The Heddels Beanie Guide 2025

If you want to upgrade your hat game or find that first beanie that suits your head shape, this list will signpost you to head-warming places.

Daniel Rockburn

When temps fall, we reach for the beanie. That’s a fact of life. But not all beanies are made equally. In fact, the humble beanie comes in countless renditions from countless makers. Keeping your head warm is a simple task, but looking good whilst doing so and with a beanie you’ll rely on for as long as possible, isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

Today, we’re continuing our series of extended buyer’s guides by focusing on the beanie. Whether you’re just in the market for a new beanie, looking to upgrade your current line-up, or want to find that first beanie that suits your head shape, we think this list will signpost you to some nice, head-warming places.

Ways to Wear a Beanie

The beanie may appear to be a simple accessory, but your head shape and how you want to style it should inform your choice of purchase.

Shallow & Above The Ear

Beanies that are short in construction or made in a way that allows for double cuffing can be worn above the ears. This can be a great way to style a beanie if you have a longer face or minimal beard prospects, as the beanie doesn’t ‘take over’ your head and drown out  face. It’s also a winner if you’re bald or have a very short hairstyle like a buzz cut.

This style also suits longer hairstyles and pretty much any face shape. In our opinion, this is the easiest way to style a beanie, but it does leave your ears exposed.

Lower, Covering the Ears

If you’ve got longer hair, a wider, rounder face shape, a strong beard — or just plain need to keep as much of your dome warm as possible — this may be how you want to style your beanie. You’ll want to go for one of the longer beanies on this list, as they will cover more of your head and fit over longer hairstyles.

Materials

Wools – Wool can be a versatile material for a beanie, depending on the variety of wool used and the gauge of the knit. Merino wool tends to be the most versatile, being a warming layer when it’s cold, but still breathable and moisture-wicking when it’s mild out, and cashmere is ridiculously soft with a more hairy texture. Different wools will command different price points.

Standard wool can be itchy, but it will keep your head warm as nature intended. In all cases, a woolen beanie will need more care than a cotton or acrylic one.

Cotton – Knit beanies made from 100% cotton yarns are a reliably great option. They’re insulating but breathable if loosely knit, and they often are. They tend to fall somewhere in the middle of premium-priced and more accessible in terms of price, but are always worth the coin, and remove animal products from the mix if that matters to you.

Acrylic – Among the cheapest and warmest, acrylic knits are super warm but not very breathable. Great if you live somewhere that gets properly cold and stays that way for a few months. Acrylic won’t age as well as wool or cotton and will bobble, but it will also last a long time and can be de-bobbled with a pilling comb. You can find one of these almost anywhere – gas stations, bodegas, military surplus stores, and workwear brands like Carhartt and Ben Davis.

Blends – Knit blends can offer the best of both worlds, in terms of functionality and price, but often end up being as expensive as a wool knit. Mohair blends, for example, can be quite expensive.

Short

Heimat Mechanics Hat

Heimat is a brand centred on knitwear. The term ‘Heimat‘ is a German term that describes the social belonging to a place, like a spiritual home, and the brand is focused on making you feel ‘at home’ in your knitwear.

There are dozens of options on the Heimat roster when it comes to headwear, but their most recognizable beanies are the Mechanics Hat and Deck Hat. Both of these styles are short in length and can be worn above/just on the ears, with the Deck Hat featuring a chunkier knit than the military-inspired Mechanics Hat.

Heimat Mechanics cap in Cotton/Linen (pictured above), available for $75 from Heimat.

Heimat Deck Hat, available at Heimat for $75

All Heimat beanies are made in Germany using high-quality fibers, including virgin wool, as seen on the Deck Hat above.

Andersen-Andersen Short Beanie

Knit from 100% New Merino Wool yarns, the Andersen-Andersen Short Beanie starts this list off strong with a short profile. Being constructed from merino wool means it’s not just for the cold, its moisture-wicking/anti-bacterial properties do the job on milder days.

Designed in Denmark by knit legends Andersen-Andersen, the Short Beanie is shallow-fitting, cutting above (or just on) the ear for an unobtrusive fit. Available in a ton of colors, they’re all sewn up in Italy with a beautifully chunky knit that matches the brand’s sweaters perfectly. This is a great way to own a piece of A-A’s world-famous knit magic.

Available from Wallace Mercantile Shop for $86

Mr. Fatman Hue Watch Cap

Mr.Fatman‘s Hue Watch Cap is a classic-looking knit that’s sure to put your cohort’s gas-station beanies to shame. There’s nothing like that vintage workwear style knit, perfectly chunky, just like the Fatman intended.

