A man's guide to hat shapes: fedora, trilby, panama, boater, flat cap and homburg
Six shapes cover almost everything a man will wear on his head: the fedora, the trilby, the panama, the boater, the flat cap and the homburg. The differences between them come down to three things: the shape of the crown, the width of the brim and how the brim is set. Learn to read those three and you can name any hat in a room, and more usefully, you can tell which one is going to suit you.
Below is the reference, shape by shape. Where a hat has a rule attached to it, a dress code or a formality it cannot cross, that is stated plainly. Assume nothing about your head size until you have measured it: run a tape around the skull just above the ears and across the widest point at the back, and keep the tape level. That measurement in centimetres is your size, and it is the number the sizes quoted on this page refer to.
What do crown shapes actually mean?
The crown is the part of the hat that sits over your head. How it is creased changes the entire character of the piece, and three creases account for most men's hats.
- Teardrop. A single dent at the front that tapers back into the crown, so the top view reads as a teardrop shape instead of a groove running the full length. It is soft and slightly rakish, and it flatters a longer face because the taper stops the crown reading as a tall block.
- Centre dent. A crease running front to back along the middle of the crown, usually with a pinch on each side at the front. It is the most familiar men's crease and the most neutral. It draws a vertical line up the centre of the face, which is why it lends height to a rounder or wider face.
- Telescope. The top of the crown is pressed flat and the edge stands up around it like a shallow dish, sometimes called a porkpie set. It reads flatter and more modern, and it suits a narrower face because it does not add visual height.
Crown height matters as much as the crease. As a working guide, a tall crown of around 11cm is dramatic and needs a confident wearer, while a shorter crown of around 9cm sits closer to the head and is easier to carry every day. Crown height varies between blocks, so ask for the measurement before you commit to a piece.
How wide should the brim be?
Brim width is the fastest way to change how a hat sits on you. As a working guide:
- Narrow, under about 5cm. Sharp, urban, close to the head. It reads younger and lighter, and it offers very little shade.
- Medium, roughly 5cm to 7cm. The workhorse. Balanced against most shoulder widths and forgiving under most jackets.
- Wide, 8cm and above. Bolder, more shade, more presence. It needs shoulders to balance it, and it will dominate a slight frame.
The useful principle is proportion: the brim should read roughly as wide as your face, and no wider than your shoulders. A broad-shouldered man in a narrow brim looks like he borrowed it. A slim man in a very wide brim disappears under it.
How the brim is finished changes things again. A raw or unbound edge is relaxed. A bound edge in grosgrain is dressier. A snap brim, one that can be worn turned down at the front and up at the back, gives you two hats in one and is the most practical choice for a first serious hat.
What is a fedora and who does it suit?
The fedora is the reference point everything else is measured against. It has a soft, pinched crown, usually a teardrop or centre dent, and a medium brim that can be worn snapped down at the front. It works in felt for autumn and winter, and in fine straw for summer.
It suits almost every face because the crease and the brim are both set in the making. If you are choosing your first hat, this is where to start. A straw fedora in a pale colour is the summer piece, worn with linen, an unstructured jacket, an open collar. Our Parasisal Fedora in cream, £480, is made in fine parasisal straw with a grosgrain ribbon at the band and cut to 56 to 57cm. It is unisex. For a stronger colour that still behaves as a neutral against navy and grey, the Parasisal Fedora in emerald green, £450, runs 57 to 59cm.
Parasisal is worth understanding before you buy. It is a finely woven straw, lighter and closer in texture than a coarse hood, and it holds a blocked shape without stiffening the whole hat into a shell. That is the difference between a hat that holds its line season after season and one that softens out of shape by August.
How is a trilby different from a fedora?
The trilby is the fedora's shorter, sharper relation. The brim is narrower, often around 4cm to 5cm, and it is set with a pronounced upturn at the back and a steeper snap at the front. The crown tends to be shorter too.
Because the brim is small, the trilby sits high and close, which reads smart and modern. It suits a man with a longer, narrower face, and it is the more forgiving option indoors or in a crowd, where a wide brim is a nuisance. It gives you almost no sun protection, so treat it as a style choice.
