No sheep were harmed in the making of these cozy winter hats! 

Winter is the time of year where wool, fur, and cashmere are abundant in stores. While marketing may have you believe that these are absolute essentials for chilly temperatures, that’s far from the truth. You can stay just as warm and cozy in winter hats, coats, gloves, and scarves made from synthetic materials. Plus, skipping wool benefits even more than the animals.

Wool is not only cruel to the sheep but also to the body and planet. Often, the sheep used to produce wool are submerged in a pool full of parasiticides. Basically, that’s a big bath of chemicals that linger long after the sheep are sheared. Skipping wool means skipping chemicals, cruelty, and that unbearable itchiness that always accompanies the material.

Sheep are also major methane producers–a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. So ditch the itch and be comfy and chic in one of these wool-free winter hats!

5 Wool-Free Winter Hats

1. Pom Pom Beanie

A giant pom pom adds a fun touch to a coral knit beanie. This cute hat will add flair to your winter looks with its bright color and fluffy pom pom. Wear it with an oversized sweater, skinny jeans, and knee-high boots for a standout look.

2. Slouchy Ribbed Beanie

This slouchy ribbed beanie is truly for the cool kids. You’ll look effortlessly chic in this no-fuss winter hat. Pair it with a vegan leather jacket, v-neck tee, skinny jeans, and ankle boots for a winter night out.

3. Retro Striped Beanie

This beanie is a total throwback with its classic stripe and embroidery. In addition to being stylish, it’s also eco-friendly! This Patagonia hat is made from 96 percent recycled polyester (with the other 4 percent being stretchy spandex). This hat is made for being worn at the slopes so pair it with all your ski or snowboarding gear.

4. Ear Flap Hat

Cozy ear flaps on this winter hat will keep your ears snug and warm. This eco-friendly hat is made from 100 percent recycled polyester produced from water bottles. A pair of tassels make this classic hat style on-trend. Style this snow-ready hat with your warmest coat, fleece-lined leggings, and snow boots for a walk in a winter wonderland.

5. Fair Isle Beanie

This knit fair isle beanie is not only cute and cruelty-free, it’s also charitable! Krochet Kids hats are hand-knit by women in impoverished areas of the world. The inside of each hat is hand-signed by the woman who made it so you know exactly where your clothes are coming from. Talk about transparency! Pair this mint beanie with a white coat, maroon skinny jeans, and brown boots for a cool color palette.

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ColumnKeep your face protected from the rays in one of these stylish and sun-blocking summer hats.

Summer weekends in the park, on the beach and out with friends and family are wonderful ways to spend your time this season. But don’t let the rays rub you the wrong way, so make sure to protect your face from the UV rays and their subsequent consequences. Choose one of our 10 gorgeous hats for summer and rock it right this weekend!

1. Straw Weave Raffia Panama by Free People This chic but simple hat from Free People is the perfect accessory for nearly any casual, summer outfit. Pair it with your favorite sundress, a pair of breezy, summertime slacks, or don it with your bikini on your next yachting trip. Choose from a natural or brown color made from woven raffia, detailed with a faux suede ribbon – totally vegan and cruelty free. Perfect for your next vacation! $38

2. Embroidered Wheel Floppy Hat by Jonathan Adler

This floppy hat embodies the essence of chic, nautical summertime style! We love the contrast between the simplicity of the design, and the intricate colored stitching and navy blue sailboat wheel detail. Knowing that it was designed by one of America’s most conscious designers will make you feel just as good about wearing it as you how amazing you look in it. A definite poolside of beach accessory, this hat also doubles as the ideal way to top off a striped dress or high-waist shorts and striped tank or tee ensemble.  $88

3. Studded Baseball Cap by San Diego Hat Company

Style it up in this super stylish baseball cap from one of our favorite Made in the USA brands: San Diego Hat Company. Made from cotton, this baseball cap is as breathable as it is chic, and is sure to turn heads whether you wear it on your next shopping spree or game date at the stadium. We love the edginess that the studs add, while the simple black color makes it the perfect accessory for so many of this summer’s trendiest looks, like our favorite crop tops!  $48

4. Silverton Leather Rancher by Minnetonka

This hat from US born and bred, family owned company Minnetonka, is way to cool for school, and will let your wardrobe take a walk on the wild side. The tassels, fringing, frayed and distressed denim trends from Summer 2014’s runways are the perfect match for this wild west hat, which is available in rust brown or deep black. Cowgirl boots or edgy ankle boots are a must, unless you’re ready to rock it barefoot in one of the sexiest bikinis from this summer’s beach babe lineup.  $50

5. Keb Trekking Cap by Fjallraven If you’re looking for something more practical to take you through a strenuous woodland hike or keep your face protected during a long day out in the sun, the Keb Trekking Cap is just the ticket. Designed for maximum comfort and made to feel like you’re really not wearing anything on your head, this protective cap is simple, easy to wear and super breathable. What’s more, Fjallraven is committed to sustainable manufacturing and the use of responsibly sourced, recycled and natural materials. $36

Shop and check out all of the summer hats here:

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An avant-garde hat lets its wearer travel back in time.

A flamboyant, two-tiered hat of black and shimmery emerald feathers has somehow flown into my life. I imagine the lively backstory of the Golightly lampshade – a copious chronicle of its madcap owner turning heads at Glide church or in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont before being sentenced to hang for 50 years in the legendary Mrs. Dewson’s Hats on Fillmore Street in San Francisco.

It was housed high up on a head form at the store, clearly outshined by an Easter parade of newly-sewn, pastel chapeaus, overwrought with fabric roses and bow adornments. It stirred in me a flurry of possible stories the way vintage discoveries both serious and frivolous stirred novelist Linda Grant, who penned the read about our relationship with fashion, The Thoughtful Dresser.

