In the video to "Happy" Pharrell Williams wears a teardrop crown fedora very similar in size and shape the the Biltmore Selkirk pictured here. This hat comes in a deeper brown, but the Driftwood above is actually more brown and grey in real life and a closer approximation of the color, though by no means a close match to the color of Pharrell's hat.

The artist Pharrell Williams is one of the hottest in music today. As both a performer and a producer, everything he touches seems to go to number 1. From “Blurred Lines” last summer to “Happy,” which almost an Academy Award earlier this month, and a whole lot more, Pharrell’s work keeps going straight to the top.

In addition to loving his upbeat and playful neo soul sounds, we love his obsession with hats. It is something we have in common.

Although we don’t carry his famed blown-out-crown-oversized-Canadian-Mountie hat, we do have a hat very similar to the one he wears predominently in the video for “Happy.” (Click here to watch the video on YouTube.)

For most of the video he is wearing a light brown felt fedora with a teardrop crown, narrow hat band and large brim. We have a very similar hat in the Biltmore Selkirk. It doesn’t come in the exact color, but it has a large 2 3/4-inch brim, teardrop crown and narrow hat band. It also has a killer stitched-edge brim. We have it in a rich brown and a lighter color called “Driftwood,” which I think is a closer approximation of Pharrell’s topper. In real life the Driftwood is a little browner and greyer than in the photo.

If you Google Pharrell under images, you will find him wearing myriad hats that include center dent fur felts and panama straw fedoras.

If you are looking for a specific hat he wears, send us an image in an e-mail, and we’ll try to identify it for you.

Today’s special shout outs go to John Primer and Willie “The Touch” Hayes.

Blues drummer Willie "The Touch" Hayes has played with everyone from B.B. King to Koko Taylor. Here he is at a recent visit to Hats Plus trying on a Dobbs Eldorado.

The Touch is originally from Clarksdale, Arkansas. He’s a classic blues drummer who has played with all of the best! Willie has played the skins for B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and Big Twist and The Mellow Fellows. That’s only a handful of the great blues musicians with whom he has performed. In fact, Hayes has a new CD out featuring cuts with some of those artists. The CD is called “A Tribute to A Lifetime of the Blues.” In this photo he is trying on a Dobbs Eldorado.

Blues guitarist John Primer also paid a recent visit. He learned from and performed with legends such as Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy.

John Primer is a true Mississippi bluesman. Learning the guitar while growing up working the cottonfields, the blues were his ticket to a successful career in Chicago. Here he learned from and played with the best including Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Pine Top Perkins, to name just a few. Primer has a new CD out called “Knockin’ Around These Blues.” In our photo he’s trying on the Monterrey Arizona.

With its two-tone design and dynamic hat band the Stetson Andover makes for a great choice for a summer hat with a little swagger.

Unless you have unlimited resources, odds are good you will buy just one or two hats or caps for your summer wardrobe this year. And that’s where the trouble begins. With more than 600 different models to choose from at Hats Plus, this isn’t necessarily your easiest task.

Your best bet is to assess what you need. Whatever you choose should clearly be “you,” but if you are spending 8 hours a day outdoors in the sun, your first choice for a hat probably shouldn’t be that open-weave party hat with a stingy brim.

Ask yourself these questions: Where am I going to wear this the most? (The office? In the car? Out socializing?) How much solar protection do I need? Is it always windy? If so, do I want the wind blowing through my hair or do I want to make certain my hat won’t go flying? As you start narrowing down your choices, keep your wardrobe in mind. A shantung or natural straw hat will go with anything, but that really cool looking peach color fedora you like might only work with one or two of your outfits.

Assuming you have already read our post about the different types of straw used to make straw hats, let’s dive into some good ideas for helping you to pick out the right hat for you this summer.

ALL PURPOSE

No one will ever go wrong with a straw fedora or even a linen newsboy cap. Both will keep the sun off the top of your head and provide a little shade for your eyes. Plus, they are appropriate to wear for most occasions. A fedora with a 2-inch or 2 ½-inch brim will give a little better job providing shade.

