Felt Hats for Women: Fedoras, Wide Brims, Cloches and How to Fit Them

Felt hats for women come in more shapes than men's do, because a brim can be pinned up, a crown can fit close as a helmet, and the beret and cloche have no real men's equivalent. Seven shapes cover nearly everything sold, and each one has a measurable brim width and a job it does well. The fedora itself started out as a women's hat: the name comes from Victorien Sardou's 1882 play Fédora, in which Sarah Bernhardt wore a soft, centre-creased brimmed hat.

Which felt hat styles do women wear?

The fedora, the wide brim, the cloche, the beret, the boater, the bowler and the cowboy hat. They differ in brim width, from none at all to 4 in (10 cm) or more, and in how close the crown fits.

A few notes on the ones that need more than a line:

• The women's felt fedora. A pinched front, a crease along the top and a soft brim that can be worn down at the front and up at the back. It is the shape most worth owning first, in wool felt, in camel, grey, charcoal or brown. The way the pinch and the snap brim work is set out in the fedora section of felt hats for men; the hat is the same, only the sizes start smaller.
• The wide brim. The flat, stiff-brimmed felt hat with a teardrop crown is often sold as a "rancher" or "wide-brim fedora". It needs a firm felt; a soft wool brim this wide starts to wave within a season.
• The boater. Mostly straw, but felt boaters exist for autumn and winter. The flat crown and flat brim make it the most graphic shape here.
• The bowler. Hard felt, stiffened with shellac or resin, with a domed crown. Women's bowlers are usually a little smaller in the crown. In Bolivia, the bowler is part of everyday dress for many Aymara and Quechua women.
• The beret. The only one here that is usually not blocked into a set shape, and the most forgiving to wear. How felt and knitted berets differ, and how to make one, is in wool felt beret.
• The cowboy hat. Cowgirl hats are built exactly like men's westerns. The X ratings, the crowns and the brims are in felt cowboy hats.

The types of felt hats page names the rarer shapes too, the breton and the picture hat among them.

How do you choose a felt hat that suits you?

Start from what you will wear it with and what the day is like, not from a face-shape chart. A hat that sits well with your usual coat, in your usual weather, will be worn; one bought to correct an "oval" or "heart" face usually stays in the box.

The things that make the real difference:

• Brim against shoulders. A brim much wider than your shoulders looks top-heavy; on a small frame a 2½ in (6 cm) brim reads as a statement and a 4 in one can swamp you. On broad shoulders, a narrow brim can look like a size too small.
• Collar. A high coat collar or a big scarf pushes against a brim at the back. Try the hat on with the coat you will wear it with.
• Hair volume. Big curly or thick hair widens the head visually, so a slightly wider brim keeps the proportions. A cloche or a beret works well with short hair and a bob.
• Glasses. The brim should clear the top of the frames when the hat sits level. A low-pulled cloche often sits on glasses; a fedora worn slightly back usually does not.
• Wind and rain. Brims catch wind. For a windy commute, a cloche or a beret stays on; a 4 in brim needs a hand on it or a hatpin through the crown and hair.

Colour does more than shape to make a hat easy to wear. Camel, grey and dark brown go with most coats; felt hat colours explains which shades are easiest and why black is hardest to get right.

How do you measure your head for a women's hat?

Wrap a soft tape round your head, level across the forehead and about 1/8 in (3 mm) above the ears, with your hair as you normally wear it. Many women measure 21½ to 22½ in (55 to 57 cm).

Letter sizes are the least consistent part of hat buying, so check the inch or centimetre figure each maker gives. Many women's fashion hats are sold "one size" at about 22 to 22½ in (56 to 57 cm) with a drawstring or an adjustable strap hidden inside the sweatband. That pulls the opening in a little, enough for a hat that is slightly big but not one a whole size out.

If you sit between sizes, take the larger one. A felt hat that is too small cannot be stretched more than a little, while one that is a bit big takes up the gap with sizing tape: a self-adhesive foam strip stuck under the sweatband at the back and sides, or round the whole band.

How do you wear a felt hat with long or thick hair?

Keep the hair below the crown line: loose, a low ponytail, a low bun or a braid down the back. Anything piled on the top or back of the head lifts the hat by ½ in (1.3 cm) or more and makes it sit perched.

• Measure with the hair as you will wear it. Thick or curly hair can add up to about ½ in (13 mm) to the measurement compared with hair pulled flat.
• Pick the hat for the hair you have most days. If you swap between hair down and a low bun, buy for the bun and add sizing tape for the days your hair is down.
• A cloche wants neat hair underneath. It is designed to fit close, so a lot of hair underneath pushes it up off the brow.
• A hatpin holds a brimmed hat in wind. Push it through the felt and a section of hair on one side, then back out through the felt. It is the old method and still works better than elastic.

Wool felt or fur felt for a women's hat?

Wool felt, for most hats. Nearly all fashion felt hats are wool, which is soft, takes colour well and is light enough at the usual weights. Fur felt, usually rabbit, is smoother and lighter for its stiffness and sheds rain much better, which matters most for a fedora or wide brim worn every day in the wet.

Some cheap hats sold as "felt" are polyester, which looks flat and slightly shiny and will not steam back into shape. A label that says 100% wool settles it; if there is no label, the felt hat burn test on one fibre from inside the band does.

How do you look after a wool felt hat?

Brush it after wearing, store it on its crown, and dry it away from heat if it gets wet; the rest is handling.

• Brush anticlockwise with a soft hat brush to lift dust and lint before it works into the felt.
• Hold it by the brim, front and back, when you take it off.
• Rest it upside down on the crown or put it on a stand. A wide brim left lying flat on a shelf takes on a ripple.
• After rain, blot it, push the brim and crown back into shape, and let it dry on its crown at room temperature.
• Steam out a dent with a few seconds over a kettle, then shape it by hand until it cools.
• Box it for summer with a moth deterrent; the steps are in protecting wool from moths.

Stains, grease marks and sweatbands are covered in how to clean a felt hat. To dress a plain hat up, felt hat accessories covers bands, pins and feathers. Milliners make every one of these shapes from the cones and capelines in felt hat blanks, and a soft cloche can be made by hand from loose wool, following wet felting a hat.