Straw or Felt? How to Pick a Western Hat for the Season

Straw hats are woven, so air moves through them and they suit heat and sun. Felt hats are pressed into shape, so they hold a crisp crown and brim and suit cooler months. That is the whole difference in two sentences, and it decides almost everything else about how the hat wears.

We sell both at every event, and the question we hear most across the table is simply which one. Here is the answer we give in person.

What is the difference between a straw hat and a felt hat?

The difference is how the hat is made, not what it costs or how dressy it is. Straw is woven from stalks or strands, so the crown carries a visible weave and tiny gaps that let air pass through. Felt is matted and pressed, so the surface is smooth and continuous and the shape is held by the pressing itself.

That single difference drives the rest. A woven hat breathes and stays light. A pressed hat blocks more sun and wind, takes a sharper crease, and keeps its shape through more handling.

Neither one is the better hat. They are built for different weather.

Each kind has its own section at the booth.

Which one should I wear right now?

In Northern California, straw carries you from about May through August and felt takes over from September into November. We buy to that rhythm ourselves, heavy on straw for the summer fair season and heavy on felt once the autumn festivals start.

The rule of thumb we use at the booth: if you will be standing in the sun, go woven. If you want the hat to look sharp at dusk and survive a breeze, go pressed.

Right now, in the middle of September, we are packing more felt every weekend.

Straw or felt, side by side

How do I know it fits?

Measure around your head about a finger above the ears, keep the tape level, and match that number to a size. A hat that fits sits level without pressure points and leaves about a finger of room at the front.

We have the full chart on our hat sizing guide, with the measurement in both inches and centimetres.

The honest version of this answer is that fit is the thing we can do for you at an event and a screen cannot. We put the hat on, look at how it sits, and swap sizes until it is right. By the second afternoon of a fair there is usually a line of people waiting for exactly that, and it is the part of the day we like best.

How do I take care of it?

Handle the hat by the brim, not the crown. Pinching the crown to lift it is what eventually breaks the shape on both kinds, and it is the single most common way a good hat gets tired.

For a woven hat, keep it out of a hot car. Heat dries the weave and that is when strands crack. If it gets wet, let it dry at room temperature on a flat surface, crown down, so the brim keeps its line.

For a pressed hat, brush it. A soft brush, always in one direction, following the nap around the crown. Dust settles into a closed surface in a way it never does on a weave, and a minute of brushing every few weeks keeps the colour looking new.

For both, store the hat upside down on its crown or on a shelf where nothing rests on the brim. A hat crushed under something for a season rarely comes all the way back.

Which do people actually buy at the booth?

Woven, by some distance, and it is not close. Of the ninety-two hats on our site right now, thirty-nine are woven and fourteen are pressed, and that ratio reflects what sells across a Northern California summer.

The pattern flips in the autumn. The same customer who bought a woven hat at a July fair will come back for a pressed one in October, which is one of the small pleasures of working the same circuit year after year.

Our hats run between thirty and forty-two dollars, which is deliberate. The point was never to sell someone a hat they have to think hard about. It was to have the right one on the shelf when they want it.

Frequently asked

Can I wear a straw hat in winter? You can, and plenty of people do. It will be cooler on your head and it will not hold a crease as sharply as a pressed hat, so it reads more casual. If you are picking one hat for the whole year, most people are happier with a pressed hat, because it carries through more months and dresses up more easily.

Will a hat stretch to fit me? Not meaningfully. Both kinds give a little with wear, and a sweatband can soften over a season, but a hat that is genuinely too small will not become the right size. Start from the measurement rather than hoping. Our sizing guide has the chart.

What happens if my hat gets rained on? Let it dry slowly at room temperature, away from a heater or a hot car. Set it crown down on a flat surface so the brim is not carrying the weight. A woven hat dries quickly. A pressed hat takes longer and is worth brushing once it is fully dry.

How do I keep the shape when I travel? Pack it crown down and fill the crown with something soft, a scarf or a rolled shirt, so it is supported from inside. Never lay anything across the brim. If you can, wear it rather than pack it.

Do you have hats for kids? Yes, and they are on the same shelves. They have their own section at the booth, and children find it without any help from us.

We are Peritik, a family-run shop bringing natural stone jewelry, hats, and a table of small treasures to Northern California fairs and markets since 2017. Come try one on, or see where the booth goes up next.