Hat or beret: which hat to wear in summer?

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As someone who has never identified as a “hat person,” summer hats have always seemed like an afterthought to me, something you toss into the shopping cart along with mosquito repellent and blister plasters in the last-minute rush of vacation.

Now, however, we are in “the era of the personality hat,” as the American fashion writer puts it Leandra Medine Cohen stated earlier this yearoffering Prada’s feathered military cap for your consideration. Hats no longer have an exclusively practical use, but are quickly becoming the main event, as demonstrated by the Fall/Winter 2024 runway collections. Chanel’s oversized floppy sun hats In ice cream colors and Jil Sander’s swim cap styles to Moschino button-down shirts repurposed as turbansThe designers were full of ideas. Not surprisingly, the Paris 2024 Olympic mascot was an anthropomorphized Phrygian cap, the emblem of the French revolutionaries.

Fashion consultant and former Net-a-Porter buyer Laura Vidrequin Roso is rarely seen without a hat. “I carry six with me for the summer, which sounds excessive, but I wear them every day.” In her current rotation is a colorful crochet bucket style from the Barcelona-based brand. Brown Hats (from £139.87), whose handmade embroidered buckets, berets and hats take between 10 and 50 hours to work. “It’s great for when you just want to wear a plain white shirt or dress, but still include a fun accessory,” she says.

Stylist and “hat fanatic” Rachel Bakewell’s go-to beach hat is a floral-print canvas bucket style from the Danish brand Gannithat fastens under the chin. “I love that you can tie [the straps] “In the form of a bow, so you can wear it while swimming in the sea. I guess it’s quite childish in a way, I always feel very protected.” Better yet, unlike straw competitors, a canvas hat can be folded into a suitcase and thrown into the washing machine at the end of the holiday. Ukrainian milliner Ruslan Baginsky She has even perfected a woven raffia hat with tan leather bows that can be transformed into a bucket bag ($350).

Spending the summer in the city? Perhaps a minimalist cloche hat is your thing. Toteme offers a chic woven version (£240, mytheresa.com) while Vidrequin Roso is a fan of The Row’s Carrol hat is sold out (£640) “What I love about it is that the fabric is very tight, so it holds its shape well,” says Vidrequin Roso, who pairs it with beach dresses or printed sarongs to avoid wardrobe drama.

Then there are baseball caps, which have evolved from team sports essentials to a symbol of understated luxury and a salvation for bad hair days. The Los Angeles-based sportswear brand Sporty & Rich Slogan Baseball Caps have had an 86 percent sell-through rate for Spring/Summer 2024. “Our hats are inspired by the [American sports apparel brand] “The ’47’ fit, which I think strikes the perfect balance between style and comfort,” says founder Emily Oberg, who likes to wear hers with a tailored outfit “to keep it sophisticated yet relaxed.”

And if you really don’t like hats? Consider a scarf. Designer Rejina Pyo, whose Sandy hand-woven headscarves They have been very popular with customers this summer (£125), praising their versatility. “They can be worn as a headscarf or neckerchief, making them a perfect addition to summer style.” The cutFashion journalist Danya Issawi, who paired her red paisley-print scarf with a mesh sports jersey and ballet flats at the recent Copenhagen Fashion Week, is a fan of the scarf’s “bucolic” charm. “I always feel like I’m about to embark on some kind of trip to the countryside when I’m actually running around New York City running errands.”