From the consumers' side, no matter whether for women or men, a proper hat can obviously improve the whole styling. Headwear is not only an extension of styling, but also an important factor that affects purchasing decisions. Therefore, having a premium, reliable, and well-designed hat has become a basic need for lots of consumers.
In the Chinese market, traditional headwear culture is relatively weak, and most consumers' recognition of headwear is derived from the modern fashion system. In contrast, the Western headwear culture is rich and long. Headwear was once considered a formal dressing accessories as suits, gloves, and ties. Although with the life rhythm speeding up, the wearing frequency of headwear has lowered, the demand for headwear is still stable in the global market, particularly in terms of functionality, fashion, and brand value. There is a clear stratification.
Modern consumers pursue convenience, and many men choose short hairstyles and even bald hairstyles to reduce the care cost, which makes hats assume the role of functional complementation in some scenes, such as sun protection, keeping warmth, styling, and more. Meanwhile, traditional accessories like ties have become weak, which makes hats get attention again in fashion styling.
From a brand perspective, the quality of hats has huge differences that are beyond the public's imagination. Fabrics, structures, craftsmanship, and brand history can affect consumers' purchasing experience and the repurchase rate. Based on our experience of buying and wearing, we at BetterCrown, a global headwear store, have compiled 10 professional, classic hat brands with a good reputation and stable marketing worldwide, covering women's hats, which can offer valuable data for consumers to choose from when selecting a hat. (Not including streetwear hats like baseball caps)
1. Lock & Co. Hatters
Lock & Co.(the full name is James Lock & Co.Ltd) was founded in 1676, which is most ancient headwear boutiques, ranking 34th among the existing most ancient family enterprises, located at 6 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1EF. Since 1765, Lock & Co. hasn't moved, and the founders are Robert Davis and his sons. However, the brand name is from Davis's apprentice, James Lock, and this boutique is still owned and run by the Lock family.
Lock & Co. has a rich and long history. If you have a chance to get to the back of the store, you can see a large collection of wooden head molds signed by celebrities that you known like Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill, who brought or customized hats at Lock & Co. The father of modern men's garment, Beau Brummell also uses Lock & Co. hats to stock up up his garment warehouse.
Although Lock & Co. made hats for the current Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Kate since 1993, Lock & Co. has started haute millinery. It's mainly famous for its traditional men's hats, and its winter hats are regarded as the best worldwide. Currently, the two royal certifications are awarded by Prince Chars and Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip.
Lock & Co. Oslo tweed cap
2. Christys’ London
Christys Kingsbury Fur Felt Hat & Christys Pork Pie Wool Felt Hat
Christys' London is also an old British hat brand, created by Miller Christy in 1773. After his apprenticeship in Edinburgh, he created his own company, which is a company still making top hats and bowlers in traditional ways. Comparing Lock & Co., Lock & Co. offers high-end bespoke service on a small scale and is limited in product lines. In contrast, Christys' London is primarily a factory that includes medium-end to high-end bespoke hats on a large scale. In two hundred years of competitiveness, Christys' London has merged and acquired many companies, and become the largest hat manufacturer in the United Kingdom. In the mid-to-late 19th century, Christys' London was the largest hat manufacturer worldwide.
Christys' London has accumulated more than 200 years of hat-making experience, with many unique crafts. Due to its high production volume, superior quality, and reasonable pricing, many brands, including luxury labels, have their hats manufactured by Christys' London. Lock & Co. also has a portion of its hats produced by Christys' London.
CW Headdress
Christys' London has a sister company called CW Headdress, which specializes in manufacturing hats for police and military units.
3. Bates
In 1898, Bates was founded by Edward Bates, and till now Bates has more than 100-years history. Until now, Bates has been a family enterprise. Located on Jermyn Street in London, this is the only boutique worldwide that is very low-key. Bates is not as famous as Lock & Co., and just a few years ago, Bates was still struggling to find a suitable storefront and nearly went out of business due to exorbitant rent.
Although the scale of Bates is not that large, its making crafts are extremely great with a wide variety of styles, from common flat tops, the most formal top hats, high-end smoking caps, and premium-grade Panama hats. Bates is on our top favorite list during this research, with premium quality and great details.
4. Stetson
Founded in 1865, Stetson is the symbol of American Independence, and it's the oldest cowboy hat brand, which is the largest hat manufacturer in the United States, full of the American Western style.
It's a pity that cowboy hats are not practical for Chinese people. However, after the development for so many years, Stetson Fedora hats and newsboy caps are pretty good, and its Fedora hats have their own styling, with wide brims and the crown is relatively bigger than European's, which looks like the American outdoor style.