However, a straw hat or linen newsboy will work well with a suit or a T-shirt and shorts. Each adds a little class to your wardrobe without making you look pompus or stuffy. Many fedoras can look downright playful, especially if you snap the front brim in the up position.

SUN WARRIORS

If you are outside all day gardening, doing lawncare, working as a lifeguard or any other outdoorsy job, you are going to want to protect yourself from the sun’s harsh rays. If you are especially fair skinned, you can get a sun burn in just 20 minutes between noon and 2 p.m.

You will most certainly want the most protection you can get and will likely want to get a hat with a 3-inch brim at the least. You will also want to make certain the crown either tightly woven or layered like a milan hat. This helps keep the sun from baking the top of your dome. The Stetson Rustic is a nice option. The downturned brim Capas Panama is another good choice. It only has a 2 1/2-inch brim, but the downturn brim helps to shade more of you.

Some straw hats come with special cloth liners in the crown or under the brim of the hat to make certain to block 99% of UV rays. The Stefeno New Mexico features these special linings.

If you need a little more pizzazz with a wide brim, try a gambler such as the Ozark Panama Gambler or Dobbs Kingston. Some golfers really enjoy the style and shade while the hat doesn’t get in the way of their play.

BATTLE the ELEMENTS

There is nothing like a day out on your sailboat or a weekend camping with your family, but we all know nature can be one bad mother. There is only one brand who can take all that she can dish out: Tilley.

These Canadian-made hats are made of a light-weight cotton that will deliver unparalleled solar protection. It will also help keep your head dry in the rain. Even if the hat (and you) get completely soaked, these hats are washable and guaranteed not to shrink. Many of the Tilley hats can float, which makes them easier to retrieve on the lake. PLUS, many Tilley hats have straps to go under your chin and the back of your head, thus denying the wind the opportunity to steal your hat.

PARTY TIME

If you just want to look your best while out socializing, you have a ton of options. Stingy brim straw hats are all the rage. Be sure to check out our popular straw hats by Bailey. You also might like the Goorin Good Life.

If you want a traditional fedora with real color and pop, try the Dobbs Rosebud or Stetson Andovers.

We probably should have mentioned these first, but Kangol carries a wonderful line of ivy caps like the Tropic Ventair, and ball caps, players, and army caps. They come in many colors and are instantly recognized as a fashion leader all over the world.

POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE

Finally, there are those who have a zillion special events to attend this summer: weddings, graduations, company picnics and more.

With so many events for which you must dress well, you might want to consider getting a more formal hat. A highly refined Montecristi panama hat by Biltmore will make you look like a million bucks. Maybe you would rather go Great Gatsby with a straw skimmer. Or you could really take it up a notch and get a straw Hamburg, also known as a Godfather. From its upturned, bounded-edge brim to the crease of the crown, a hamburg like the straw Dobbs Eldorado is a hat that always is sophisticated and debonaire.

We hope this has helped you to sort out what hat might be best for you this summer. Always feel free to ask any questions. We love hearing from you.

The Stetson Rockport is a classic mens' summer straw fedora. Perfect for work or play, the brim snaps up or down to suit your mood and style.

The snap brim is a dapper number you can wear up or down to best suit your style.

Inside it is nicely protected by a leather sweatband.

Best of all, it is one of Stetson’s most affordable summer hats.

The six straw hats in this photo represent six different types of straw used for making straw hats. Starting in the bottom left corner and working clockwise are shantung straw, panama straw, sisol straw, baku straw, sea grass and milan straw.

Spend any time browsing straw hats online or in our shop and you will notice that there are several different types of straw listed in the descriptions. While it is not difficult to see and feel the distinctions between them in real life; many people don’t know the technical differences in the hats’ weaves and construction.

Using the photo to the right, let’s take a closer look at 6 different types of straw used in many of our summer hats.