The quick test in a shop: if the brim is narrow and turns up sharply at the back, it is a trilby. If it is wider, flatter and can be worn down all the way round, it is a fedora.
What makes a panama a panama?
A panama is defined by its material. It is woven from toquilla straw in Ecuador, and it is usually blocked as a fedora, occasionally as an optimo with a ridge running the length of the crown. The finer the weave, the more valuable and the more supple the hat.
Wear it in summer, in strong light, with light tailoring. It is the correct hat for a garden party, a summer wedding abroad, a race meeting outside the Royal Enclosure, sailing and travel. Because the colour is naturally pale, it lifts a dark suit and it sits easily with linen.
The distinction people get wrong is that any pale straw hat ends up being called a panama. A parasisal fedora and a panama are both fine straws and both blocked to a similar shape, and they behave differently in the hand. Parasisal has a smoother, more even surface and takes a crisp, sculptural block. Toquilla has a visible woven grain. Neither is superior. They are different finishes for the same season.
When should a man wear a boater?
The boater is the most rule-bound hat here. Stiff sennit straw, a flat telescope crown, a flat brim of even width all the way round and a wide ribbon band. Nothing about it is soft.
It is a summer hat with a narrow set of correct occasions: regattas, cricket, garden events, summer parties with a stated dress code. It carries an association with clubs and colleges, so a striped band can read as a claim you are not entitled to make. If in doubt, take a plain band.
It suits a man who can carry formality without looking costumed. The flat brim is unforgiving, and there is no adjusting it once blocked, so fit and proportion have to be right from the start.
Is a flat cap the right choice, and when?
The flat cap is the only shape here with no separate brim. A rounded body sits low over a short stiffened peak, and the two are joined at the front. Variations shift the volume: a classic cap is close-fitting, a baker boy or eight-piece cap has more fullness in the crown.
It belongs to daylight, country and casual town wear. Tweed for autumn and winter, linen or cotton for summer, worn with overcoats, knitwear, field jackets. It is a casual hat, and it sits badly with a morning coat or black tie.
It suits most men because it follows the line of the head, and it is the easiest shape to wear if you have never worn a hat. A fuller crown flatters a longer face; a flatter, closer cap suits a rounder one.
What is a homburg and how formal is it?
The homburg is the dress hat. Stiff felt, a single centre dent in the crown with no side pinches and a brim that is bound in grosgrain and curled up all the way round in a fixed line. The brim never snaps down. That fixed curl is the giveaway.
It is the most formal soft-felt hat a man owns, and it sits between a fedora and a top hat in register. Wear it with a dark overcoat, in winter, for occasions with weight to them. It is deliberate and it should be. A homburg with casual clothes looks like fancy dress.
Which hats are allowed at Royal Ascot?
Ascot is where hat choice stops being taste and becomes a rule, so it is worth knowing the published code. Codes are reviewed each year, so check the current one before you commit to a piece.
- Royal Enclosure, men. Black or grey morning dress with a waistcoat and tie, plus a black or grey top hat. A straw fedora is not permitted in the Royal Enclosure, however fine the straw.
- Queen Anne Enclosure and Village Enclosure, men. A full length suit with a collared shirt and tie. The published code sets no hat requirement for these enclosures, which is where a fedora or a panama sits comfortably.
- Royal Enclosure, women. A hat or headpiece with a solid base of at least 10cm diameter.
If you are dressing for a race meeting, start with the Royal Ascot collection, and the men's hat guide covers the men's shapes in more detail.
How do you choose between them?
Start with the occasion, then the season, then the face. Formal winter occasion, homburg. Summer event with a dress code, panama or boater. Everyday town wear, fedora or trilby. Daylight and country, flat cap. Then check the proportion rule: brim no wider than your shoulders, crown height set against the length of your face.
Buy the shape you will wear ten times before you buy the shape you will wear once. For most men that is a medium-brim fedora in a colour that works against everything already in the wardrobe.
Every piece from the house is blocked and finished by hand by Monika Perlinska in the London atelier, and everything is made to order. Any piece can be commissioned in another colour, and nothing is made twice. Browse the men's collection to see the full range, or start a commission if you have an occasion in mind and want the fit taken properly. Fittings happen in the atelier, or by video call if you are abroad. Delivery within the United Kingdom is complimentary.
