HAIR LOSS IN WOMEN
Headwear solutions for long term female baldness
Hairloss in women despite being extremely common, presents a real challenge in finding stylish, suitable every day wear hats (not ‘patient’ wear), to help women experiencing hair loss feel both comfortable and self-confident.
More info’ is available over on our blog – What is the best hat for my face shape? Part 1 & Part 2
At Suburban Turban, we are both passionate about and renowned for meeting this need – in style!
How to manage female baldness
Understandably, when talking about hats for female hair loss – particularly long term hair loss – many women might think that’s rather like putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg.
Quite rightly, many women seek to understand the cause of their hair loss and there are many recognised channels of enquiry through GP and dermatologist.
However, headwear (and there are many different types) can help with the day to day management of hair loss and the ‘ebb and flow’ of patchy hair loss.
There are many different medical conditions that can have hair loss as a symptom – this could range from a 50p pence piece shaped bald spot to complete hair loss on the head. Further information can be found at Alopecia UK.
In all cases, headwear can help – from keeping your head protected from the sun (the scalp is particularly sensitive to the sun once bare of hair), to keeping what hair you have in place on a windy day. It can also keep your head dry if you are using colouring powders to mask bald spots.
How to choose hats for ladies hair loss
It helps to know what you are looking for.
For example, many hats are only designed to sit half way down the head. Think baseball cap or Baker Boy cap and you’ll get the picture: these would leave a 5-6 cm band exposed at the back of your head.
There needs to be enough fabric in the hat so that you can tilt it back, without ruining the shape and style of the hat. (Think Frank Spencer who used to wear his beret as a beanie :()
So this brings up a couple of interesting points: how to select a style with enough depth and how to wear a hat to best effect i.e so that it looks ‘normal’, and not as if it is trying to conceal something.
The best hats for female hair thinning / frontal hair loss
It is a fact not all hats are created equal when hair loss is a consideration. It’s trickier to find styles for hair loss that give extra depth and coverage to cover all bald spots, for example, the space in front of the ears and all the way down the nape of the neck.
‘Barge’ and ‘Baker Boy’ caps
Traditional baseball caps are one to avoid – any fitted style to the crown will not tilt front to back or pull down for that extra coverage needed.
Consider fabric caps sometimes known as Barge caps and Baker Boy caps are softer to wear and have more fabric and volume in them, without the obligatory baseball cap ‘cut out’ at the back.
Bucket Hats
These small-brimmed, fabric casual hats are good for a little summer shade and when worn tilted slightly back on the head can comfortably cover the neck. This is probably one of the most readily available styles on the High St. particularly in summer.
It is worth noting here that if you pull any hat square down on your head, it doesn’t look brilliant – it closes down the face and we look as if we are trying to hide beneath it.
Tilt the hat front to back a little, so that your eyebrows are displayed and the base of your earlobes and suddenly the hat looks intentional but more relaxed. However, this maybe considered more of an outdoor style because of its brim (see note later).
Beanie and Cloche hats
Some may think this is a hard look for anyone over 19 to pull off (!), but there are many different shaped beanies and soft nuances in pattern which have a significant effect on the final ‘look’.
The idea here is to add soft volume with fabric folds, print, texture, or layer up with an infinity band. Anything too tight to the head, unless you are blessed with perfect bone structure, emphasises the shape of your face.
Many women style their hair to create volume – a soft frame around the head – and a hat that can replicate this effect will be flattering to wear and easier to wear well.
Headbands and scarves
Silk headband scarves can be a great way of managing bald spots as they come and go. A headband scarf has more volume than a flat Alice band and adds flattering width as it winds round the head.
There is also more fabric to a scarf, which means it can be opened out to cover more of the crown of the head/or the nape of the neck, or kept narrow to cover thinning hair at the temples. This particular item fits round the head exactly once, so there are no dangling scarf ends aka Princess Anne in the 1970’s! It’s simply a lovely fashion accessory available in stunning silk colours.
Why choose lightweight hats for hair loss?
Another top tip is to keep your hats lightweight: at Suburban Turban we make our hats to look like t-shirts
or jumpers for a reason.
We know women with hair loss will need to wear our hats regularly indoors – into the supermarket, the office or school – and we don’t want them to look out of place. (Think arriving at a restaurant, ordering and meal and then keeping your coat on whilst you ate. It would look out of place.)
Outdoor hats are designed for outdoors – sun, rain, cold and to go with whatever you are wearing at the time. Our lightweight hats are designed with indoor wear in mind – central heating, lack of central heating and to fit in with what you are wearing indoors.
So hats for female hair loss can be ‘ordinary’ hats, but it helps to know what you are looking for: depth of style, fabric print/texture/volume and type of fabric.
Whatever headwear you opt for, you can make it your own with a little research, perseverance and practice. And that’s exactly why Suburban Turban is here – to help!
Read on for – How to find the perfect hat for your face shape?