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Leather hats for every outdoor experience

Topic overview

The leather hat – stylish and sturdy
Leather – the material makes the difference
How to care for a leather hat?
The benefits of a leather hat

The leather hat – stylish and sturdy

A leather hat will not leave anyone cold: the mere thought of the iconic headgear conjures up intense images of vast deserts, dense forests and nights around the campfire. Amidst animal sounds, splashing water and whistling wind, the leather hat is at home. It is a piece of nature. Whether you like it or not, wearing a leather hat shows your personality – at work, in your free time or at vacation. Hat on and off you go!

Henbury Traveller Leather Hat by Stetson

Leather hats are directly associated with images. Its originality connects the leather hat with nature, with vast landscapes and their inhabitants. Every culture on every continent has adapted the leather hat to its needs and ideas. The film and fashion industries make use of this relationship and time and again create characters that are unthinkable without a leather hat and have been staged in a way that has shaped generations. A leather hat is adventure, expedition and safari.

Animals of Africa on Safari with a Leather Hat

Manufacturers of classic cowboy hats and the characteristic leather hats include traditional brands like Stetson from the US or Scippis from Australia. Lipodo, Lierys and Seeberger show more fancy variants of this type of hat with trilbies and bucket leather hats for women. The hats can be factory-equipped with a high level of UV protection and be water-repellent - important factors in the case of protective clothing that should be taken into account when buying a leather hat.

Popular brands for leather hats

Scippis
Barmah
Lierys
Stetson

Measure your head size, buy your dream leather hat …and then the hat doesn't fit as perfectly as you imagined? Don’t worry! If the leather hat is too tight, it can be widened with a little help from a handy hat stretcher. If the leather hat turned out too big, adjusting the fit is easily done by using a hat cork liner. To adjust your leather hat, it is best to follow our helpful guide.

Leather – the material makes the difference

Leather is a quaint material that is directly connected to its surroundings. The look is wild and the feel extremely pleasant – a combination that not every fabric can claim. Leather seems to be alive. Ever since, leather has protected people and given them a style that reflects the habits of the wearer. This is true in the jungle of the big city, on the tractor or in the camper.

Leather comes in countless variations. For the classic leather hat, kangaroo and cowhide are the preferred materials. The surface of the hat can be supple and grippy or smooth and greased. The leather is also tear-resistant, weatherproof and lightweight. When buying a hat, make sure that it has been certified as animal welfare-friendly.

Source	Leather type	Texture
Beef, calf	Nubuck leather	slightly roughened
Calf, Sheep, Goat	Nappa leather	plain, hair side out
Other animal species, e.g. deer, calf, pig	Velour leather/suede	rough, soft, not waterproof
Kangaroo	Kangaroo leather	tear-resistant, lightweight

Foldable leather hats? Thanks to the versatility of leather, they do indeed exist. The Squashy Crackle and the Squashy Sundowner by Barmah carry it in their names: the ability to be folded, rolled up or stowed away. Many other leather hats want to be handled more gently, but good travel companions are all crushable.

How to care for a leather hat?

Unlike synthetic materials, leather adapts to its environment. Leather must therefore be cared for regularly so that it does not dry out, become permanently wet or dirty. The necessary products are available in every household or drugstore. Leather as a garment not only enhances the personality of its wearer, but is also its own type – care is desired!

Smooth leather – durable and easy to care for

Smooth leather is easy to care for. For hats, the application of a colourless impregnation spray is recommended immediately after purchase, as this effectively provides protection against moisture and dust. The intense smell of an impregnation spray should be taken into account, so this care step should be done outside if possible. The impregnating agent unfolds its full effect after it has dried thoroughly. With regular use, the impregnated hat will retain its shape and colour for a long time.

If you want to keep it natural and prefer a constantly changing character of your leather hat, use leather grease or leather balm. Even if they are natural: certain care products should be avoided for leather hats. Edible oil and beeswax are among them. Pure oil does not return moisture to the leather and beeswax makes the leather hat glossy and slick. In addition, the hat can change colour over time when treated with beeswax.

Nubuck leather – breathable and sensitive

With its velvety matt and warm surface, nubuck leather conveys a noble look. The buffed suede leather has increased breathability, but on the other hand it has reduced UV resistance and can become partly greasy due to its open-pored structure. Fans know how to deal with this and avoid grease and wax when caring for nubuck leather in order to preserve the soft structure.

If brushing off dirt (use a brush with rubber nubs or leather erasers with sensitivity) does not produce the desired result, it is best to use a moist cloth and a gentle cleaning agent. Afterwards, the leather must dry slowly and thoroughly before it is impregnated in the next step. The effect of applying an impregnation to this type of leather is especially long-lasting.

