Hats??

[msdebbe]

What kind of hat will you be wearing on your next cruise? I am debating which kind to take with; not sure what kind to wear on shore in the Med. Any suggestions?

[Scrapnana]

Although hats make my head hurt I am thinking of buying one for my next cruise. A local craft show has a vendor each year that sells sunhats that you can roll, squash, smush, etc and it still pops back looking like a hat. I'm going to try one and see if I like it. I can't take the sun on the top of my head like I used to. The only other time I wore a hat on a trip was when I went to Egypt during the summer. I was glad to have it.

[delily]

I hate hats. But there are times when I really need one. For my next Med cruise I bought this one from the Coolbar website:

 

It will unzip and become just a visor if I want. And the brim is so wide that it shades my entire face and neck but doesn't seem to obstruct my view at all. At $35 bucks though it's the most expensive hat I've ever bought! I'm counting on it to travel with me for eons!

[BratDet]

Last year, I had a bright pink hat that was from Costco, with a sun protection rating.

I wore it a LOT in the MED & I hate hats......since there were so many pics of me wearing the darn hat, I splurged and got a new crushable one with a really big brim.

This one does not have a strap, which last year saved my hat from flying away in a few places and let me hang it from my travel bag.

I bought a red one and a khaki one, about 15$ each. I'll keep red for here and take the khaki one for this years cruise. Less obtrusive. Got one at Marshalls and one at TJ Maxx, same brand.

Trying to figure out how to add a tie-one.

 

Bernadette

[meldreth]

You will need a crushable one for easy packing with a good brim to protect the back of your neck ... it is very easy to get sunstroke on the Med so you will certainly need a hat.

[delily]

Yes, I've been thinking about adding a strap to mine. Trying to figure out just where the best place would be to attach it. I actually bought the hat in a tan color but I wish now that I hadn't been so conservative and had gone with the pink. I really like the pink.

[Suitcasefull]

I added a cord to a straw one with a wide brim for our PC last year. Used a small braided cord found at Hobby Lobby in with ribbons but you could use whatever would work for the weave of your hat.

Marked the center of each side right at the crease and just under the ribbon trim. Brought the cord up from the inside then around the back of the crown (on the outside, hidden beneath hatband) then back down through the mark on the other side. I used a large wooden bead that I could feed both ends of the cord through as something to hold the cords plus to tighten up when necessary in wind. Knotted ends but you could add more (smaller) beads to make it prettier.

Hope this makes sense and helps!

[delily]

I added a cord to a straw one with a wide brim for our PC last year. Used a small braided cord found at Hobby Lobby in with ribbons but you could use whatever would work for the weave of your hat.

Marked the center of each side right at the crease and just under the ribbon trim. Brought the cord up from the inside then around the back of the crown (on the outside, hidden beneath hatband) then back down through the mark on the other side. I used a large wooden bead that I could feed both ends of the cord through as something to hold the cords plus to tighten up when necessary in wind. Knotted ends but you could add more (smaller) beads to make it prettier.

Hope this makes sense and helps!

 

Great idea! Thanks!

[BratDet]

I love that you mentioned Hobby Lobby, as a new one opened here a while ago...might even be a year, and I still have not gotten there... ;)

Think it is time to finally check out for cording...

 

Bernadett

[Suitcasefull]

Usually there's a coupon for 40% off one item at regular price. You can get it online or in the newspaper. They also have good sales, especially on things like canvas, jewelry making, art materials, so watch for those.

Problem is there's so much stuff. You can spend money way fast and it's really nothing you "need." You may regret going in.............:D

[slidergirl]

3 years ago, I bought a Panama hat. It has a wider brim (2.5 in) that those fedoras we see in the fashion catalogs now. Kind of off white woven with a black fabric band. I can't remember which catalog/website I bought it from, the the label inside is Dorfman Pacific. I love it. I has a little rakish style, but keeps my head covered and eyes shaded. I can wear it with everything (and have!) from jeans and a hooded sweatshirt to jeans and a Barcelona football jersey (in Barcelona for the Champions League finals) to my LBD. To me, it's practical, but doesn't scream "tourist". I actually wear it at home, too (the jeans and hooded sweatshirt).

[Suitcasefull]

Today found a darling black and white and silver woven wide-brimmed hat; very well-known (not cheap) brand. Had tried it on and headed to checkout. Decided to look at how the band was attached in case a cord was to be added and saw little content tag inside...........made of PAPER and said to spot-clean only. Now, I rarely wash hats anyway but figure a paper hat was not a good thing for cruising. Maybe I'm the only one who never thought about paper hats??? From now on if it's not obvious real straw or fabric, I'm going to be really wary!

[Scrapnana]

Today found a darling black and white and silver woven wide-brimmed hat; very well-known (not cheap) brand. Had tried it on and headed to checkout. Decided to look at how the band was attached in case a cord was to be added and saw little content tag inside...........made of PAPER and said to spot-clean only. Now, I rarely wash hats anyway but figure a paper hat was not a good thing for cruising. Maybe I'm the only one who never thought about paper hats??? From now on if it's not obvious real straw or fabric, I'm going to be really wary!

 

Who would have thought a well-known brand would make hats out of paper?:confused: Thanks for the warning.

[msdebbe]

Who would have thought a hat made from paper??!! Well, I will certainly be looking at the material for sure! Thanks for posting.

[slidergirl]

Today found a darling black and white and silver woven wide-brimmed hat; very well-known (not cheap) brand. Had tried it on and headed to checkout. Decided to look at how the band was attached in case a cord was to be added and saw little content tag inside...........made of PAPER and said to spot-clean only. Now, I rarely wash hats anyway but figure a paper hat was not a good thing for cruising. Maybe I'm the only one who never thought about paper hats??? From now on if it's not obvious real straw or fabric, I'm going to be really wary!

