How To Wear A Beanie Like A Skater
Over the years, skateboarding has birthed many looks.
No other group of individuals has brought more fashion trends into the limelight than skateboarders have.
Skaters are diverse, with different styles, beliefs, backgrounds, cultures, and religions fueling how they dress.
In its history, the world of skating has seen beanies in all shapes and sizes worn in many styles.
However, there is one that has stood out above the rest.
The Skate Tiny Hat.
You can follow these simple steps if you want to know how to wear a beanie like a skater:
- Get yourself a quality ribbed beanie
- Undo all folds on the hat so that the beanie lays out flat.
- Make your 1st fold of about 2 cm and flatten it out.
- Make a 2nd fold of about 2cm, flatten it out and roll the fold.
- Place on head and repeat until the fold sits about ¼ of a cm above the ear line.
- You may need to remove a fold or reduce the fold length depending on the size of your beanie.
- Then slacken and adjust the top of the beanie until you get the casual look you are after.
This look works best when worn with a ribbed style beanie as part of a casual outfit.
You should avoid wearing this beanie style at formal events like dinner reservations or business meetings.
This headwear trend was made famous by skaters like Eric Koston and Jerry Hsu and can be regularly seen in skateparks across the world today.
The tiny hat has become synonymous with skateboarding, so much so that you can now find a dedicated Instagram account to this look.
With features on GQ's website and an impressive 50k+ followers on Instagram, it's clear that Tiny hats are something skaters are very passionate about.
Are you thinking about Rocking a tiny hat?
Be sure to grab yourself a ribbed beanie first.
Why do skaters wear beanies?
Beanies are now synonymous with skateboarding and are deeply rooted in skate history and culture.
Seeing a sea of beanies at a local skatepark is common now, but it hasn't always been that way.
So how did beanies become so popular in skateboarding, and why do skaters wear beanies?
Beanies Are Part Of The Skater Look
A lot of skateboarding comes down to its aesthetic, as it's very much a visual sport/art form.
For instance, two key measures they use to score in skate competitions are timing and originality, which are very visual elements.
The same goes for street skating. Whether skaters would like to admit it or not, simple tricks look great if landed with effortless style.
Effortless style is something most skaters strive for, and nothing says that like a skater in a beanie.
After all, beanies are built for the world of skateboarding as they are no fuss and accessorize casual outfits seamlessly.
Skaters like the way beanies look, and who can blame them?
Wearing A Beanie Is What The Pro Skaters Do
We all want to be like our heroes; we are just scared to admit it.
There is no denying that the skate community have adopted the beanie thanks to their favourite skaters.
Whether they are flying down a handrail on the cover of Thrasher mag or shutting things down in the final part of a new skate movie, the pros shape the trends, and others will follow.
Its thought that the beanie's popularity in skateboarding was born on the east coast in states like New Jersey & New York.
If you had to credit one person for popularising the beanie with skateboarding, don't look beyond New Jersey's own Bobby Puelo.
Puleo is known for his part in the 1996 film FTC Penal Code 100A and shredding the Manhattan streets in Static II, amongst other timeless classics throughout the 90s and early 2000s.
A master of quick-feet skating and navigating tight and tricky spots, Puelo's skate style has inspired many after him, such as Palace skateboarder - Chewy Cannon.
But it's not just his skate style that stood the test of time.
It's his dress code.
Since their origin in skateboard culture, beanies have flooded the high-end fashion world.
Being a staple part of streetwear outfits means that during LFW & NYFW, both runways and city streets become flooded with the headwear accessory.
Its presence amongst streetwear enthusiasts and the mainstream fashion world has the hat cast into the limelight, but nothing can take away its authenticity in the skate world.
Beanies Keep Their Heads Warm
Let's not forget that beanies have a practical purpose, and no one feels that more than the cold world of skateboarding.
Skateboarding is not a seasonal thing. If you love it, you do it all year round.
A January skate session in the streets of New York is enough to freeze your toes off, but that doesn't stop the die-hards.
Also, skaters are somewhat nocturnal creatures, hitting street spots in the dark to go unnoticed by predatory security guards.
All this wintry work requires some street-tested gear and what better weapon for a skater's arsenal than the beanie.
Beanies Keep The Hair Out Of Skater's Eyes
Both guy and girl skaters will know what it's like to battle with long hair whilst skating.
It just gets in the way.
Imagine you are about to pop just before a giant double set or a large gap, and your hair covers your eyes and face.
It's safe to say that's not ending well.
Beanies serve as a great way to keep the hair out of a skater's eyes when it matters most.
So if you are battling with your long hair before dropping in, remember to throw on a beanie and save yourself a few broken bones.
Some Sponsored Skaters Have To Wear Beanies
The beanie is one of the best ways to market a brand, and skate brands and companies know this too well.
The skaters you see competing on TV in the X Games, and street league regularly wear beanies because they are obligated to do so.
How Skaters Wear Beanies
The skateboarding world is full of weird and wonderful people from all walks of life.
From Punks to Emo's, Gangsters to Geeks, skateboarding has seen them all.
The skatepark is the watering hole that ties all of these subcultures together, and as a result, you can bear witness to some incredible styles and trends.
Skateboarding prides itself on creativity, and skateboarders have used that creativity when styling how they wear their beanies.
Let's take a look at how skaters wear beanies.
The Tiny Hat
The tiny hat or fisherman's beanie is a classic skater beanie style and arguably the most popular way for skaters to wear their beanies.
Rocked by skaters like Jerry Hsu and Eric Koston, this look is less about function and all about style.
It's thought this style originated from working anglers that wanted to keep their heads warm at sea but needed to be able to hear instructions from their crew.
The classic single fold.
Probably considered the traditional way to wear a beanie, the single fold is a conventional style with the hat sitting centrally on your dome.
This style is often paired with a hoodie and is excellent for night and winter skate sessions.
Adding the hood to your beanie stops the risk of losing it behind you whilst bombing hills, and it keeps it in place as you pop to try that gap for the 108th time.
When your knees and wrists become sandblasted, there is nothing worse than a beanie that won't stay still.
The Andrew Reynolds slanted skull cap
This beanie style popularized by the frontside flip king is unorthodox.
To achieve this style, you have to make the beanie look like it will fall off your head, no joke!
This crooked cap was brought to life when Reynold's varial heel flipped down the infamous Hollywood 16 set.
Although Reynolds is now into his 40s and his best skate years are behind him, this is a trend that will live on, and if you head down to Lakeland skate park in his hometown, I'm sure you will bump into some slanted skull cap skaters.
The Daewon Song Head sock
Daewon is known for shredding his shoes into dust and making the most out of the worst skate spots.
Something that is so iconically Daewon Song is how the skater wears his beanie.
It's commonly known that Daewon is hyper-focused when trying to land something and his attention to detail plays a big part in all of his tricks.
The Daewon Song head sock has been present in the skate world for years now and has served as an excellent way for him to contain his long hair whilst focusing on his ultimate goal, landing his trick.
Someone with such strong attention to detail wouldn't want his hair disrupting his skating.
His beanie perfectly addresses this pain point.
Its iconic high profile and sock-like style contain his long hair and keep everything in order so he can keep shredding.
Good job Daewon.
The Torey Pudwill Bobble Beanie
T-puds, the 2011 transworld skater of the year and founder of Grizzly Grip, loves a bobble beanie more than any skater alive.
The Simi valley born skater spent his early days coming up at skate lab where he recorded 117 accidents in their all-time accident report.
But there are no accidents when it comes to Torey's headwear style.
The California born skater will regularly rock a bobble beanie, and it's become somewhat of a signature look for him.
