Winter is brutal where I live. A good beanie hat is a must. But finding the right one? That's a journey. I went from rock-bottom cheap to seriously premium. Here’s what I learned.
My first beanie hat for winter? It was super cheap. I grabbed it for like $5 at a discount store. I thought, "Hey, it's a hat! How bad can it be?" Famous last words.
It lasted maybe a few weeks. The knit was loose, the color faded after one wash, and it stretched out so much it wouldn't stay on my head. It was itchy, too! I basically threw my money away.
Here's what I learned from the super-cheap beanie:
I saw reviews that echoed my experience, even if I didn't read them before purchasing! One person said, "This hat fell apart after a week!" Another wrote, "So thin, it's like wearing nothing at all."
Verdict: Don't waste your money on super-cheap beanies. They're a false economy.
Okay, lesson learned. I upgraded to something mid-range. I spent about $20 on a beanie hat for winter that looked decent online. It had okay reviews and was made of a "wool blend." It was... okay.
It was definitely better than the $5 disaster. It was warmer and didn't fall apart immediately. However, it still had issues. The "wool blend" was mostly synthetic. It wasn't very soft, and it still wasn't as warm as I wanted.
The fit was also weird. It was either too tight or too loose, never just right. Plus, after a few washes, it started to pill (those annoying little fuzzballs). It looked old and worn pretty quickly.
Here's what I learned from the mid-range beanie: