Collection: Bucket Hats

They are the same hat: a soft, flat-topped crown with a brim that slopes down all the way round. Fisherman hat is one of its original names, alongside Irish country hat, and the shape came out of Irish country wear around 1900, made in wool felt or tweed so it could be crushed into a pocket. Anglers took to it because the all-round brim kept rain and sun off without blocking the view.

If the two words point at anything different today, it is trim rather than pattern.

A hat sold as a fisherman hat is more likely to be plain, in a muted color, sometimes with mesh vents or a chin cord, while bucket hat has become the term for the printed and streetwear versions. Ghelter lists both under bucket hats: pick the plain ones if you want the original look and the printed ones if you want the streetwear one.

A bucket hat should sit level with the brim just above your eyebrows, snug enough not to lift in wind but loose enough to leave no line on your forehead. The crown is soft and unstructured, so unlike a stiff hat the fit is decided entirely by where the band meets your head, and a little slack at the top is normal. If it perches high on your head, the size is too small: this is a hat that is meant to come down.

To find your size, run a soft tape measure around the widest part of your head, just above the ears and across the middle of the forehead, keeping the tape level, and use the larger of two readings.

Ghelter lists bucket hats by head measurement in centimeters, with a good number sold as an adjustable or elastic span, and the kids' models sized by age as well as measurement.

The shape helps more than a cap does, because the brim goes all the way round and shades your ears and the back of your neck, which is where a peaked cap leaves you exposed.

Dermatology guidance puts the difference in numbers: a three-inch brim cuts most of the UV reaching the back of the neck, while a cap's peak shades the front and nothing else. Two things decide how much you actually get: how wide the brim is, and how tightly the fabric is woven. Hold the fabric up to a light, and the more you see through it, the more gets through to your skin. Treat a bucket hat as shade rather than as rated sun protection, because none of the hats in Ghelter's bucket hat collection carries a certified UPF figure. For the most shade in this range, go for a wide brim, and our guide to hats that shade best compares the shapes.

Match the hat to the weight of the outfit: a plain cotton bucket hat sits under anything, and a printed or textured one wants everything else kept simple. With denim, a hoodie, a tee or an overshirt it needs no thought. With tailoring it fights, which is the one place the shape does not go.

Wear it flat and low rather than perched. Corduroy, denim and heavier cottons carry it into fall, and the printed and bright versions belong to summer and to festivals.

Ghelter has outfit ideas in our piece on wearing the shape day to day, and a separate one on festival styling.

Wash a cotton or denim bucket hat by hand in cool water with a mild detergent, and never wring it. The crown is soft but the brim usually has a stiffener sewn inside, and heat and spinning are what warp it. A machine cycle is a risk even on a gentle setting, and a tumble dryer will curl the brim permanently.

Dry it on something round. Reshape the brim by hand while the hat is damp, sit it over an upturned bowl or a folded towel so the crown keeps its volume, and leave it away from radiators and direct sun. Straw versions get a barely damp cloth and never a soak, and leather ones a conditioner made for genuine leather only, with a damp cloth alone on vegan leather.

Ghelter lists the material on every product page, so check it first, and our cleaning guide covers felt, cotton, straw and wool step by step.