12 Cool Bucket Hats You'll See Everywhere This Spring - Popsugar

08 Sep.,2025

 

12 Cool Bucket Hats You'll See Everywhere This Spring - Popsugar

Bucket hats are a seriously great style to wear during the spring and summer months. Not only can the relaxed accessory help protect you from harsh sun exposure, but it also works to elevate any outfit with a breezier flair. Unlike sun hats or a basic baseball cap, bucket hats provide full-coverage protection on your head, allowing you to keep your scalp and ears covered on even the warmest days without messing up your hair in the process.

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Regardless of your style preferences, there are also so many different types of bucket hats to shop for the new season that can make a welcomed addition to your spring wardrobe — whether you're in the market for a trendy fashion bucket hat, something timeless like a '90s bucket hat, or even stylish bucket hats that are versatile enough to be worn to brunch, the beach, and beyond.

These days, you'll find no shortage of great bucket hat brands to shop from, but few are as beloved by fashion editors as Lack of Color. To help you search out the perfect style for your closet, we enlisted the expertise of Tess Corvaia, co-founder of Lack of Color, to break down why the accessory is predicted to trend this spring, and what you should look for when buying a bucket hat of your own.

What to Consider When Shopping Out Bucket Hats:

According to Corvaia, there's a reason shoppers can expect to see more bucket hat styles popping up in stores and online this season. "Bucket hats are really the perfect hat for people who think they aren't hat people! They're an accessory that you can throw on any time, versatile for all kinds of activities, for all kinds of people and all kinds of hair," says Corvaia. While the accessory certainly isn't new to mainstream fashion, it's seen a resurgence over the last few years, with celebrities like Hailey Bieber, Kylie Jenner, and Dua Lipa all putting their own spin on the accessory.

Corvaia notes that when shopping out bucket hats, there are a few key things to look out for to ensure you're investing in a style that'll last. "Fabric is definitely key — we've had a lot of our wool, cotton, and straw fabrics tested for their UPF rating, and all perform well under the sun." She also explains that even more important than the product's material is its fabric weave. "Most of our straw styles are tightly woven by hand to ensure elevated sun protection (think the Inca Bucket Hat) and minimize gaps between the fibers. Poorer quality straw or material, and poor manufacturing processes will likely impact a style's sun protection, so that's definitely something to watch out for," says Corvaia.

The Ultimate Hat Guide - Hats Unlimited

The different parts of a hat can determine the shape, style and fit of these accessories. While each hat might differ in looks, they typically share the same anatomy to offer you the comfort and chic you desire. You can observe the different hat parts broken up into two sections — the exterior and the interior.

Exterior Anatomy

The outer parts of a hat provide the style and protection you need for your new favorite accessory. The exterior parts of a hat include:

  • The crown: The most important feature of any hat is the crown. This part covers the head and sits comfortably for hours of comfort and style. The crown supports the other parts of the hat, so you can consider this the base of any hat you choose.
  • Crown shape: The shape at the top of the hat can change how the crown fits on your head when wearing it. Cowboy hats, fedoras and gambler hats all have indented crown shapes that sit slightly above the top of your head. Baseball, bowler and cloche hats have a round crown shape to fit snugly on top of the head. Hats with no shape, such as beanies, berets and bucket hats, rest comfortably on the head without internal support to hold the hat's shape in place.
  • Hat band: Some hats come with a ribbon band that rests at the bottom of the crown around the brim. The band offers flair and the chance to add a stylish feature to attach to the exterior of the hat. 
  • Hat decoration: With the help of the hat band, you can add extra features to the hat that give your favorite accessory a new look. Common hat decorations include a feather, bow, buckle and support for chinstraps. 
  • The brim: This outward expansion of the hat that covers the face is excellent for offering shade and protection from the sun. Some hats will have a brim that surrounds the entire crown, like cowboy and bucket hats. Others, like baseball caps, might only have a brim in the front. Brims come in different shapes, sizes and materials to serve the purpose you had in mind.

Interior Anatomy

While the exterior of a hat offers you the styles you love, the interior provides the support to make these features stay intact while you wear the hat. The interior parts of a hat include:

  • Underbrim: The underbrim refers to the underside of the hat's brim. This feature supports holding up the brim to protect your eyes and face from the sunlight. The material underneath the brim can sometimes match or differ from the exterior brim, depending on the type of hat you choose.
  • Inner band: Sometimes referred to as the sweatband, the inner band supports the shape and fit of the crown on your head. With this small band that expands around the interior shape of the crown attached to the underbrim, you can enjoy the same fit of the hat you regularly wear for years to come. The inner band material usually comes in leather or synthetic leather.
  • Inner liner: Some hats come with a comfortable inner liner that offers a soft touch if you plan to wear the hat for several hours at a time. Not every hat comes with this feature. Inner liner materials typically include silk, cotton, satin, velvet or synthetic mesh.

