sunhats that won't make you look like you're in a sad cult

Despite being aggressively fair skinned and quick to burn, I have had a completely 'anti' stance on sunhats for the past handful of years. It's simple: I wore a bucket cap to shield me from the sun every single summer day of my adolescence, so I now associate them with my childhood in a strict Christian sect and cannot bring myself to wear one. That's actually true for a lot of sun protection gear -- rashguards that go down to your wrists, asexual 'board shorts,' and long skirted swimsuits are the summer styles of my youth, modesty-protecting garb that ensured you remained pure under God's watchful eye*. I can't look at them without being transported back to my Christian summer camp days. Unfortunately for me, these kinds of things are great at protecting you from skin-cancer causing rays, and I'll never wear them again because they make me feel like a repressed sister wife. 

Sunhats aren't modesty gear, but I did wear one every day, and something about them (their unfashionable practicality, maybe?) has made me shun them in my adult life. Like any good homosexual, I love a backwards baseball cap, but the full brimmed sunhat felt like a bridge too far. 

Bucket hat on, loving life. Circa 2013ish. Also visible: skirt with leggings underneath (??) 

However, I'm coming around on sunhats. I saw Steffy wearing one that was floral and really cute and got excited about the idea of a cute and fashionable sunhat, one that would add to my outfit instead of making me feel like a sexless Mennonite. I tracked down the Steffy sunhat on Free People.

Cute, right? The flowers? Tragically, it's 150 dollars. If you have '150 dollar hat' money, please buy this one (and also....consider paying off my loans?). If you, like me, do not have 150 dollar hat money, I've collected a ton of cute affordable hats with similar energy. Join me in being cute and protected from the sun!

First up is this cutie one from Target (17 bucks). I love the pattern and I think the chin strap is so pretty.

The only thing about this one is that it kind of makes it look like you moonlight at Colonial Williamsburg. Which I think is a plus, honestly. 

Next, I found the cutest sunhat on Etsy (35 dollars). It comes in a ton of different patterns. I honestly like that the design is a little more bonnet-y than hat-y, but your mileage may vary. 

I love the flowers, but there are lots of other colors, including lots of solid colors. And it's a really good price for handmade! This feels like something a cool quirky type influencer would wear. Or Martha Stewart. You know, whichever. 

I wanted to depart from the floral theme for a second to share This fun leopard print hat! It's on supersale at Aerie for ten dollars (!!). I'm not really into animal prints, but I know a lot of people are and this one is reallly cute, so I had to share.

It's so wide brimmed! I feel like it is cheetah-y yet doesn't have safari vibes, which is impressive. 

This next hat is, to be honest, a little too bucket for my tastes, but I love the color, and at 20 bucks, the price is right! I think the peachy color is so pretty.

And the wider brim kind of scoots it out of bucket territory....kind of. 

Lastly, this hat is 95 dollars, so its also in the 'would you be open to a sugar baby type situation where you pay my student loans' type hat category. But it's real cute, so I'm including it anyway.

The matching outfit? Forgetaboutit. I want one. Such a cute floral, too. 

So far, I have bought exactly none of these, but I did buy a straw hat for four dollars at a discount store in a strip mall in Westchester while we were charging the car, so I'm working on my hat empire over here. I hope this post helps you shield your head in trendy secular person style.

xoxo,

evt

*(I'm kind of joking...but only kind of).