Today I will tell you about choosing a straw hat. The straw hat is the essential accessory to be fashionable this summer while protecting yourself from the sun’s rays. As useful at the beach as for walking, the straw hat is your ally for sporting a style that is both chic and casual.
What are the strengths of the straw hat?
It is necessary to select a straw hat adapted to the shape of your face. Indeed, each morphology corresponds to a type of hat. To put it simply, if you have a rather angular face, you have to add roundness to soften it. If you have a rather rounded face, we will try to have shorter hats so as not to hide the facial features.
How to choose a straw hat
If you have an elongated face, you should avoid wearing a hat that will further enhance the length of your head. On the contrary, one should prefer a hat with wide brims to balance the width and height of the hat face set. Thus, you will bring volume on the sides to break the elongated aspect. The straw sunbonnet hat is ideal for this morphology. Very trendy, it highlights the features of your face.
What straw hat for a round face?
If you have a round face, you will not be able to wear a capeline because with its wide edges, the face will not be highlighted. You don’t want to hide your pretty features. So the beret, the boater, the trilby or the fedora with their limited size edges will be perfect to highlight the face. The panama hat and the borsalino hat also go very well with round faces.
What straw hat for an oval face?
Do you have an oval face? Good news, almost all styles of hats are made for you! Indeed, you have a hat head, the harmonious shape of your face is perfectly adapted to all hat shapes. Long edges, short edges, you can afford everything without fear of bad taste. Nature has really spoiled you!
What straw hat for a square / rectangle face
The goal here is to soften the angular shapes of your face. For this, you will have to choose a hat with rounded shapes. A cloche hat, a newsboy cap or a capeline will bring softness with their round shapes.
How to choose the right hat size?
Here is the size guide. This is a very important point. You don’t want to look like Charlie Chaplin with his bowler hat on his head. The hat must hug your skull without hiding your face. For this, you will have to measure your head circumference. This is done with a flexible tape measure. If you don’t have a flexible tape measure, take a rope or tape and measure it afterwards.
You must take the measurement by putting the meter about 1 cm above the eyebrows and ears. The video below shows you how to go about it so as not to make a mistake. When it comes to hats, there really isn’t one size fits all, unlike a turban or a bandana.
How to take care of your straw hat?
First of all, it must be taken care of, especially when handling it. You should not grab it by the cap because this part is the most fragile. It is better to take it by the edge which is more solid. Thus, the straw is not likely to crack.
When not in use, store it in a hat box. This protects it from dust and light.
If it is dirty, you can clean it with a little Marseille soap and a damp cloth. Avoid cleaning it with plenty of water. If your Panama hat is really very dirty, you can use a paste based on hydrogen peroxide and talc.
If your hat becomes too soft or loses its shape, you can reshape it using steam from an iron (or a pot of boiling water) and then stiffen it by spraying it with starch. You can put paper in it to keep its shape, but be careful not to use colored paper, which could rub off on the hat.
If your hat has a certain value or you really care about it, don’t hesitate to take it to the hatter from time to time to have it maintained with professional products. This will restore its shine and prolong its life.
To wear the straw hat well, it must not be too deep or just placed on your head. It must be slightly depressed to hold well and not fly away at the first gust of wind. It is there to bring you a little shade but also to highlight your face and not to hide it completely.
There you go, you know all about the straw hat. All you have to do is grab your bikini and your sunglasses and head for the beach!