By Karen and Erica

It’s summer, and a hot one at that. We can’t survive without a wide-brimmed hat. Our hats keep us a little cooler, keep those rays from turning us red, and makes us look sooo chic! We think so, anyway.

Here are ten hats we like:

• We’ve been wearing San Diego woven paper hats forever. The really big brimmed ones never fail to get compliments. Or to keep the sun off.

• We’ve also worn fabric wire brim hats like these forever. You can shape the brim as the source of sun changes, and you can squash them into your bag—or suitcase.

• But the most elegant hats we have are old fashioned straw hats. We love these from Ole Portofino. Destree makes some very beautiful classic hats, some with a touch of color. We also swoon over gorgeous ones from Eric Javits—and some of them actually fold!

• How about a hand painted hat? On Etsy, of course!

• Blue is another favorite. Here’s a hand woven hat that looks cool in every way.

• Some summer hats are actually made of surprising materials. Like this gorgeous and colorful suede number!

• Felt is another new summer hat idea for us. This pink hat is pretty grand. Or, how about a ruby red felt hat with a vintage ribbon?

Key tips:

• Make sure your hat is big enough. (Yes, that’s obvious, but somehow it is always complicated, especially if one size allegedly fits most.) If you mess up, most hats can be soaked in water, and crammed on your head until they dry. There are more fun things to do… but maybe that would be fun during a heatwave.

• if you have an elegant pale straw hat with a black band, and you find the band tiresome after a while, most can be removed and replaced with a colorful ribbon you can change depending on your outfit. The hatmakers probably think little of this strategy, but we’ve used it to great effect!

• Sadly, we have no bright ideas about hat hair, other than run your fingers through it and hope you don’t look too weird. Or—put the hat back on!.

Let us know about your favorite summer headgear.