjoy the day.
A quick Belfry Tip for both of these styles: they also make great travel companions due to their crocheted raffia straw bodies! Both hats are packable and can handle being folded and stashed away as needed, so take them with you wherever you plan to venture this summer, beach included!
What if natural straws are a bit too bland, and you want some color in your life?
If you're opting for a hat with bright colors and a pattern to it like the Belfry Sanremo, it can be a bit of fun plucking a color from the pattern to reuse in your attire to tie them together for your entire outfit while letting the hat be your accent piece. Whether you're a gentleman opting to pair it with a linen button down that has ivory or rust tones to complement the bright blue, or if you're a lady pairing it with a maxi sundress and use your jewelry to pull up the blues or reds, think of a patterned hat as giving you a palette to play with, whether you're matching directly or pulling up complementary hues to enrich the colors you want to wear.
In a different turn, solid bright colors like the rosy straw body of the Belfry Margharita (still available in our Annapolis store!) can provide a brilliant base to a patterned floral dress, really elevating the array of colors found therein!
For more formal needs, pairing a cute straw pillbox fascinator like the Belfry Bennet with your dress and heels can give an elegant and classic look to your formal attire, especially paired with accenting jewelry like pearls if you really want a vintage and romantic nod to your style!
Alongside that, if it's a suit you need to pair with, a classic boater hat like the Belfry Venice or a light and sleek fedora like the Belfry Enea is sure to top off your look easily. Have fun with your ties and pocket squares really pulling the whole thing together!
DIY: How to Personalize Your Straw Hat for Summer
Hand in hand to styling your outfit with a new hat, one of the things we as hat folks love to do is really make our hats well... ours!
This comes in many forms, from something as simple as how you wear the hat on your head (do you like it forward, worn popped back, maybe tipped at a jaunty angle for some extra hattitude or how you wear your brim if it can snap,) to what you add to the hat itself from feathers, pins, to fresh bands.
While we're going to leave angles and snaps up to you (and we always like seeing how you do you, so tag us on social media!) let's talk hat accessories.
One of the very easiest and fastest things to add that little extra something to your hat is a feather! Usually the bands of the hat will act as natural pockets and braces for slipping a feather right in, and with a whole assortment of different colors and styles to choose from, you have the option to keep it neutral or add some zing with bright pops of greens, blues, white or even pinks!
Something else you can play with is the hat band itself. If you have an old hat and want to change up the look, you can always replace it with a new solid or striped grosgrain ribbon - just be sure to check how the old band was attached to the hat. If it was stitched on, you just simply pop the stitches and hook the new band right on.
If you'd like to keep the ribbon band on, but want to change up the look in some way, layering on a thinner horsehair band or a leather band is also an option. It'll add dimension and visual interest to your look, which is always a win in our books. For the hat wearer on the go and ready to hit the trails, you can fashion a more rugged look adding on some stampede strings too which will give you some security against the wind if you're hiking or boating and don't want to lose your hat.
Bands and feathers are also handy if you're trying to match certain colors in an outfit you may be wearing to an event, so keep that in mind if you have a favorite hat that you prefer wearing, but it isn't quite matching the look you're trying to pull off with your attire. Sometimes all it takes is one simple tweak and you're good to go!
If you're curious and want a hand styling your hat in person, our Annapolis store did some tips and tricks of styling hats as well over here. They still have some accent pearl pins as well as the long hat pins in limited supply for any super wide brim summer straw hats needing a fresh look.
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As always, if you have any questions on styling or need help finding your perfect summer hat, we're always happy to help! Feel free to reach out to our customer service at 888-999-HATS (4287) or by email at hats@hatsinthebelfry.com. Want to come see us and shop in person? Come visit us at 103 Main Street in Downtown Annapolis!
