Description
Mayser Panama hat decorated with beige ribbon, natural colour
How and where is a Panama hat made?
In Panama, the Panamanian hat was and still is braided mainly by women. Men also weave hats, but women are more skilled at it. Women are taught to weave hats from an early age and in time they become very skilled in this craft, as it provides them with a good income.
There are also large entrepreneurs who employ hundreds and hundreds of craftsmen in hat factories and ship thousands of hats to all parts of the world. By the way, the Panama hat made from palm leaves does not come from Panama, but from Ecuador. According to legend, it got its name when Ecuadorian merchants sold them to the workers on the Panama Canal to protect their heads and necks from the scorching sun. Panama hats are made from a plant called Carludovica. This American plant grows in damp, shady places, has a low, stalkless, palmate bush-leaf 1.25 metres wide and stems 3 to 4 metres long. The stem of the plant is split and then the thin ribbon-like parts of the stem are spun into a hat. The top is made first, then slowly and carefully the rest, as care must be taken to ensure that the strands are always gently fitted together. The value of the work depends on the thinness of the threads and the delicacy of the weave. The quality of a classic headgear depends, among other things, on the colour of the fabric and the shape of the part covering the head.
The Panama hat is back in fashion…
With the weather getting warmer, shops are increasingly in demand for the legendary Panama hat.
Different headgear and hats are all the rage among men these days anyway. Brad Pitt, Craig David, Madonna and many other pop stars have brought back the woolly hat and caps. On the golf course, on the waterfront, and even in cities, you can see more and more people wearing hats.
Once worn by the likes of Sir Winston Churchill, Al Capone and Ernest Hemingway.
Among men, the Panama hat is really popular all over the world with linen trousers or white suits, as it evokes the past and, let’s be honest, gives men a bit of a “gangster look”, thus enhancing their masculine strength and charisma.
