Article: How Your Choice of Hat Can Keep You Cooler This Summer
How Your Choice of Hat Can Keep You Cooler This Summer
Long before air conditioning and SPF, there was linen… Dyed flax fibres discovered in Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia, dating back around 30,000 years, reveal that prehistoric people were already spinning, knotting and colouring flax, demonstrating that this remarkable fabric has been woven into human history since prehistoric times.
By the age of the ancient Egyptians, linen had become one of the most coveted materials in the world. It served as currency, clothed royalty and was chosen to wrap pharaohs for eternity. Its reputation soon spread across the Mediterranean, where Greek and Roman civilisations prized it for its purity and refinement. So revered was the fabric that the Greek historian and philosopher Plutarch praised its unmatched cleanliness and elegance in his essays, a testament to linen's prestige long before the modern world rediscovered its virtues:
‘…they wear their linen garments because of the colour which the flax displays when in bloom, and which is like to the heavenly azure which enfolds the universe. But for all this there is only one true reason, which is to be found in the words of Plato: "for the Impure to touch the Pure is contrary to divine ordinance." No surplus left over from food and no excrementitious matter is pure and clean; and it is from forms of surplus that wool, fur, hair, and nails originate and grow. So it would be ridiculous that these persons in their holy living should remove their own hair by shaving and making their bodies smooth all over, and then should put on and wear the hair of domestic animals.’Plutarch. Moralia: Isis and Osiris. Written c. AD 100
Its importance continued well into the Middle Ages. Around 800 AD, Charlemagne issued the Capitulare de Villis, encouraging estates across his empire to cultivate flax and produce linen, recognising it as an essential fabric for everyday life. As production expanded throughout Europe, linen found a place beyond clothing. Artists embraced its tightly woven surface as the ideal canvas, with masters including Peter Paul Rubens helping to cement its reputation as the preferred foundation for some of Europe's greatest paintings.
Why is it favoured over cotton?
Linen's hollow fibres allow air to circulate freely, making it naturally cooler than many other fabrics. It absorbs moisture without feeling damp and dries quickly, helping regulate body temperature even when the mercury begins to climb. Cotton, by comparison, tends to hold onto moisture for longer, leaving it feeling noticeably heavier in the heat.
Linen is also naturally hypoallergenic and antibacterial, making it exceptionally comfortable against the skin. Better still, flax fibres are around three times stronger than cotton, producing a fabric that becomes softer with every wear and wash without sacrificing its strength. It's one of the few materials that genuinely improves with age.
Its renaissance isn't simply down to comfort. As consumers look towards more considered ways of buying, linen has once again become one of the world's most desirable natural fibres. Flax requires significantly less water than cotton, thrives on rainfall rather than irrigation and grows happily in poorer soils that would struggle to support food crops. Almost every part of the plant is put to use, from textiles and paper to oils and livestock feed. Few natural fibres can claim quite the same efficiency.
Thirty-six thousand years after the first known flax fibres were dyed, linen remains proof that true innovation sometimes lies in leaving well enough alone.
The Linen Bakerboy
With all that in mind, it was only natural that one of our most popular silhouettes should receive a summer update.Our Linen Bakerboy is crafted to keep a cool head (quite literally). Crafted with eight individually cut panels and a matching fabric covered peak, it preserves the distinctive shape that has defined the style for generations, now rendered in lightweight linen for summer wear.
First appearing at the turn of the twentieth century, the Bakerboy has transcended passing trends to become a fixture of British style. Worn by everyone from the peaky blinders to artists, actors and royalty, it has always possessed a quiet confidence that feels both refined and relaxed. Available in Sand, Sage and Light Blue, it's lightweight, breathable and designed for long days in the sunshine. The airy linen construction helps release heat from the head, while the generous peak provides welcome shade for your eyes. It's one of those increasingly rare pieces that doesn't require a dress code.
It looks just as comfortable with an unstructured linen jacket as it does with an Oxford shirt, knit polo or a well-worn overshirt. Equally suited to a stroll through St James's, a weekend in the Cotswolds or a day that starts at Lord's and somehow ends several pub gardens later.
References:
· https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/linen-the-original-sustainable-material
· https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/61673/chapter-abstract/549654153
· https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23639/23639-h/23639-h.htm
· https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/peter-paul-rubens
· https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167779902019534
