I’ve been offering this hat for years. It’s a better grade Genuine Panama Hat, hand-woven in Cuenca (Ecuador) with a woven-edge brim.

The style is a classic Optimo. In Ecuador, they call it the Colonial or the Natural. This is probably the original Panama hat style.

Shaped in Ecuador, finished by hand in Hawaii. The black grosgrain bow is shaped by hand. Bow and ribbon are sewn by hand, as is the inside band.

Available in 11 sizes. Wear it with the brim turned down in front, or turned down all around. Roll it up, or not. Your choice.

Okay, okay, I finally gave up. I yielded to public pressure. It was pretty obvious from all the calls that a lot of you really, really wanted a Montecristi hat that you can roll up. And you want it to look like a classic Panama hat. And you want it to cost less than the other Montecristis. You’re right. It’s a good idea. Here it is.

What’s different about these, compared with the Roll-Up Panama Hats above? Plenty.

1. These are hand-woven and finished in the Montecristi area, not Cuenca.
2. Montecristi hats are lighter and thinner than Cuenca hats.
3. The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats are blocked by hand, instead of on a hat press. Hand-blocking gives them a more lasting shape under duress (such as rain).
4. The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats are available in custom sizes.
5. The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats come with a black cushy, cotton twill inside sweatband. Very comfy.

What’s different about these, compared with the hand-blocked Montecristi Optimos in the main Men’s Styles section?

These are hand-woven and finished in the Montecristi area like those in the Men’s Styles section. But these are a lower quality weave. Hence the lower price.

These Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hats are shaped by hand in the same classic Optimo style, on the same wood blocks as the others. But these don’t get the same lavish attention and time. Less time, lower price. (Well, that was the theory when I introduced these. The reality is that I just can’t bring myself to do anything half way. So these get just as much blocking time as the others.)

The Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat has a hand-sewn black grosgrain ribbon and bow outside, just like the non-roll-up Optimo. Inside, there’s a soft, cushy, absorbent cotton sweatband instead of leather (you want to roll it up, right?).

If you want a Montecristi, and you want to roll it up, but you still want it to look like a classic Panama hat, this is your hat. Portable shade. Weighs about 3 ounces. Makes a somewhat different impression than a baseball cap.

If you want a finer weave roll-up Montecristi, I’ll be happy to make one for you. Just choose a quality/price level, and I’ll make it with a cloth sweatband instead of a leather one.

The higher quality option has been even more popular than I expected. A lot of you really do want a rollable Panama of legendary Montecristi quality. So, for those of you who want the very best:

A $1000 Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat would have to be The Ultimate Roll-Up Travel Hat. The Bee’s Knees of Travel Hats. The Ant’s Pants of Travel Hats. The It-Doesn’t-Get-Any-Better-Than-This Travel Hat. The—well, you get the idea.

Perhaps best of all, it’s a subtle self-indulgence in ultimate luxury. When you’re driving a Rolls Royce, everyone knows you’re driving a Rolls Royce. For some, I suppose that’s the point. It’s not subtle. But when you’re wearing a $1000 Montecristi Roll-Up Panama Hat, all anyone else knows is that you’re wearing the finest Panama hat they’ve ever seen. You’ll hear “Nice hat” a lot. Every now and again someone (usually worth meeting) will focus a knowing eye on your hat and ask “A Montecristi?”

Marcie Polo is the great, great, great, great, great, great—well, she’s really great—granddaughter of Marco Polo. Like her illustrious ancestor, she knows how to travel. And she knows a good idea when she sees one.

Marcie wanted a high quality women’s travel hat. Asked me to design it. Said the Optimo just didn’t suit her. She wanted a classic Montecristi travel hat she could roll up: lose the crease, lose the dome, keep the black ribbon, something a man wouldn’t wear but not the least bit frilly or fussy.

She asked for something with classic styling, a hat she could wear to the Prime Minister’s garden party. She insisted it also must be ruggedly practical, a hat she could wear on a camel crossing of Tunisia with Sahara temperatures soaring to sauna levels.

She didn’t say if she intended to ride the camel to the garden party. I didn’t ask. With Marcie, just assume the outrageous and you’ll be right more often than not. She’s fun to watch.

For those of you with more normal travel itineraries, you will find the Marcie Polo™ hat perfect for climbing Maya ruins in the midday sun (but must you?), then again for savoring fresh shrimp at sunset (better). For shopping in souks, for dancing beneath the stars at Stonehenge. Or just hanging out by the pool.

Golf hat? That works.

It goes where you go. It does what you do. And you always look good together. Can a mere hat be better than a husband?

Marcie says Marco would have given me an “attaboy” for this one. An “attaboy” from Marco Polo. That would be very cool.

Since you probably looked at the pictures of the hat before you started reading, I don’t exactly have a Voila! moment here. As you can see, I chose classic simplicity. No creases, no dimples, no dome. 11⁄2-inch black ribbon, bow centered in back, loops tacked down for travel stability, brim 23⁄4 to 3 inches (shade) or 31⁄4 to 31⁄2 inches (more shade), inside sweatband of cotton twill. Everything shaped, sized, and sewn by hand. The brim is artfully distressed. Or not, if you prefer. Choose from: Wobbly, Up, Down In Front, Sort of Flat. The hat pictured has a 3-inch (7.6 cm) brim. Same hat, different brim styles.

OLD!

I know, I’m supposed to shout NEW! because shoppers respond well to that word. And I’ve never sold this style on the web site before, so that would make it new.

But to me it’s an old friend, not a new style. The rolled hat in the photo, top left, is the hat that shaded and sheltered me through Belize and Guatemala many years ago.

I loved having it with me. It was one of the only times in my life that I absolutely did not take care of something. I wore it in the rain, in the sun, at the beach, in the jungle, atop Maya temples, beside hotel swimming pools. I slept in it more than once. I rolled it, stuffed it, sat on it, lost it, found it. I practically worshipped it. The more weathered and rumpled and quirky it became, the more I loved it.

My old hat didn’t have an inside band. I just sweated straight into the straw. The new and improved version has an inside sweat band of Cotton Twill. The band feels soft and nice against the forehead, even when wet with sweat. Exceptional travel/beach/hiking/golf hat. I have also made the outside band less wide so it doesn’t cover up as much of the hat. See the photo of Roff for the new band look (above left).

HAT—The hat itself is a “lower” grade Montecristi. The same hats I use for the Montecristi Roll-Up Optimos.

STYLE/SHAPE—I give these a quick blocking in a more or less generic hat shape. I have to put them on blocks in order to persuade them to be the size you want. You’ll shape it to your own personality as you wear it. Roff has rolled his hat a few times and encouraged it to take on an Optimo look.

OUTSIDE BAND—From Guatemala. They were intended to be belts. I like them better as hat bands. Colorful cotton, hand-woven on back strap looms by Maya women from Guatemala’s Western Highlands.

Someday, maybe I’ll tell you the tale of Dr. Tomate Tea.