12 Outfits to Wear With a Genuine Panama Hat

As promised in Tuesday’s outfit post, I’m bringing you 12 outfits that can be worn with a genuine Panama hat.

For me, it’s the ultimate summer hat and can’t be beaten. Yes, I do love a floppy straw hat (and to be fair they ARE the best style for keeping the sun off) and even a boater or similar looks good with the right outfit, but what goes with pretty much ANY type of summer outfit?

Yep, a Panama.

It’s why older gentlemen wear them (especially to go and watch the cricket). It’s why young girls in their 20s wear them (well, I think/hope they do). It doesn’t go out of style, and if you get one of the genuine ones woven from straw [in South America], then you’ve got a hat for life.

(Just don’t get them wet or drop them in the sea as I did. Like a book if you drop it in the bath… bye-bye, Panama hat.)

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I’ve included 12 outfits I’ve worn over the years with my Panama hats (I say hats plural because the sea-dropping incident meant there was a second version. And I also say “there WAS a second” because hat number two got caught on something and unfortunately got ripped. So I need to order the Genuine Panama Hat With Black Ribbon III. I also have another Panama with a different colour ribbon that will pop up as the years go on that you’ll see in the outfits below. So far it’s still dry and unripped, that one).

I HONESTLY think that a Panama works as well with a fabulous summer dress that you’re wearing to a garden party as it does with jeans and a t-shirt. (You can’t say that about a floppy straw hat.) I know that many people are just NOT hat wearers – I’m the opposite, I wear All The Hats Most Of The Time – but if you’re thinking of starting out in the hat-wearing world then I’d say star with a Panama. A genuine woven straw one with a black ribbon.

And how many hats look as good on a man as they do on a woman? Okay, so maybe they suit the likes of Anthony Hopkins or Prince Charles more than, say, Justin Bieber (sorry for the terrible “young person” reference there, but he was all I could think of).

But then, have you SEEN Viggo Mortensen in a Panama hat…?! NOW we’re talking.

Shop Panama hats:

(Or, go straight to the Panama Hat Company who do… you guessed it, Panama hats. There’s a stunning selection there.)

In case you’re wondering, the reason I say “genuine” Panama is because the best ones (best IMHO but I’m sure Panama hat aficionados would agree with me) are actually made in South America from toquilla straw. The toquilla plant (looks like a palm but isn’t a palm) is native to South America and used to weave Panama hats.

So it makes them a bit more expensive but for a classic I think it’s worth it. That’s my little bit of trivia for today for you…!

I’ll shut up now and show you my 12 outfits. Enjoy.