Buying Panama Hats In Ecuador
So there you have it. Many thanks to the always helpful, Bryan Franco, Don Pablo and Doña Maria, at Montecuador hats. If you are interested in buying a hat please check out their website, click here.
buying panama hats in ecuador
I have two Panama hats, one is really Equatorian and the other is from a different straw from Brazil. Both of them have developed little dents on the brim, I see a lot of men wearing panamas with the brim like that, a little dented and warped. I was wondering if its ok to wear a hat like that casually?And thanks for this great article!
Really appreciate this article as I recently have begun wearing hats. I definitely want to add at least one panama to my repertoire.As I am a bit new to this; I am hoping that at some point you will do some more articles on other types of straw hats.
Some buyers think they are making the bargain or the deal of their lives, but the true is they are actually buying fake hats. Genuine Panama hats are flawlessly woven, light-colored, lightweight and breathable.
Today, Black distributes his Montecristi Finos through Kula Bay Tropical Clothing in Hawaii and Worth & Worth in New York. He insists on dealing with retailers who appreciate the level of workmanship and the sense of history of these fine Panamas. The completed hats sell for anywhere from $350 to $750 for a basic Montecristi to over $10,000 for a museum-quality piece. You can also buy hats at premium hat shops such as Paul's Hat Works in San Francisco. There are several other grades of Panama hats that are more readily available to the buying public, and more affordable. Coarser weaves are found in most major cities of Ecuador, and even those hats have the telltale signature of true handwoven Panamas: the small, concentric circles woven outward from the center of the hat's crown. These hats may take a weaver or several weavers just hours to complete. Interestingly, these Panamas often retain characteristics of weaving native to their regions. Cuenca, a town in the highlands south of Quito, is the home to a particularly handsome herringbone design that is somewhat tightly woven and intricate. The price for a more conventional straw hat varies from $50 to $1 10, and the best ones always retain some suppleness when handled.
In the end, the buying public may be the determining factor for the future of Montecristis straw hats. "The only way to save this art is to create a demand for it," explains Black. "Over the last few years, I've been able to purchase more Montecristi Finos than all other buyers combined. As a consequence, there are more weavers weaving now than at any time in the past twenty years. It's working. We may actually be saving the art. But we have a long way to go."
First off, make sure that you are actually looking for an authentic Panama Hat. Some sellers may call their hats "Panama Hat" when they are not. An authentic Panama Hat is made only with straw, toquilla straw to be more accurate. Always direct your attention to the information on material composition. If the hat refers to anything other than toquilla straw, you are not buying an original Panama Hat.
2. OTHER STRAW HATS - There are weavers making hats in China, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia and even Brazil. Sometimes they will use the same straw as a Panama (Toquilla, Carludovica), but usually, it is an inferior alternative. Their techniques of preparation and weaving are also substandard. The Chinese have an ancient hat weaving tradition, but the straw they use is coarse, scratchy, easily breaks and dyes poorly. Unless they explicitly state it is "made in Ecuador", then it is not a Panama hat. Retailers will lie about the origin as well, and the only way to tell is the pricing and the shape of the weaving. All the pictures here are listed online as genuine Panama hats. The best way to tell is if the centre of the crown spirals out like the picture to the left, then it is most likely a Panama. Unfortunately, they will sometimes copy the shape of the Panama weaving to make a high-quality fake. It gets tricky. If you are buying from a retailer who does many different fashion products, it is unlikely to be a Panama. Panama hatmaking is a specialised artisanal field.
4. LOW-END ECUADORIAN DROP SHIPPERS - No doubt you will have come across amazing 'deals' on Montechriti's, finos and cheap Panama hats online. There are no standards for Panama hat quality, so they can say whatever they like and convince you with a lovely picture, that you are getting a bargain. Most of these businesses buy up cheap hats and simply ship them. They don't know how to style them, fit them or even how they will look on your head. It is like buying a pair of shoes from Ecuador; the odds are they are not going to be worth owning unless you are Ecuadorian. Their sense of style, design skills and execution will be far less than you are accustomed. If you don't care how it will look on your head, then at least you save some money.
Panama hats are something special. Whether you are a lady or a man, a panama hat suits everyone. It is also very cute with children. In the Rebecca webshop you will find a beautiful ladies hat, men's hat or children's hat. The Panama hats come from Cuenca, Ecuador and are all handmade. So you always have a unique product on your head. Panama hats are made from toquilla straw. So it is actually a straw hat, but a very luxurious one.
Most of the Panama hats from Ecuador are produced in Cuenca. Despite being made by hand, they are still relatively inexpensive. This is because production takes "only" two days - something that is hard to imagine in the Netherlands with all that mass production. By buying a Panama hat at EcuaFina you support the local population and have a unique and valuable quality product. Buy your new Panama hat easily online.
The size of a Panama hat is obtained by measuring the circumference of a head just above the ears. The number of centimeters is the hat size. Before you try on Panama hats, it is therefore useful to know what your head size is. Sizes 52 and 54 in the webshop are children's hats. These panama hats come with an extra string to attach the hat. 041b061a72