SHANTUNG: In the bottom left corner of the photo you will see part of the crown and brim of a white straw hat. This is shantung straw. Shantung is usually a light-weight straw that is bleached to an almost pure white, about as white as the meat of an almond. Shantung straw hats are made from a flat woven sheet and blocked into fedora shapes and optimos. The off-white color helps reflect the sun light, but the weave isn’t usually as tight on shantung hats as it is on others, so it is still possible to get burned with prolonged activity outdoors. It is quite maleable, but shantung can be easily damaged by rain and crushing, unless otherwise noted on the hat.

PANAMA: Panama straw is a catch all phrase that most people say when referring to a straw hat. A true panama straw hat, like the one above the shantung hat on the left side of the photo, has a weave that radiates out from a circle in the center of the crown. The inside of a panama hat is stamped with brown ink declaring the hat was woven in Ecuador. Different types of straw may be used and woven with varying degrees of tightness as well as vent patterns. Some panama hats can be rolled up for storeage. Others will be destroyed by any act of crushing or rolling. It depends on the hat and its manufacturer. To read more about the history of panama hats or how to grade them, please see our previous blog posts.

SISOL: The top left corner of the photo features a sisol straw fedora. Sisol is so light weight that it makes feathers feel leaden. Highly refined and delicate, sisol straw fedoras are prized more for wearing at special events than for daily use. They are very suseptible to rain and nearly any impact. Yet, they are also nearly works of art and so light you can wear one all day without noticing  any presure on your dome.

BAKU: Baku straw hats are so refined the straw is first used to form geometric shapes in the weave. It, too, is extremely lightweight like the sisol straw. Genuine baku straw hats are among the most expensive straw hats at Hats Plus. As much art as headwear, most people save their baku straw hats for special events. Water and rough handling is baku’s greatest enemy.

SEA GRASS: Heading down a notch to the middle right-hand side hat is sea grass. For as expensive as baku is, sea grass tends to be inexpensive. Made of actual sea grass from the ocean, this type of straw hat is rarely bleached and often green hued. Frequently, sea grass hats have a more relaxed personality with open weaves for better ventilation and less shade. That is not always the case, but common enough. Usually fairly durable, sea grass straw hats are good for most any occassion.

MILAN: Milan straw hats, like the one in the bottom right corner, are more defined by their construction than material. A milan straw hat has many horizontal layers like clapboard siding on a house. The straw itself can be made of anything from paper to different plastics. The layering process can make these among the heaviest of the straw hats but also among the most durable. Some, certainly not all, milan straw hats are packable. Most can withstand rougher handling than other straws. Milan straw hats also tend to offer pretty good solar protection, too.

With any luck this helps to better distinguish the differences between the straw hats that are available. As always, we welcome your questions and comments.

Stetson's Andover gets a new two-tone color design this summer. Made of Milan straw, it is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The straw hats are coming out from hibernation. Better, yet, the new arrivals are coming in, and we have some handsome devils to be proud of.

The ever-popular and charismatic Stetson Andover is coming in new two-tone color combinations, such as the black and cream milan straw beauty in the photo. Next to him is an all black, all straw Stetson Stratoliner! The best-selling felt hat now has a summer companion! For those who absolutely have to keep the sun off of them in the summer, the Stetson Rustic is made of thick palm leaves and ideal for blocking the sun’s harshest rays.

Dobbs has already sent us two new beauties for the summer, as well. These great hats are called the Dobbs Caruth, which is quite dapper, and the Dobbs Baroni, which is very colorful and exciting to wear.

Next comes the most resplendent of our early summer straw hat merchandise. It is the very thin, elegant and sporty Borsalino Sisol Pork Pie. When you wear it, you can’t help but look like a million bucks!

With drought and prolonged heat waves ravaging much of the country today just as it did when this photo was taken in the 1930s, it is important to protect yourself from the sun's harsh rays. It isn't too late to consider a good summer hat to keep you safe.

With almost the entire country embroiled in drought and intense heat waves, it isn’t too late to get a good summer hat.

What makes one summer hat better than another?