Common hat terms

Hat styles, features and fits come in various terms that most hat wearers may not know. Get to know some of the most common hat terms that can make your shopping experience easier.

Stringy Brim

A stingy brim is a term describing a hat with a very short brim, usually about 1-2 inches long.

Packable/Crushable

A common misconception about packable/crushable hats is that you can fold, crush and generally beat on a hat, and it will always return to its original form. However, this idea is simply untrue. Hats with a “packable/crushable” tag can generally withstand wear and are not so fragile that they will break when packed or crushed. Additionally, a semi-rigid hat or one with a stiffer brim or crown may require some steam and a little love to return to its original form. The exceptions to this would be bucket and Boonie hats or soft styles typically seen with women’s hats. In any case, always think of the packable/crushable term as durable rather than a miracle hat that will always be perfect.

Shapeable

When a hat description says “shapeable,” it means that the plastic wire normally woven inside brims now has a metal wire that allows you to augment the shape of the brim in any way you choose.

UPF/Sun Protection

When hats offer sun protection as one of their traits, it means that the plastic wire normally wove inside UPF — not to be confused with SPF — stands for “Ultraviolet Protective factor” and refers to a few factors. These factors include the material's weave, color, weight, stretch and wetness.

Additionally, to achieve ultraviolet protection, fabrics are sometimes treated first with protective material and then it is up to the other factors to determine the actual UPF rating. The ratings are as follows: brims have a metal wire that allows you to augment the shape of the brim in any way you choose.

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MOST COMMON MATERIALS

Whether you're a passionate hat collector or merely want to learn more about the different hat styles, you should know that there are numerous fabrics for hats.

Knowing your cap's fabric is essential — it's a prime indicator of how you should care for your hat. You can even use certain techniques to stretch your cap based on its material. Not every stretching technique will work well for every hat style, so it's important to choose the right approach. Otherwise, you could harm or damage the cap's material.

Cotton

Cotton hats are usually quite durable and often packable and crushable. They come in a wide variety of colors and are usually softer.

Wool Felt

Felt is created by rolling and pressing wool and applying moisture and heat, making the fibers mat/interlock together and creating the felt fabric. It is soft and can come in just about any color.

Straw

There are a great many varieties of straw used to make hats. They vary in strength, fineness, durability and color. Raffia straw creates packable and crushable hats and straw from the toquilla palm makes Panama hats. Most straw can weave into a hat, but the best ones are hand-picked for evenness of color, texture and pattern. 

Fur Felt

Fur felt is created similarly to wool felt but from finer and softer materials. Most fur felt hats come from rabbit, beaver and hare pelts. Fur felt is incredibly soft, and when you touch one, you can feel the difference in quality from wool felt.

Toyo / Paper Braid

Toyo or paper-braid hats are constructed of finely woven paper material. The paper is woven into strands just like straw and then formed into the desired style. They have been increasing in popularity due to their reduced cost and reasonable durability. While this material can withstand quite a bit, it is still not as strong as straw or raffia and also is more difficult to steam back into shape once crushed. This is certainly a material to keep away from water.

Shop at Hats Unlimited Today

Whether you have a particular hat style in mind or want to try something new, Hats Unlimited has plenty of options. We're a family-owned and -operated business with multiple retail locations across Southern California. Founded in as a retail store in Ventura, California, we've committed ourselves to selling hats in as many colors, styles and varieties as possible.

With over 10,000 hats in stock on our website, 1,000 current styles, top designer hat brands and an emphasis on exceptional service and value, you know you can count on us. With numerous helpful hat accessories to choose from, Hats Unlimited has the perfect headpiece for you that can fit any stylish fashion trend. We are continuously updating our selection of hat styles to meet your needs. Take, for instance, a name synonymous with quality hats — the ever-popular and iconic Stetson Hats brand.

At Hats Unlimited, we'll show you how to properly care for your hat, send a gift across the country and find the best hat for your face shape.

Shop our vast inventory of kids, women's and men's stylish hats today to find the perfect fit for you and your family! If you'd like help choosing the ideal hat style, fill out our online contact form, and we'll be more than happy to help.

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The company is the world’s best custom team hats supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.