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Come the warmer months, there are certain items that become indispensable. The perfect shorts, failsafe sunglasses, and increasingly, a standout hat. A summertime curio like no other, the right cap, boater or bucket hat lends the wearer an air of studied carelessness, and, obviously, has the practical effect of protecting his skin from the sun's rays.
Here, we choose four of the best from brilliantly branded to charmingly rustic, to see you through every sun-soaked occasion.
The baseball cap is a unifier like perhaps no other, bringing together musicians, politicians and sportsmen from all walks of life. Burberry's take on the snap back recalls the cap’s sporting origins, with a large TB monogram in place of the traditional team emblem.
While the baseball cap is celebrated for being a symbol of the everyman, the five panel has always been championed by the skateboarding counterculture and streetwear diehards. Y-3's interpretation takes the streamlined construction for which the five panel is named and marries it with a foldable brim, making this an ideal piece to throw into a weekend bag for last minute getaways.
With the 1990s revival continuing at full tilt, the bucket hat remains a stand-out alternative to the usual summer cap. Rather than serving solely as a piece of nostalgia, the most successful designs are those which bring the bucket into the 21st century, as Norse Projects has achieved with seersucker and its signature understated charm.
Never one to follow convention, Gucci's take on the straw hat fuses the pinched top of a Panama with the sloped brim of a traditional Asian farmer's hat, creating a statement piece which feels much more modern than the usual straw fedora or boater.