Kangaroo leather – strong, light, exotic

Kangaroo leather is used in various areas of fashion. Hardly distinguishable from cowhide on the outside, kangaroo leather has a more durable structure with the same thickness. With its inevitable small scars and wrinkles, the leather darkens more quickly than other types of leather. Maintaining the look of kangaroo leather with a brush, if necessary also with water and mild shampoo, as well as a suitable leather balm, will preserve the look of kangaroo leather.

Maintaining and storing a leather hat

Rain is not an enemy of the leather hat. But if a leather hat gets wet, it should be given the opportunity to dry without exposure to heat and not in direct sunlight. It is not only when it rains that the leather hat comes into contact with water. Sometimes cleaning may also be necessary. This is done with a mild detergent and is also followed by a slow drying process that prevents the leather of the hat from shrinking, becoming permanently deformed and cracked. Is the leather hat dry and clean? Then the next step is to protect it against environmental influences and this should not be skipped.

The hat is a little defenceless after exposure to water, the next downpour could now penetrate even deeper into the leather. The leather hat is happy to be treated with an impregnating or leather spray and will thank you with a longer life. Depending on the spray, the leather is sprayed at a distance of 20 to 40 centimetres and should then be allowed to dry thoroughly so that the protective coating can bond effectively with the leather. When buying a leather hat, impregnation should be emphasised right from the start (don’t be afraid to repeat it regularly!).

When travelling in a suitcase, the crown of the leather hat is lined with clothing from the inside and also wrapped in clothing from the outside. In the wardrobe, a hat case does its part to preserve the shape of the leather hat permanently. If a leather hat looks good even after years of use, it shows that its owner knows how to handle the material well and does not make any mistakes as a leather hat professional.

The benefits of a leather hat

The advantages of a leather hat are manifold. The basis for this is its natural origin. It is also associated with obligations that its owner should observe. The leather hat thus remains a faithful companion for many years.

Nature and outdoor

Whether it's a ladies' leather hat or a men’s leather hat: nature is inherent. A leather hat carries the elements within. Should its wearer prefer paths off the well-trodden paths, the leather hat becomes a piece of home – it protects. Its robust nature also benefits its wearer in the outback. Or perhaps especially in the outback! This is the natural home of a leather hat. Here it shows its different facets as an Australian leather hat, as a leather hat in the Mongolian steppe, as a cowboy hat in the plains of Arizona or on a Mexican farm. The world outside is his home. However, a leather hat is not an exotic headwear item, because every culture has made it its own and put its personal touch upon it. Thus, a leather hat is also on its turf in the garden and while hiking.

Gentle, robust and shape-retaining

Regular wearing challenges a leather hat and is a task it takes seriously. And it has done so ever since. New materials may have their advantages, but as an all-rounder, the leather hat cannot be beaten. Kangaroo leather hats are in a class of their own, and hat manufacturers like Scippis and Barmah are among the first places to go when buying a genuine Australian leather hat. These companies’ hats stand the test of time in the real world, and from there they make their way into other areas of everyday life and to the farthest corners of the globe. Australia and Australian leather hats have many fans! But not only Scippis and Barmah know how customers want their leather hat. Mostly made of nubuck leather, they are pleasant to the touch, keep their shape even when worn and are resilient. They may change over time, but they always fully remain leather hats.

The protective values of a leather hat

A leather hat adapts ideally to its wearer. It offers protection from sun, wind and rain. When buying a leather hat, the UV protection factor can therefore be a decisive element.

Leather hats in shape and colour

Every hat has its occasion. The leather hat finds its occasion in activity, because it is not afraid of work. In addition to its familiar forms as a cowboy hat, western hat or traveller hat, it is also popular as a pork pie or fedora. As a pork pie or feather hat, it is elegant, reserved and yet extroverted. The wearer of a Fedora leather hat can obviously move on many playing fields. A leather hat is therefore not a male domain either. Leather hats for women are an integral part of workwear in the outback. In the leisure environment, a trilby leather hat reinforces the aspect of independence and in its playful form as a top hat it even stands out on special occasions. When it comes to colours, earthy tones from beige to brown to black dominate.

Comfortable with style

An original Australian leather hat may be ubiquitous on a ranch, but outside its natural habitat it becomes a style statement. The leather hat is not alone in the same way as many other utilitarian items that have evolved from purely practical use into the world of fashion. The leather hat protects, is comfortable, enduring and can therefore be used for a long time. The fact that it cuts a good figure at the same time is not a contradiction. So while a leather hat adapts to its head, the head must also figuratively grow into its hat. If you are authentic, it will fit you. Who dares?

From a working tool to a style icon

Leather hats go far and wide. The fact that they change in the process is in their nature and is deliberate. The leather hat evolves. As does the head underneath. Leather as a clothing material creates a tension between resistance and transience, it is expensive and at the same time wants to be used. Leather remains inimitable.

Despite its popularity in fashion, the leather hat remains true to its protective function in a demanding nature. This creates friction points that help the evolution of the leather hat along. Lovers of leather hats may be curious to see where the further paths of this special headgear will develop.