The coolest way to save your color

I’m not a big hats girl; I don’t wear them as part of my “look.” But that all changes when I go somewhere sunny on vaka for one major reason: protect the hair color! Here I am in Greece, doing just that. 

While I usually try on all sorts of lid styles, I always end up in a fedora or Panama hat. They just fit with my overall vibe and I don’t care that they were highjacked by hipsters! To me they’re timeless and have just the right size brim (Panama brim’s usually a little bigger and flatter than a fedora). And because I’m a people-watcher, part of what I love to do on vaka is check out what people are wearing, what they’re doing with their makeup and hair, how they put themselves together. I always notice how they wear a hat because it’s such a statement.  

Take girls in baseball caps. While I’m not a major fan of team headgear, I think of women who wear them as kinda sporty-cool. And this adorable number from @YesWayRose is perfect. It’s tongue-in-cheek and because of the pale pink, a little femme, which is the perfect mix.

Then there are oversized sunhats. They’re great for protecting your hair but can look goofy if the brim’s too floppy and tend to sail off your head in the slightest wind. I think they work when they’re a structured shape and often when the wearer has got a whole retro thing going on. But what I’ve noticed most is it’s all about the attitude of the woman wearing one. If she looks like she’s owning her choice, I’m all for it.

Bucket hats are cool too. Their mash-up of street-meets-surfer has fans from every style tribe—classic (think ‘70s Lauren Hutton ), trendy (Rihanna), playful (Pharrell). And they can be so ridiculously cute, like this packable one on Nordstrom.com. 

Whatever your choice, just keep in mind two things: Your chapeau’s got to be packable. And it’s got to have some SPF cred (as in, totally open-weave straw hats don’t work). Happy hatt-ing!