The high-heel red pump of a Polish woman; The felted quill headdress of a San Francisco church lady: Old relics capable of forging fresh awareness, if only we  let them.

I was seeking a costume hat for a King’s Speech-themed Oscar party when I hit the colorful haunt. Inspired by the romantic British glamor of the film, as well as Kate Middleton’s revival of the audacious topper as a royal statement, I sought a replica of the queen’s Ramillies style cocked hat with a feather. No dice, but as I was heading out, I looked up and was instantly mesmerized by the zany, tactile feather bucket.

“Hello, lover!”

“You talking to me?” asked the hat. “You talking to me?”

As it happened, I was also hunting props for a Sixties Rat Pack in Vegas gala also on my calendar. Anyone could see the accessory smacked of the iconic couture fashion pieces that once graced the covers of Harper’s. A hat an eye-lined Audrey surely would have modeled and a topper Lady Bird might have caged for a White House garden fete.

“May I see that black feathered hat?” I asked the kind, elderly clerk, who had already brought down a dozen boisterous Boatwright sister bonnets for me to explore, (to no avail mind you). When you have a grape-sized head such as mine, not just any hat will do. I usually have to settle for cloches or perhaps those mini sailor caps worn by a monkey grinder’s little performer.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” the clerk said, strategically inserting a band of thick foam tape around the circumference of the lining to prevent it from dropping over my eyes and onto the bumpy bridge of my nose. She knew a grape head when she saw it.

The hat fit like a glove, and I was instantly transformed to a time when women rarely left home without a head piece to keep out the dirt and look top drawer.  Think of the many hats that graced our mothers and grandmothers about town: hats to the market, to ladies luncheons, on exotic cruises, at picnics. A time traveling opportunity via the almighty hat.

Each time a new crown and brim is assembled by hand or by some factory machine, a forgotten castaway idles in an attic or on a shelf begging to be reborn.

I was told the work of art was part of milliner Ruth Garland-Dewson’s personal collection, and that she suffered from memory loss and no longer tended to the shop. “See if she’ll sell it to me,” I urged, “or at least loan it for the event.”

I could pick up a little black dress, second hand gloves, grip a martini glass, puff a fake ciggy, and cling to a fella in a fedora. Who cares that I don’t have the 24″ waist for those Mad Men party dresses that cinch like tourniquets? I could pull off the hat and still eat appetizers without busting a seam.

Turned out that for $120, the owner with memory loss forgot she didn’t want to part with the hat. That, or her sales gal deemed it was cool to let it go and make some dough. The cherry on top was the large, pink floral patterned hat box the clerk placed it in. “Are you giving that to me?” I asked, salivating.

“It’s the only thing it will fit into,” she explained.

Cut to the night I wore my hat, or rather, the night my hat wore me. I say that because when hat and I waltzed in, the only competing prop at the event was the fanned, red plumed headdress worn by one of the Vegas showgirl greeters. But seriously, she had at least two other major focal points.

All I know is from the moment I arrived, the hat took on a life of its own, me shepherding it through a red carpeted reception lounge where photographers snapped away and waiters with trays grinned and winked at my crazy head. Then I escorted it through the glitzy, gold curtained auction room where couples examining massive gift baskets and vacation packages gravitated towards us, smitten, uplifted, enamored.

The compliments gushed out as onlookers relayed the same intoxicated sensation that overcame me when I first glanced at the wild thing. Strange men approached, glanced up, gazed into my face, chuckled and uttered, “That’s wonderful!” Martian speak for “What a hat!”

Women, many in impressive late Fifties and early Sixties garb of their own (retro mink stoles from Haight Street, up-dos, foil brocaded shifts and silk pumps), tended to be more expressive. Most of them clearly perceived the Audrey-couture link, while at least three mistakenly equated it with a wardrobe staple of Cruella Deville’s. I couldn’t argue. My hat had been to church and convinced me to bite my tongue.

I  removed my crowning glory only once in five hours to shake my booty since it proved a nuisance to grind to Snoop Dog wrapped in a giant, felted brain-heater.  At home, I kicked off my heels and gently returned my lucky acquisition to her box, stashing it on a ledge in my dressing room. I paused to study myself in the mirror. I had a hideous case of matted hat hair – enhanced by a strip of foam tape stuck to the side of my sweaty bob. I literally peeled the grape.

I’m not sure where me and my Huckleberry hat friend will travel next, but I know I will find another way to let others connect with the flight of fancy vividly emanating from Ruth’s forgotten treasure, and validate what I’ve always suspected: that bygone chic endures as long as we walk the bold walk of the Mrs. Dewsons of the world, proudly picking up where their memory lapses about flaunting remarkable fashion leave off. Nothing about that is old hat.

Images: Sydney Bradley; Paul Todah; Sf Gate

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There’s something so classic yet daring about wearing a hat.

The way it tops off an outfit, empowers one with self-esteem and yes, even brings the wearer to the forefront of the party with everyone whispering “If she can do it, why can’t I?”

“You can,” says the cocky hat wearer but consensus says”¦you’ve got to own it.

Hats are based on tradition and there’s no better time to flaunt one than at the upcoming Kentucky Derby held the first Saturday in May.

Proving that the hat will always have relevance in fashion, hat aficionados and wanna-be-hat heads will don something stunning soon at the event which attracts purveyors of extreme fashion and large, lavish toppings that include the elegant and the absurd.

According to the Kentucky Derby’s website, the parade of hats on display at Churchill Downs ranges “from the fantastic to the sublime, there are no rules or limits.”

Some even believe a Derby hat might improve one’s luck at picking winners.

Well, we’re not so sure about that but picking your own sustainable design if planning on attending is as easy as either recycling and embellishing or hitting the local vintage shop for something big and colorful.

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