Beanie Hat

Old School Style, New School Warmth

Keeping your head warm in the winter is one of the best things you can do to keep the rest of your body feeling warm even when the temperature outside hits the freezing mark. For many years the beanie hat has been one of the most popular winter hats around the world. Often hand knitted and almost always made out of super warm wool there are very few hats that are anywhere near as warm or well accepted as beanie hats.

The original beanie hat however was a hat made from up to six different colored panels with no brim, resembling a form of skullcap. It is thought that the name came from the younger boys in school who referred to the head as the "bean." This style of beanie hat became very popular with colleges as they were made in school colors. The winter hat was made from wool instead of felt and featured a flip up brim that went all the way around the hat and was often decorated with a zigzag pattern on the edge.

The Old School Way

The older beanie hats were a far cry from what they are today and for a period of time even included a narrow brim at the front. For a more humorous hat somebody created one with a propeller on top that spun freely in the breeze when the person wearing it walked. Man y schoolboys during the 20s through the 40s in Britain liked to cover their beanies with a variety of different buttons and pins.

These hats faded out of popularity by the middle of the 40s as the baseball cap began to gain in popularity until the all but disappeared. However the woolen winter beanie hat which is in all reality the same thing that we know as a ski hat is still one of the most popular hats in the winter no matter where you are in the world.

Today's Beanie

While the beanie hat of old was more of a schoolboy's nightmare hat, the beanie of today is seen on more heads in the winter than any other kind of hat. The modern beanie is to winter what the bucket hat is to the summer heat. Thanks in part to the grunge music scene this style of hat came into its own with many younger people and can be seen not only in the dead of winter but year round even in some of the warmer areas of the world.

The Winter X Games and the surge of interest in winter sports has created a whole new generation of beanies and those who wear them. From the custom fleece or synthetic materials used to make the Kangol beanie favored for its superb comfort and ability to wick away sweat to the ever popular hand knitted wool beanie these are still one the most popular hats going. Whether you choose to call it a beanie, a ski cap or even a toboggan hat this type of hat will definitely keep your head warm all winter long.