How to Pack a Hat Box & Tips for Traveling with Large Hats

Sunhat are something I take with me on every trip, even if I’m heading somewhere that isn’t always sunny. Not only are they the perfect compliment to sundresses, they also protect me from harmful UV radiation, so they’re something I carry with me wherever I go. Here’s how I make sure my hats arrive with me at my destination in perfect shape.

Packing a Hatbox 

I stack my hats inside my hatbox beginning with my smallest hats and stacking on larger hats. To help them keep their shape at the crown of the hat, I stuff the bottom hat with either tissue paper, or something like excess clothing that didn’t fit in my suitcase, a few scarves, or other small accessories so my hats don’t become misshapen.

Flying with a hatbox can be a real challenge, so I typically only take them with me on weekend trips and road trips, since I can pack as much as I want. Hat boxes also make it so much easier to stay organized and it prevents my hats from taking up so much space in my suitcase or weekender bag.

My Favorite Hatboxes

Steamline Luggage makes the most beautiful hatboxes I’ve ever seen. They’re stylish, versatile in that I can pack them with as I would an overnight bag, and they perfectly match my other suitcases from the brand. Their Deluxe Hatboxes, pictured above, fit all of my standard size straw hats, and I can fit about a dozen of them inside, and pack a couple of scarves or other small accessories around the extra space on the brim of the hats, and under the crown if necessary.

The small hatbox, pictured at the top of this post, fits smaller straw hats, visors, baseball caps, or perfectly fits a pair of heels, wedges, or a few pairs of Tieks. If I pack shoes into my bag, I seal my shoes in a large plastic storage bag, then double wrap that inside linen shoe bags to keep my hatbox pristine, and I haven’t had any issues with this method.

Packing Hats Into a Suitcase

If I am flying, or going somewhere I can’t take much luggage with me, I do the same thing I do to pack a hat box, however instead of using tissue paper, I carefully fold my clothing and accessories to fit inside of the hats I’m taking, and I place them in one side of my suitcase. I then pack the rest of the contents of my suitcase around my hats carefully to maximize the space in my luggage, and help keep the brim of my hats straight and neat.

Fixing Crumpled Hats

Upon arrival in London last year, I found that I hadn’t packed the side of my suitcase with my hats tightly enough which had caused the contents of my suitcase to shift in transit, and my hats had become curled on one side. When I reached the hotel I took my hats out, smoothed them out to the best of my ability, I heated my hats with a blow drier to make them more pliable and warm, and bent them back into shape. I then put all of the heavy books I could find in our hotel room on top of my hats to weigh them down, and left them over night. In the morning, they were as straight as the day I bought them.

Check out 600 of the prettiest sunhats I rounded up last year. Yes, six hundred!