Home > Hat Tips > Can Beanies be Worn in the Summer

Can Beanies be Worn in the Summer

By Taylor James

|

Updated on

Although beanies are typically worn during winter and fall months as a way to keep warm, beanies are more than just functional nowadays. They’re a full on fashion statement! Beanies are a way to elevate a casual look and are often associated with musicians who wear them year round.

How do you wear a beanie during the summer? What should you wear your beanie with? Which celebrities should you model your summer beanie style after? These are great questions! Here’s everything you need to know about wearing a summer beanie. 

Woman wearing a beanie in the summer

What kind of beanie should you wear during the summer?

Face it, summers are hot. It might make you sweat just thinking about wearing a beanie during the summer. Thankfully, some beanies are better than others for summer wear. When you’re picking out your summer beanie, make sure you choose something with a loose weave.

Tighter weaves are really useful if you’re trying to trap heat to keep you warm, but in this case, you want the opposite effect. Choose a beanie that’s made of a more breathable material, like cotton. Lighter colors, like a cream or pastel, will also keep you cooler than dark colors, like black or jewel tones. 

Check out these lightweight beanies on Amazon.

Are beanies functional for summer wear? 

Contrary to what you might think, beanies can actually be very functional during the summer. Having a really bad hair day? Didn’t have time to let your dry shampoo wick away hair grease? Pop on a beanie. Beanies are a convenient way to hide your hair and still look on-trend. 

Beanies are also great at helping you keep your hair out of the way. If you don’t have a hair tie or are just tired of your man bun, a beanie will keep your hair out of your eyes while you work. This is why you sometimes catch surfers wearing beanies.

The origin of the beanie was actually to help blue collar workers keep their hair back to decrease workplace hazards due to their hair obstructing their view. Wearing a summer beanie is just an ode to the hat’s roots.  

What should you wear with a summer beanie? 

Gen Z has really popularized eclectic, bold fashion choices. Gen Z’s fashion often looks mixed and matched, which is why beanies are now being worn during the summer months. A beanie during the summer challenges the status quo, and by wearing pieces that don’t seem to typically go together, a cohesive outfit is actually created out of chaos. 

If you’re wearing a beanie during the summer, it should be paired with some sort of fashionable loungewear. Even with a loose weave, a beanie will trap heat next to your head, so make sure the rest of your outfit is cool and well ventilated. You don’t want to give yourself a heat stroke in the name of fashion.

Consider curating an outfit of monochrome neutrals, à la Billie Eilish. The lighter neutral color will reflect light, instead of absorbing it to help keep you cool while you look cool.  

What celebrities popularized this look? You can thank quite a few celebrities for popularizing the summer beanie. On the list of most notable summer beanie wearing celebrities are Juicy J, Robert Pattinson, Young Thug, Justin Beiber, Marshawn Lynch, and Ashton Kutcher to name a few. The summer beanie is so popular among trend setters, that it’s bound to be around for quite some time.

About Taylor James

As Philip Treacy once said, “How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about.” And on that note, I hope you enjoy your hats and find the site useful. Learn more about Hat Realm's Editorial Process.