As always, there’s a matter of personal preference. However, there are many features to consider when selecting one that works best for you.

How much shade do you need? If you have sensitive skin, you are going to want as much protection from the harsh summer sun as possible. Straw hats by the nature of their weaves can’t give you the greatest protection on their own.  However, some straws, such as Stefeno’s New Mexico Panama Straw Downturn Hat, offer cloth liners in the crown and under the brim. These guarantee that the sun doesn’t get through the weaving while still providing an appealing straw hat exterior. The Stefeno New Mexico is especially nice because it has side vents and an extra wide brim.

Of course, if you aren’t worried about getting as much shade, some very loosely woven hats provide a lot of ventilation, which can be just as important in this intense heat. A good example of this is the Bailey Nichols.

There are myriad choices in between with different sized brims, ventilation and materials. If you don’t like straw and want tons of shade, maybe a  Tilley hat is perfect for you. Or maybe you don’t like straw or big brims, in which case a bucket hat might be perfect.

Whatever you do, be sure to remain covered and well hydrated. Intense heat and sunlight will sneak up on you and overtake you faster than you might think.

Fans of straw fedoras will love the Monterrey Tracy. It is a teardrop crown fedora with a vented crown weave. The rakish bow band keeps the hat looking classy. The brim snaps up or down, depending on your preference. Plus, inside the hat is a liner in the top of the crown for extra protection from the sun and extra protection for the straw against the perspiration and oils in your hair.

The Monterrey Copa Gardeliano is a trendy, compact center dent straw fedora.  It is perfect for those who don’t like the vented weaves. Plus, it s brim can be customized with a snap up or down.

The other three hats are gambler-style sun hats. They are the Falcon, Copa Colada and San Juan. Each has a broad brim to help keep the sun out of your eyes and off of your skin. Each also has a unique hat band that gives it a special style. The Copa Colada has a vented crown that allows for better air flow.

ALL of these great hats are priced to sell. Order one today and keep the sun at bay all summer.

Happy 4th of July from all your friends at Hats Plus. Photo by Carol Highsmith.

If you are the typical American male this Fourth of July, you already know the routine. You sleep in if the kids let you. You cut the grass and have a beer. You wash and wax the family truckster while listening to a ball game and enjoying another beer. Then it’s time to fire up the grill and invite the neighbors over before heading out to the fireworks or setting off a few of your own.

Relaxing is hard work during this annual summer tradition spent outdoors. Don’t forget to avoid the annual sunburn that goes with it. It’s  not too late to pick up a good deal on a stylin’ summer hat that’ll help keep the sun at bay. Be sure to check out these cool Panama Fedoras and straw hats by Monterrey to get a good bargain that make you look as if you’ve got it made in the shade.

Have a Happy & Safe 4^th of July from all of us at Hats Plus!

This image displays 4 different weaves used on panama hats and compares their grades.

 The more tightly woven the straw is the higher the grade.

Grading panama hats started in 1929 with the price fixing at the start of the Great Depression. To prevent inflation from further devasting the economy, the federal government began a price fixing structure that lasted until the economy got back on its feet. As the government wanted to fairly set prices based on the quality of the merchandise, they devised a method of grading the panama straw used in hats.

The graders focused on the type and tightness of the weaves. Weaves were first divided by basic single weaves known as “Brisa,” in Spanish, and  a double weave known as “Cuenca.” After that a simple square tool that looks like a frame for a one-inch picture was used to measure the tightness of the weave. The aperture of this frame was 25mm or about 1 inch. The regulator would set this frame about one-inch from the edge of the fedora’s brim edge and then count the peaks of the cross weaves called carerra moving in a parallel direction. The tighter the weave, the more carerras were counted. That number would be multiplied by two and reconsiciled against a grading chart.

Say a measurement of seven carerras was taken. It would be multiplied by two to get 14. That 14 equals a grade 2. A highly refined grade 20 would consist of 16 carerras.

Other weave designs evolved called the “New-Corder” and the “Torcido.” Above is a sample of all the weaves and their grades.