The Best Bucket Hats for Being Everyone’s Concert Crush

Life is better in a bucket hat: Just ask LL Cool J, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Pam Anderson—in that faux-fur bucket hat/top hat hybrid—and all our other 90s crushes. It’s the all-weather accessory that keeps on giving, and what it’s giving is the perfect blend we want for 2023 of streetwear, skater culture, raver baby, and no-fuss outdoorsy lumbersexual. Need a lightweight accessory to whip out during a surprise springtime shower? Bring le bucket. It weighs next to nothing, isn’t awkward like an umbrella, and conceals you from the gaze of randos, harsh UV rays, and the radar of your least-favorite ex—all while making you look infinitely hotter and more mysterious. 

From the long-tie cottagecore bucket hat to Portia’s infamous “wardrobe” on the second season of The White Lotus, there’s a bucket hat for every iteration of your summer self. What was initially born over a century ago to protect Irish farmers and sailors has ascended to the highest apex of design. Today’s best bucket hats span an infinite number of styles, and are just as ready for the beach, the bar, and the drum circle as they are for a day of chopping logs and cutting peat, or whatever brave Celtic nans were up to back when the mighty bucket hat first emerged. “From fisherman to ravers,” this is the hat that has seen it all, and great-grandpa Seamus would be proud to see us thriving in the New Country as the masters of our fate, with a bucket hat of our own. (Only, ours has Deadhead bears on it.) 

When bucket hats are born, they’re predestined to work with any streetwear outfit. However, there’s a special ~cultural cachet~ to pairing a Stüssy, Adidas, or Carhartt bucket hat with your parachute pants. You see, back when the buckets made a 1990s comeback from their prior Gilligan’s Island era fame, these brands were the skate- and workwear-centric labels at the forefront of the game, and they still slap. Day or night, by bar or by beach, they’ll always look good.  

You’ve been in the bucket hat game for a minute, and now you’re ready for a designer piece with a lot of personality. Upgrade your workwear with a Marni x Carhartt WIP floral bucket or an acid green Dries Van Noten nylon bucket hat that’s currently on sale and comes with it’s own carrying pouch.

Both André 3000 and Oscar Wilde would wear a faux-fur bucket hat, which might make it the most powerful one yet. This pistachio dream is the perfect alternative for the cult-fave Emma Brewin bucket hat (which runs for about $400), but no one has to know it was a fraction of the cost. Or go full out with Sacai’s faux shearling bucket with a drawstring, so you can go luxe X-Games mode without losing your topper.

Floatin’ down the stream feeling good in your tube, sipping a brewski on the Big Sur River and running on Jerry Time—these are the kinds of jam band bucket hats that deserve to crown your precious (Dead) head, wherever the wind may blow you this summer. 

Other than successfully(ish) filing our taxes, there is no better feeling in life than having our bucket hat fastened to our sweet-pea heads with a drawstring or an oversized umbilical cord bow. All Virgos understand this, as do cottagecore gardeners, park bench day-drinkers, and people who want to take a dip without losing their hats (shouldn’t that be everyone?). You ride the lightning, my friend, and you need a bucket hat that can keep up with you. 

It was hard work, convincing the entire cast of the 1970s Godspell to part with these crocheted bucket hats. But, we’d do anything for you—especially because we know that quilted and crocheted accessories are making a comeback.   

We’re not saying The Lighthouse would’ve had a happy ending if those dudes wore bucket hats. But, wouldn’t this REI number make you want to kiss and make up? It has a five-star average rating on the site for its comfort and durability, and reviewers say it can handle more weather than your average bucket hat. “I just took it on the Mt. Toby Ultra and lemme tell you what. It held up amazingly well!” writes one reviewer who runs a lot. “The brim is surprisingly sturdy and even shed rain after it was soaked. Not a heavy rain but constantly a good drizzle [...] it kept my head warm the whole time.”

You gotta match your dogs, and you’ve gotta match your dog. This bucket hat is for the pup who sleeps on his own Casper mattress, eats out of stoneware, and poops in cursive. It’s for the kind of schnauzer who melts away your Sunday Scaries with a single glance in his charming fleece bucket hat. We’d call him a lucky dog, but luck has nothing to do with it. He’s a dog of distinction, like his human.  

Don’t forget the sunscreen. 

The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.