Determine Your Hat Size

How to correctly determine your Hat size for a perfect fitting hat from Barbara's Custom Hats.

What's My Hat Size?

Is It The Same As My Head Size?

Quite properly, most people who become interested in hat size marks want to know what they mean. Let’s use a hat "size 7," for example. Is it a product of a mathematical formula or is it just an arbitrary symbol? The answer is not as simple as one would like to believe. While a "size 7" does have a mathematical background it does not exactly check with the mathematics on which it’s size-mark is based. The best way to explain hat sizing is to divide it into two parts-Theory and Practice: THEORY: "Size 7" is suppose to designate a head size which, if it were compressed into a circle of the same area, would have a diameter of 7 inches. In other words, if you put a piece of string around a perfect size 7 head and then shaped that length of string into a circle, the circle would measure 7 inches across. If the head were 7 1/8, the resulting circle would be 7 1/8 inches across... and so on. PRACTICE: In practice the diameter of the circle on which most American size 7 hats are based is about 5/32 inch less than 7 inches. This departure from standard has no reason except usage-and the usage is buried back in the past when some sturdy American block-maker calibrated and marked a metal jig, which has served as the pattern for most of the block-makers straps and gauges ever-since. How do I find out what my hat size is? 1. Measure around your head about 3/4 of an inch above the ear where your hat will be worn. (a cloth tape measure such as a seamstress or tailor uses is ideal.) 2. Pull the tape tight to measure within 1/8". 3. Read off the number and use the chart below to determine your size. That's the way it's done. SIMPLE!