If you’re going to survive the coming awful weather, a toasty topper is a must. Thankfully, the season's best beanies for men are all gloriously simple, cozy accessories that'll warm your head and cap your incredible fits.
To that end, we're firm believers that there's no such thing as the one best beanie. The folks here at GQ have a stack of them, accumulated over time. Some were splurges—soft cashmere for a buzzcut head, maybe, or a freaked-out grails to offset the midwinter blahs—and some were $12 gas station finds, with plenty in between.
To help you build out your own roster, we've pulled together a choice selection of the season's best winter hats, in a variety of styles, fabrics, and colors, across every conceivable budget. We've also broken down the differences between various beanie styles and fabrics, because we care about your noggin. Just don't sleep on your selection—we find the coolest beanies tend to go away fast when the cold really kicks in.
The Beanie Hit List
Best Under $50
Rothco
Genuine U.S.N. Wool Watch Cap
It doesn’t get much more textbook than this. Built to military specifications, this is the cheapest all-wool beanie you can get. It may not be the softest headwear option out there, but the classic watch cap design paired with all-natural materials, a made-in-USA pedigree, and a miniscule price tag, it’s hard to beat.
Best Under $100
William Lockie
Ribbed Cashmere Beanie
Leave it to the sweater experts at William Lockie to make some of the finest beanies on the planet. They’ve been crafting high-quality knits since the 1800s and this ribbed cashmere beanie, made from a luxurious Mongolian cashmere, is just one sweet taste of what the storied label can do.
Drake's
Green Ribbed Merino Donegal Knit Cap
When you think of donegal wool, you’re probably thinking of a beefy sweater worn by some guy with a beard and a few sheep. But in beanie form, the distinctly flecked wool has the looks to bring a little extra seasoning to your jeans-and-Blundstones weekend beater fits.
Best Over $100
What to Look for in a Beanie
Finding the right beanie can be a very personal endeavor. When the colder months force you to cover up your beautiful, luscious locks (or lack thereof), your entire face shape and silhouette is impacted by a beanie, so it pays to take the time to get it right.
Material: Material is paramount when choosing a beanie. Consider whether you have sensitive skin, run hot or cold, and your region’s weather. Wool beanies are great for retaining heat and moisture-wicking capabilities, but can feel itchy depending on the type of wool. Finer wools like merino wool, cashmere, and alpaca tend to have a smoother hand but will command a bigger price tag. Synthetic materials like acrylic and polyester are great for price-conscious shoppers. They’re durable, warm, and easier to care for than wools which often have to be hand-washed or even dry-cleaned. Cotton, while not as warm as wool, is softer and more breathable—great for those who run hot.
Branding: While we mostly looked for brandless caps for the purpose of this shopping guide, oftentimes making a decision about the best beanie for you is about brand loyalty. Whether it’s recognizable logos from brands like Carhartt and The North Face, or quiet luxury from the likes of Johnstons of Elgin and Drake's, the question becomes what you want your hat to say to the people around you.
Color: Since much of the beanie’s origins come from workwear, classic colors like navy, black, gray are an easy choice. But beanies have evolved to encompass every shade under the sun with freaky patterns and textures to boot. We’re not sure who really needs to hear this, but when you’re choosing a beanie color, go with any color you like.
Style: The style and shape of the beanie is really dependent on you. To get the right silhouette, it’s best to try on several options in person. Consider whether you want a beanie that fully covers your ears or a beanie that sits closer to your head without so much extra material. The size and shape of your head as well as how much hair you have impact the type of beanie that will look best:
- Watch caps, fisherman beanies, and cuffed beanies: They go by several names, but watch cap-style beanies are probably what you imagine when you think of a beanie. They’re designed with a cuff and come in various sizes, which can hug the crown closely or sit high off the head.
- Slouchy Beanie: Slouchy beanies have an extended crown and usually a narrower knit to allow it to droop. It’s a stylistic choice that was more popular in the 2000s emo scene and you won’t see much of that these days. That said, the extra length and lack of a built-in cuff allows the wearer to shape and cuff it to their needs.
- Skull Caps: Like slouchy beanies, skull caps lack a built-in cuff but are shorter and sit closer to the head, hence the name.
How We Made These Picks
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best in their category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there's bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ's testing process here.)
