Pantsula dance crews wear it. Paddington Bear wore it. At this point, bucket hats are more than a trend; they are becoming a staple in closets everywhere regardless of the season.

Words by Neo Khanyile

The bucket hat. Paddington Bear wore it. Pantsula dance crews wear it. At this point, bucket hats are more than a trend; they are becoming a staple in closets everywhere regardless of the season. They’re worn at award shows, on magazine covers, and everywhere in between.

What is it?

The bucket hat is wide-brimmed usually made of heavy-duty cotton or denim and often features two metal eyelets on either side. This humble hat is back to being an in-demand fashion article, seeing a renaissance since its last domination in the late 90s. Over the past few years, it’s evolved from ironic comeback trend to fashion mainstay.

To understand how it reachesd this level of notoriety, it’s important to take a brief look at its history: The hat is said to have first originated in the early 1900s and was typically worn by fishermen and farmers in Ireland. Originally made out of wool, the bucket hat was made to be practical: keeping the wearer dry in wet weather, or protecting them from the sun. It had a stint as military wear in the 40s and made appearances on American TV in the 60s. 

The hat’s biggest renaissance came in the 80s and 90s, when the hip-hop community adopted and popularised the bucket hat – most notably, the furry Kangol hat, famously worn by the likes of LL Cool J and Run-DMC.

The bucket hat all but disappeared in the 2000s. That’s until the late 2010s saw the resurgence of the phenomenon: the hat was increasingly seen on fashion runways as well as street-style blogs. The about-turn on bucket hats can also be attributed to celebrity and pop culture. The minute Rihanna and K-pop artists BTS started rocking bucket hats, there was no turning back, really.

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