Hat Size
The problem with hat sizes is not in measuring them. There's a special device, like a strange pair of scissors, which can be used to measure any hat, accurately. No, the problem is that there are 5 different hat sizing standards!
For example, you may be a size 59 Metric, size 23 1/4 Imperial, size 7 3/8 American, size 7 1/4 British, or a size 6 Punti....they are all the same size!
It is therefore very hard to answer the simple question: what hat size are you?
Here is a useful chart, showing the equivalent sizes:
Head Size
The standard way of measuring a head is to place a soft tape measure around the head's largest circumference, which is normally about 2 cms above the top of the ears. The tape measure should be parallel to the floor, held not loose and not tight. That is where your hat will sit.
We all have a bony bump at the back of our skull. For most of us, it is aligned with our brow. So if we measure the head in the prescribed way, we get an accurate measurement. For a few of us, however, that bump occurs higher up. Placing the tape in the usual position, just over the ears, misses the bump and gives a false reading. The hat will be too small. So it is important to measure at the largest point, wherever that is. The hat will then be able to find its own way of fitting.
However, people also wear hats in non-standard positions. If you tend to wear your hat like a halo on the back of your head, then a fedora that normally sits just above your ears will be too big. If, on the other hand, you like the hat to come down below your eyebrows, then the standard size is too small. You want it bigger.
Heads are also different shapes. Four people, each with a size 58 head, may have very different reactions to a standard size 58 hat. Because heads can be round, oval, wide, narrow or unique! Some people have bony bumps, like corners, at the front. So the hat will require adjustment, or a bigger size, in order to fit comfortably.
Hat Size
The problem with hat sizes is not in measuring them. There's a special device, like a strange pair of scissors, which can be used to measure any hat, accurately. No, the problem is that there are 5 different hat sizing standards!
For example, you may be a size 59 Metric, size 23 1/4 Imperial, size 7 3/8 American, size 7 1/4 British, or a size 6 Punti....they are all the same size!
It is therefore very hard to answer the simple question: what hat size are you?
Here is a useful chart, showing the equivalent sizes: