How often have you admired someone’s hat thinking you couldn’t possibly pull off wearing that same style? Well, we know the feeling. Some heads and hats just aren’t made for each other, but not all is lost. On the contrary, the shape and size of your kid’s head (or your own!) will tell you exactly which styles to prefer, so let’s find some perfect hats, shall we?
4 HEAD SHAPES
The problem Breden is constantly trying to solve is how to make hats that are suitable for all heads. That got us thinking: maybe we should consider the shape of the head instead of its circumference? While searching proof for this theory we discovered that heads can generally be divided into 4 types:
- Round head is when the nape and neck blend with a slightly deeper curve and the widest part of the head is considerably wider than the rest of it.
- Cylinder head has a more shallow curve between the nape and neck and the circumference of the head doesn’t vary much from forehead to chin.
- Irregular head is neither round nor cylinder. It can be one or the other on different sides and usually works well with most hat designs.
- A head with big hair has a lot of hair to take into consideration. Whether it’s a thick braid or a magnificent afro, it needs to be included in the hat equation.
EXPERIMENTING WITH HATS AND HEADS
To verify this theory we conducted “human trials” involving 4 kids with the same head circumference, but different head shapes and a huge pile of hats. There were summer beanies, double-cotton spring hats, winter hat-scarves…you name it! We tried them all on, took pictures, examined the fitting and the results were the following:
- Baggy hats (like KLAUS and DIRK) work better on cylinder shaped heads.
- Peaked kids hats (like BO, SUN and MO) are made for rounder heads.
- Balaclavas suit all head shapes equally well, so does summer hat SVENU and all its equals
MEASURE CORRECTLY!
While the shape of one’s head is a new factor to choosing hats, the circumference has always been key. There are a few key elements to consider in order to get it right:
- Measure straight around the head from its widest angle. If hair is thick or braided, take that into account.
- Use a flexible measuring tape, keeping it as tight as possible while not squeezing the head.
- Pick a hat according to these results not by the size of your previous kids hats.
This chart will help you a lot:

Thank you for reading. If you have additional questions, you can always share your thoughts at info@mybreden.com.
Let’s get it right!
Anne | the content manager of Breden