Stetson newsboy caps and the British flat caps are different in fabrics and styles, with their own styles. The British caps are designed for rural outdoor hunting, looking quite refined. In contrast, Stetson newsboy caps are distinctly more ruggedly American.
Stetson Benchley Beaver Fur Felt Fedora & Stetson Hatteras Silk/Cashmere Cap
5. Borsalino
When talking about hats, the Italian old brand, Borsalino, is a brand that we cannot ignore, founded by Giuseppe Borsalino. After his 7 years of learning in Paris, Borsalino and his brother created the first studio together in Alessandria in the northwest of Italy. Subsequently, in 1897, Giuseppe Borsalino quietly mastered the craft by visiting Battersby, a hat factory in London, and he quietly brought back the techniques behind the rounded-crown hat.
Here is a wrong message that when people introduce Borsalino, they like to add a photo of Chaplin on the side. In fact, the hat on Chaplin's head was Lock & Co., because Chaplin is a British citizen in London.
The most famous hat type in Borsalino is the Fedora, which was once popular and appeared in many early films, being popular among stars and celebrities. Even some hat companies use the name "Borsalino" to name their Fedora hats directly.
In 1970, the film Borsalino, the same name as the brand that was acted by Alain Delon and Jean Belmondo, was launched, and the sequel, Borsalino & Co. in 1974, making Borsalino hats gain their great reputation and popularity.
Generally, Borsalino headdresses are enough trendy, made from quality fabrics, and the colors of the ornamental lists are rich and pure, which fashionistas favor. Still, Borsalino focuses on a high-end, luxurious product line, and its prices are high.
Borsalino Beaver hat medium brim & Borsalino Cervelt
6. Herbert Johnson
Founded in 1889, Herbert Johnson is a brand under Swaine Adeney Brigg, a famous umbrella and suitcase manufacturer. Herbert Johnson excels in manufacturing various types of high-grade officer caps for military use, primarily offering the highest level of customization services.
Herbert Johnson poet hat
In general, Herbert Johnson mainly focuses on bespoke, and we can buy finished hats in the store. The hats are the Poet hat that was customized for the film, Indiana Jones, also called the Indy hat.
7. Optimo Hat
Optimo is a hat store located in Chicago, the US, and the owner is Graham Thompson. The former name of Optimo was Johnny's Hat Shop, which means that this store didn't belong to Thompson. Due to the former store owner, Johnny Tyus's health issues and the absence of an heir to carry on the hat-making craft, Thompson not only learned hat-making crafts from Tyus, but also took over this hat store. One year later, Thompson relocated the hat store to Beverly on Chicago's south side and renamed it Optimo.
Thompson is a great fan of Blues, so there are many Trilby hats in Optimo, which are suitable for many Blues singers - short and delicate brim, looking youthful and vibrant.
Besides full bespoke, Optimo mainly offers made-to-measure(MTM) purchasing, with customizable fabrics and colors.
8. Patey Hats
The history of Patey is relatively complex, and we cannot totally fix this. All we know is that Patey initially could be dated back to 1695 from a French family. Patey exclusively manufactures top hats, bowlers, various military hats, and various hunting hats in MTM (made-to-measure). Patey is the supplier of Gurkha Slouch hats to the UK Ministry of Defence.
Patey excels in producing carious riding helmets for civilian use. Since 2000 Sydney Olympics, Patey has been the official supplier for the top British Races and House Racing.
British Army beret made by Patey
On the official website, we can only book top hats, bowlers, traditional riding hats, and Patey PROtector helmets. If we wanna Fedora hats and flat caps, we need to go to the store on Ilderton Road in London.
The Patey Traditional Hunt Cap & The Top Hat
9. Wigens
Created in 1906 in Sweden, Wigens hats are very iconic, and most are made with striped or plaid wool or cashmere newsboy caps, which is very easy to tell.
Wigens headdresses are slightly different from the classic British flat headdresses. It's clear to see that the brims of Wiggins' headdresses are made from coarse fabrics in heavy colors, which appear to hail from colder climates like Sweden, giving off a distinctly warm and sturdy print.
Herringbone Harris Tweed Wool Ivy Cap
10. Rachel Trevor-Morgan
Rachel Trevor- Morgan was established in 1990 by Rachel, a headwear developer, and is located in St James's. Rachel is notorious for her tender, womanlike hand feathers and flowers.
The current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is Rachel's biggest and most pious supporter. Since 2006, the Queen has constantly worn Rachel's chapeau designs at multitudinous high-profile events, including her 80th birthday fests. In fact, nearly every womanish member of the British royal family is a devoted addict of her work.
In 1999, Rachel won the Matrimonial Headpiece Developer Award at the British Matrimonial Awards. In 2014, she entered the Royal Warrant from Her Majesty the Queen, making her the only womanish millinery brand to hold this honor.