How to measure your hat size (with Barmah size charts)

How to measure your head for a hat

You need a soft tape measure, the kind used for sewing. No tape in the house? A piece of string or a strip of paper and a ruler do the same job. The whole thing takes about two minutes.

Step by step

1. Stand in front of a mirror so you can see the tape all the way around.
2. Set the tape on your forehead about a finger’s width above your eyebrows.
3. Bring it around just above your ears and across the fullest part of the back of your head.
4. Keep it level and snug, the way a hatband sits. No need to pull hard.
5. Read the number where the end of the tape meets the rest. With string or paper, pinch the spot, lay it flat along a ruler and measure up to your fingers.
6. Measure a second time. If the two readings differ, go with the larger one.
7. Write it down in inches or centimeters. The charts below list both.

A helper makes this easier. The tape likes to slip down at the back, and a second pair of eyes keeps it level.

Small things that throw the number off

Most measuring slips come down to where the tape sits.

• Tape too low in front. Down on the eyebrows, it reads small. Lift it a finger’s width.
• Tape tilted. If it rides up high at the back, the number changes. Check the mirror.
• Pulled tight. Snug is right. Squeezed reads small, and the hat will feel it.
• Hair different from how you wear it. If you usually wear your hair up, or in a thick braid at the back, measure that way.

Measuring a hat you already own

A hat that already fits the way you like is the best measuring tool you have. Look for a size tag inside the sweatband first. If there’s no tag, run the tape around the inside of the hat along the sweatband, where it touches your head, and read the full circle.

That inside measurement goes on the chart exactly like a head measurement. Don’t double it. The tape went all the way around, so the number is already the full size.

Reading the result

Each chart has four columns. The letter size (S, M, L, XL, XXL) is what you pick on the product page. Centimeters and inches are the head measurement. The US hat size is the traditional number, like 7 1/8, that you may have seen on older hats.

So there’s no math. If your tape reads in centimeters, find your number in the centimeter column and read across: the inches, the US hat size and the letter size are all on the same row. Our charts run from 21 1/16 inches to just over 24 inches.

Hat size conversion: every size we make in one table

Already know your number from another hat? Maybe you’re a 7 1/4, or your tape reads 57 cm. This table puts all three of our charts side by side, sorted from smallest to largest, so you can go straight from any number to the letter size in each line.

Two quick examples. Say you wear a 7 1/4. That’s an XL in our leather hats and a large in canvas. In the VE hats it falls between medium and large, so choose the large.

Or say your tape reads 56 cm, a US 7. That’s a canvas medium. On the leather chart it sits between medium (55) and large (56.5), so choose the large and use the sizing kit to fine-tune the fit.

A rule of thumb for US hat sizes

Divide your head measurement in centimeters by 8 and you get the traditional US hat size, near enough. 56 cm divided by 8 is 7. With inches, divide by 3.14 instead: 22 inches comes out at a hair over 7.

It’s a handy check when a hat lists only one system. Metric hat sizes are even simpler, because the size is the centimeter number: a size 57 is a 57 cm head. For ordering from us, though, go by the charts. They list the exact measurement for each letter size.

Small, medium and large aren’t the same everywhere

Letter sizes stand for a range of head measurements, and every hat maker draws those lines in its own place. The same letter can mean a different measurement from one maker to the next. Even our own lines differ: a leather medium is 55 cm and a canvas medium is 56 cm.

That’s why the number on your tape matters more than the letter on an old hat. Measure, then match it to the chart for the exact hat you want.

How a hat should fit

Snug, with no pressure.

Put the hat on and settle it with both hands. Then run through this quick check in front of a mirror.

1. It sits level, about a finger’s width above your eyebrows.
2. The sweatband touches your head all the way around.
3. Look down at your boots and back up. A hat that fits stays where it is.
4. After a few hours there’s no line on your forehead when you take it off.
5. A light breeze doesn’t move it.

If all five hold, you have the right size. If it slides toward your ears or lifts at the back when you nod, add a sizing strip.

Most of our styles also fold into an included travel bag and come back into shape when you take them out. Our packable travel hats guide covers the ones that fold, and the drover hat guide explains the outback style itself.

Chin cords for windy days

Even a hat that fits well can lift off in a hard gust on a lake or a ridge. That’s what a chin cord is for.

Several of our hats come with one: the 1057 Canvas Drover, 1047 Ladies Canvas Drover, 1058 Waxed Canvas Drover, 1065 Foldaway Ladies Suede Cooler, 3510 Wide Brim Cooler Sun Hat and 3520 Traveler Hat. The hats we make in Minnesota have a chin cord loop, so you can add our Removable Chin Cord in black or brown.

Get the size right first. The cord is for the wind.