 

Some of the hats fro Dorfman Pacific are made from paper. One of the lines I remember is the Scala line. I don't know if I'd be wary of a paper hat - you can treat paper and make it rather strong and durable.

[Suitcasefull]

Some of the hats fro Dorfman Pacific are made from paper. One of the lines I remember is the Scala line. I don't know if I'd be wary of a paper hat - you can treat paper and make it rather strong and durable.

 

I know paper can be made strong; just leery of buying a utilitarian piece that says "spot clean" A dressy hat might be okay. Afraid of what might happen if you got it wet at beach or something. With all the pretty hats today, no reason to risk my money. :)

 

Re: putting cord on hat (few posts back)

Forgot to add that you should put the hat on and determine where you want the cord to fall in relation to your ears/face. Most of us aren't symetrical so just putting the cords on opposite sides might not work. You might be more comfortable with it behind or in front of ears........don't want the cord to be right down over ears (I don't think)

[jnc411]

I have two hats that I can roll up and stuff in a corner, one has a brim all the way around and one just has a front brim, just depends and what I am doing. But nice to pack. I remember getting one at Tuesday Morning and one at I think Marshalls or TJ Max, been awhile not sure any more. Good Luck

Cori

[obnurse]

I bought my hat at Ross Dress for Less in Ft Lauderdale when we were getting ready to cruise. Love it! Crush resistant, etc. However, I will add a tie on it for next time. I kept taking it off so as not to lose it to the ocean. The top of my head got really burned.

[islandgirlejfan]

I have two hats that I can roll up and stuff in a corner, one has a brim all the way around and one just has a front brim, just depends and what I am doing. But nice to pack. I remember getting one at Tuesday Morning and one at I think Marshalls or TJ Max, been awhile not sure any more. Good Luck

Cori

 

I also got a folding floppy one at Tuesday Morning.....they are awesome and really great to pack!

[BratDet]

worked great in the Med, but since I am lucky to go again...I did get a new one...the old brim was decently wide...but I didn't like how thick it was....

The new hat...or hats (found red...then decided khaki might work better with everything...has a bigger brim but completely crushable...and says SPF 50 protection...

good tips about cording fit, but luckily I sew so I have a clue about fit...

Yes, I will end up regretting going to Hobby Lobby, in a love hate kind of way...but there is a Kohls nearby and I just got a 10$ off anything...so now I am being paid to go!!

(ANY excuse will do!)

Bernadette

[clcurry]

I don't usually wear hats but I found a cute one online at Kohls.

 

[SeagoingMom]

I always take hats on cruises. I wear hats everywhere, first, because I love hats! (I guess I am in the minority here...) and second, because the glare from the sun coming from above really bothers me, even with sunglasses (which I also always wear!) and hat brims shade me from that. Now, I have only cruised in the Bahamas and Caribbean, so I cannot speak to the Mediterranean (although I have been there, not cruising), but I cannot imagine things would be too different. I pack a good-looking (clean, tasteful, pretty, if possible, not too masculine in style) baseball cap, which I wear on casual excursions (ziplining or jungle tours, for example) as well as a floppy wide-brimmed cotton hat which is good for beach days, shopping, etc., although not as "elegant" a look as I would like. Both the baseball cap and the floppy hat are useful if I get caught in the rain. I also usually wear on the plane (or bring with me if I drive to the port) a better-looking (a little classier) medium- to wide-brimmed straw hat for when I want to dress up my look a little. I imagine that is the hat I would wear most of the time in the Mediterranean, because, as I am sure you know, Europeans generally have a higher style standard than most Americans and I would strive to mesh with that. The advantages for me of the baseball cap and floppy cotton hat are that they stay on pretty well in the wind -- useful for cruising and, for example, boating excursions. I pull my ponytail through the back of the baseball cap, which helps keep it on, and the floppy cotton hat has an adjustable string that goes under my chin, which I can tighten if I need to keep the hat on in breezy conditions, or loosen completely and let the hat dangle down my back if I don't want to wear it. I also can snap my baseball cap to my purse handle or belt loop if I don't want it on, and thus I never lose it. The straw hat I would have to carry in my hand if I wanted to take it off. There are "packable" hats which are called "straw" but they are usually made of a type of woven plastic, which I find heavy and hot. A lot of so-called "straw" hats are made of woven paper, which is light and cool, but I would worry that they would dissolve if they got wet?

 

I have attached shots of all three hats: First is floppy hat in Nassau, second is baseball cap on board ship, third is straw hat (not a cruise shot).

[foolishmortals]

I always bring a floppy straw hat, baseball cap, cadet style hat, and a fedora(straw). I usually embark and disembark with my fedora, do hikes/strenuous excursions with my cadet, run/jog outdoors with my baseball cap, straw fedora again when doing local island tours/shopping, and use the floppy straw hat for beach lounging. On top of that, I use sunblock with at least an SPF of 30 if not more. I spent too many years exposing my face to the sun and now that I'm getting older, I'm trying to do some damage control while trying to maintain some smidgen of style. :p This last cruise, though, I left my hats on the sofa by the door! D'oh! I was applying/reapplying the sunblock and trying to stick to the shade most of the time.

[SeagoingMom]

Foolishmortals:

 

Probably I am out of the fashion loop, as I don't know what a "cadet style hat" is. When I search online, the images show a brimmed cap with a flattened crown -- it resembles a baseball cap quite a bit. Is that what you are referring to?

 

http://www.hatnwear.com/images/Levis/Levis_CadetGreen03_01.jpg

[sail7seas]

I don't usually wear hats but I found a cute one online at Kohls.

 

 

 

I have one like that I bought in a ship's gift shop.

I like how easily it rolls for packing and doesn't get all out of shape.