Sunday, April 26, 2009

Optimo Panama Hat


Summer is the season for straw hats and the best you can get is the Panama straw hat. The Panama straw hat has been ruling the hat industry for ages and much-admired as the ‘Prince of Straw Hat’.

There are many Panama hat styles. The unfinished Panama straw hats can be blocked into different styles. The Optimo Panama hat is perhaps one of the classic styles you can ever find. Known as Colonial or also as Natural in Ecuador, the Optimo Panama straw hat is the number choice for travelers. The fact that the Optimo Panama hats can be rolled up to carry while traveling makes it a favorite among them. The Optimo was highly popular during the 18th and 19th century. This Panama straw hat style may have lessened in terms of its demand, but it remains a classic Panama hat style. The classic Optimo Panama hat style is wearable with any wardrobe.

The Optimo Panama hat has a distinctive center ridge, full blocked crown and a narrow lengthwise ridge. The shape of the Optimo Panama straw hats was an outcome of a natural consequence when people started rolling their unblocked Panama hats. When they unrolled it, a center ridge is created. The round topped of the Optimo Panama hat is a classic version, which can be folded and fit perfectly for traveling.

The Optimo hat was used by the British Empire during their conquest in Asia, therefore it is also known as Colonial Panama Hat. Still today, this model is very popular in the UK.

The Optimo Panama hat style is famously associated with many Hollywood actors and films. You can see this Panama straw hat in the Charlie Chan movie series, Peter O’Toole in ‘The Last Emperor’, Sean Connery in ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ and Just Cause, Paul Newman in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, Sidney Greenstreet in ‘Casablanca’ and Gregory Peck in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. That would ring a bell on how the Optimo Panama hat would look like. If you want a perfect straw hat to go with you all the time then, the Optimo Panama hat is just the ideal choice.

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