Felt for cold months, straw for hot ones. Most of the difference between hat types starts there.
Cowboy hats break into two materials, felt and straw, and the choice between them is mostly seasonal: felt from Labor Day to Memorial Day, straw from Memorial Day to Labor Day, by long Western-retailer convention. Inside felt, the "X" rating you see on a tag signals quality — but it is not standardized between brands, so a 10X hat from one maker is not the same as a 10X from another.
What is the difference between felt and straw cowboy hats?
Felt hats are made from animal fur — rabbit or beaver — pressed into felt. Straw hats are woven from plant fibers, such as palm leaf or shantung-type straws, per Bernard Hats. Felt is the cold-weather, structured choice; straw is the warm-weather, breathable choice.
| Material | Season (by convention) | |
|---|---|---|
| Felt | Animal fur, rabbit or beaver | Labor Day to Memorial Day |
| Straw | Plant fiber, palm leaf or shantung | Memorial Day to Labor Day |
What does the "X" rating on a felt hat mean?
It is not a standardized industry measure. A 10X hat from one maker is not equivalent to a 10X hat from another maker, according to Bernard Hats — there is no cross-brand standard behind the number.
What did the X rating originally measure?
Originally, more X's meant a higher share of beaver underfur blended into the felt, and more beaver meant a finer, lighter, more water-resistant felt, per Bernard Hats and Moon Ridge. In the 1930s, a 5X Stetson meant an undyed, pure-beaver hat of the highest order — Stetson's top of the line at the time. Vintage Haberdashers says the scale has inflated since then as fur costs rose and marketing competition grew — what that source calls "X value inflation." Stetson does not publicly disclose the exact fur-blend formula behind its X-graded felts today, which is part of why the rating can't be compared reliably across brands.
What is the difference between beaver and rabbit fur felt?
Beaver underfur produces a finer, more water-resistant, more durable felt than rabbit fur. Rabbit-fur felt is the more common, less expensive base used in lower-graded hats, per Bernard Hats.
What straw types are used in cowboy hats?
Palm leaf straw and shantung straw are the two materials named across retailer guides. Shantung is a common budget-to-mid-range weave; palm leaf is a traditional natural-fiber weave, per Bernard Hats.
Should you wear felt or straw, and when?
Western retailers Resistol and F.M. Light & Sons cite a rule of thumb: straw from Memorial Day to Labor Day, felt from Labor Day to Memorial Day. The reasoning both give is simple — straw ventilates better in heat, and felt holds warmth in cooler months. It is a retailer-stated convention, not a rule. Dusty Crown notes felt is often worn for formal occasions even in summer, so the calendar bends for the occasion.
Where did the Memorial Day to Labor Day hat rule come from?
The sources reviewed here do not pin down where the exact holiday dates came from; the older dated examples are city menswear customs with other dates. Wikipedia's account of the Straw Hat Riot of 1922 describes a rule that a man was "not supposed to wear a straw hat past September 15" — a date the same page says was known as Felt Hat Day. The same account calls the date arbitrary, noting it had earlier been September 1 before it "eventually shifted to mid-month."
The other end of the season is recorded by the Etiquetteer, a manners columnist quoting the New York Times. A Times editorial of May 20, 1908 objected to men wearing straw earlier than June 15, "which was Straw Hat Day that year." A Times article of September 16, 1900 puts September 15 as Straw Hat Day instead.
Even the names moved around. Wikipedia attaches September 15 to Felt Hat Day; the 1900 Times piece attaches the same date to Straw Hat Day. Resistol still puts the spring switch elsewhere again, saying that in many warmer regions "it is customary to don straw hats as early as Easter Sunday," and likening the Memorial Day to Labor Day guideline to the "no white after Labor Day" rule: "widely referenced but not strictly followed."
That disagreement is the useful part. A rule whose dates and names shift by decade, city and region reads as a custom, not a standard anyone set. Wear the material the weather and the occasion call for.
Where did the cowboy hat's shape come from?
John B. Stetson designed the Boss of the Plains hat in 1865 for the demands of the American West. In Stetson's own description of the design, quoted by Wikipedia: "It was intended to be durable, waterproof and elegant." The hat had a high crown for insulation and a wide, stiff brim for shelter from sun and rain — the original crown and brim were reportedly four inches each. Stetson created the hat for himself while panning for gold in Colorado, then returned to Philadelphia in 1869 to found his hat company, per CavHooah.
Does a felt or straw hat need a different crease or brim?
No — the crease and brim shapes are independent of material. A cattleman crease or a taco brim can be built in felt or straw. The house covers those shapes on their own in the cowboy hat shapes guide, and a hat that fits your head shape and season pairs the same way with either.
Is a higher X rating always worth paying for?
Not automatically. Because the X rating isn't standardized between makers, a higher number on one brand's tag doesn't guarantee more beaver content, or more water resistance, than a lower number on another brand's tag. The rating is most useful for comparing hats within the same maker's own line, where the scale at least means something consistent. Across brands, the felt's actual feel, weight, and the maker's own description of its fur blend tell you more than the X number by itself.
How do you tell a good felt hat from a cheap one?
Weight and hand-feel are the practical tells retailers point to: a felt with more beaver underfur feels finer and lighter for its stiffness than a rabbit-heavy felt, per Bernard Hats. Because Stetson and other makers don't publish their exact fur-blend formulas, there's no spec sheet to check against — you're comparing what the hat feels like in hand, not a number on the label.
Does the seasonal rule apply everywhere?
The Memorial-Day-to-Labor-Day convention is a custom, not a standard, and it bends for climate and occasion as much as it holds. A straw hat in a hot, dry region can make sense well outside that window, and a felt hat for a formal event holds up in summer the way Dusty Crown describes. Treat the dates as a starting point, not a rule that overrides the weather or the occasion in front of you.
Where to go next
- Shop all boots
- Cowboy hat shapes: crown creases and brim styles
- Cowboy hat size chart
- What to wear with cowboy boots
Sources: Bernard Hats, Moon Ridge, Vintage Haberdashers, Resistol, F.M. Light & Sons, Dusty Crown, Wikipedia, CavHooah; the Etiquetteer