Being knit from 100% virgin cotton means it’s soft to the touch, no itchiness, guaranteed. You can expect these to be easy to wear through the seasons, thanks to them being looser knit and made from breathable cotton — you really can’t go wrong here.

Made in Japan, these black beauties come with a woven “Royal Deluxe Quality” Mr. Fatman tag, perfect for displaying your love for playful branding.

Available for $72 from Redcast Heritage.

Regular

Dehen 1920 Wool Watch Cap

Dehen 1920 makes good stuff, and its 100% worsted wool Watch Cap appears to be another gem in its nuanced collection of knitwear. It’s not lacking in any of the qualities you’d want from a watch cap that works and looks good over the passage of time. It’s got all the nice details contained in its nice and dark charcoal heather form that you could ever want: 6-gauge knit fabric, robust 6-seam top construction, an accent stitch at the edge of the cap, and a low-key Dehen label.

Made alongside the rest of Dehen’s impressive catalog in Portland, Oregon.

Available from Iron Shop Provisions for $60

Engineered Garments Wool Watch Cap

Much like the rest of Engineered Garments‘ roster, this Wool Watch Cap in Copper is a classic workwear style with a twist. For one thing, they’ve achieved the perfect shade of copper brown in their knit. It puts the generic duck brown hue to shame.

Secondly, there’s a removable button included, and who doesn’t love a novelty button on their cap from time to time? It depicts a worker with a shovel, perhaps a miner or farmer. This playful pastoral image slapped on a plastic button is a nice contrast to the natural beauty of those 100% wool yarns. And it’s all made in the USA.

Available from Lost & Found for $46

Buzz Rickson’s BR02186 Cotton Watch Cap

The Buzz Rickson’s Watch Cap BR02186 ‘Cotton Version’ is Buzz’s cotton rendition of its classic USN repro watch caps. What’s not to love about a vintage style recreated by an Americana-obsessed Japanese brand? Well, I guess if you’re not into the military reproduction stuff, this is still a solid beanie that could be worn by anybody. It’s lighter in weight than the wool ones, less expensive, and less itchy.

Made in Japan, these naturally stretchy watch caps come in a variety of enlistment-friendly colorways to spice up your fit, or to simply keep your brain insulated in your drafty apartment.

Available from Hinoya for $44

Beams Plus Wool Watch Cap

Synergize your modern Americana wardrobe with the Beams Plus Wool Watch Cap in Black. It’s a simple, wide-ribbed knit silhouette, constructed in England from high-quality 100% British wool, so you know it’ll do the job of keeping you and your precious skull protected from snowy weather.

It might not be the cheapest beanie on this list, but it’s going to pay for itself when you keep grabbing it on your way out the door, and that wide-ribbed knit will add some contrasting texture to densely woven denim, leather, and twill outerwear.

Available from Lost & Found for $87.

Bobble

Heimat Jailhouse Bobble Hat

Heimat‘s precision-made headwear has a bit of fun, too, and its Jalihouse Bobble Hat is a great bobbly hat option to satisfy your inner Sailor. Being crafted from 100% virgin merino wool places it on the softer end of the beanie spectrum, and the double fold means you can wear this one above or below the ear.

Available from Franklin & Poe for $70

Under $50

Upstate Stock

In my view, no one has a better selection of American-made beanies than Upstate Stock. Their regular-fitting beanies come in all manner of colors and materials. There’s upcycled cotton, merino wool, ragg wool, upcycled wool, and more. Hell, there are even collabs with Naked & Famous designed to mimic the color of heavily faded denim!

Every yarn is knitted together in the USA and comes in at $40 or under at the time of writing. Many options come with matching gloves, too, so you can really kit out your winter loadout.

Available at Upstate Stock from $32.

Teamster Beanie

For when you just need a reliable beanie to don come the cold, The Teamster Beanie from our very own webshop has you and your nippy ears covered, literally. It’s a tried and true option that’s going to save you some major money when compared to basically every other option on this list. Some might not love the lack of variety in colors, but how can you go wrong with black and navy?

Made by actual union workers in California, these 100% acrylic caps feature a medium-length profile. Acrylic caps come cheap, but do not skimp on functionality, and actually hold up well over the years. What you will find is that these things is they are warm. They’re not ones to wear in milder weather, so save these for the winter.

Available in the Heddels Shop for $18

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