Do Helen Kaminski, raffia “straw” hats keep their shape?

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maxxout

maxxout

O.G.
Mar 27, 2010
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1,872
#1
Hello all!
I just purchased a Helen Kaminski raffia hat online from Nordstrom. Province 12, 4 1/2 inch brim. I got it today it’s gorgeous and very becoming. I have a lot of hats and this is one of the nicest summer hats I’ve seen.
I’ve been reading that raffia softens up and could possibly become extremely floppy, which I’m not happy about.
I read that you could steam it and bring the resin that’s in raffia back up and get the shape back, but I have no experience with this.
Do any of you have any experience with this brand or with reshaping raffia hats?
Thank you for any information you can give.
 
#2
maxxout said:
Hello all!
I just purchased a Helen Kaminski raffia hat online from Nordstrom. Province 12, 4 1/2 inch brim. I got it today it’s gorgeous and very becoming. I have a lot of hats and this is one of the nicest summer hats I’ve seen.
I’ve been reading that raffia softens up and could possibly become extremely floppy, which I’m not happy about.
I read that you could steam it and bring the resin that’s in raffia back up and get the shape back, but I have no experience with this.
Do any of you have any experience with this brand or with reshaping raffia hats?
Thank you for any information you can give.
Click to expand...
I have a few HK straw visors. While the brims are somewhat flexible and even rollable, they haven’t become floppy even after weeks of misuse. I would assume that a visor would be more prone to floppiness than a hat :)
 
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#3
880 said:
I have a few HK straw visors. While the brims are somewhat flexible and even rollable, they haven’t become floppy even after weeks of misuse. I would assume that a visor would be more prone to floppiness than a hat :)
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Hi ! Thanks for responding so fast. ❤️ It’s good to know it might not be as big a problem as I’m imagining. She makes nice visors…they cover more.
 
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#4
maxxout said:
Hello all!
I just purchased a Helen Kaminski raffia hat online from Nordstrom. Province 12, 4 1/2 inch brim. I got it today it’s gorgeous and very becoming. I have a lot of hats and this is one of the nicest summer hats I’ve seen.
I’ve been reading that raffia softens up and could possibly become extremely floppy, which I’m not happy about.
I read that you could steam it and bring the resin that’s in raffia back up and get the shape back, but I have no experience with this.
Do any of you have any experience with this brand or with reshaping raffia hats?
Thank you for any information you can give.
Click to expand...
I purchased a HK hat for my honeymoon back in summer 1996. I’m happy to report it still has its shape all these years later! I store it stuffed with tissue, so maybe that helps?
 
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#6
DME said:
I purchased a HK hat for my honeymoon back in summer 1996. I’m happy to report it still has its shape all these years later! I store it stuffed with tissue, so maybe that helps?
Click to expand...

I hope my question brought back all kinds of wonderful memories. And I’m assuming that you traveled somewhere tropical and so it was a wide brim? Somehow, I always equate honeymoons with the beach. Great to hear it lasted so long! I plan on storing it the same way. Thank you for the tip.
 
#7
skyqueen said:
I have a Kaminski hat and matching bag, I've had the hat for years. No loss of shape and I wear this hat to the beach, a lot. Get a ton of compliments!

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Oh, this is so reassuring. Thanks SO much for the photos. ❌❤️❌. This looks like my hat but maybe a more square crown. I love this color. Is that nugget or is it natural? Do you remember the name? It makes me want to get a second one. Is this a Provence or another style? I would love to get this exact hat!
The one that I got was province 12 in eclipse melange .. Kind of gray with a slight lavender tint to it. The one that you have looks like it might go with more outfit colors. I was looking for more neutral gray, but of course, this one, even though it doesn’t work with my wardrobe as well, compliments skintone.
 
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#8
maxxout said:
Oh, this is so reassuring. Thanks SO much for the photos. ❌❤️❌. This looks just like my hat in shape. I love this color. Is that nugget or is it natural? Do you remember the name? It makes me want to get a second one. The one that I got was eclipse melange .. Kind of a gray hat with a slight lavender tint to it. The one that you have looks like it might go with more outfit colors. I was looking for more neutral gray, but of course, this one, even though it doesn’t work with my wardrobe as well, compliments skintone.
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I believe the technical color is nougat…darker than natural. I find it goes with everything. I have a couple more Kaminski hats in natural and find they’ve darkened a bit over the years. Hope this helps.
.
 
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#9
skyqueen said:
I believe the technical color is nougat…darker than natural. I find it goes with everything. I have a couple more Kaminski hats in natural and find they’ve darkened a bit over the years. Hope this helps.
.
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It helps a whole lot. Thank you. I edited my original question as you were posting. I would really love to get this hat and I am curious is this a province 12 or province 10 or some other style? Thank you so much skyqueen.
 
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#12
maxxout said:
I hope my question brought back all kinds of wonderful memories. And I’m assuming that you traveled somewhere tropical and so it was a wide brim? Somehow, I always equate honeymoons with the beach. Great to hear it lasted so long! I plan on storing it the same way. Thank you for the tip.
Click to expand...
Aw, thank you! It was a Caribbean cruise (our first, actually), so definitely someplace warm. I’m out right now, but will try to remember to take a photo of the hat today or tomorrow and post here so you can see how it looks all these years later.
 
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#13
maxxout said:
Oh, this is so reassuring. Thanks SO much for the photos. ❌❤️❌. This looks like my hat but maybe a more square crown. I love this color. Is that nugget or is it natural? Do you remember the name? It makes me want to get a second one. Is this a Provence or another style? I would love to get this exact hat!
The one that I got was province 12 in eclipse melange .. Kind of gray with a slight lavender tint to it. The one that you have looks like it might go with more outfit colors. I was looking for more neutral gray, but of course, this one, even though it doesn’t work with my wardrobe as well, compliments skintone.
Click to expand...
If you’re looking for something with a gray undertone, I could also recommend checking out Eric Javits. Prices are comparable to HK and they also hold up well. Most EJ styles come in oodles of colors.
 
#14
DME said:
If you’re looking for something with a gray undertone, I could also recommend checking out Eric Javits. Prices are comparable to HK and they also hold up well. Most EJ styles come in oodles of colors.
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Yes, thank you for the suggestion. I bought Eric Javits hats about six or seven years ago at Nordstrom I have one black and one in bark. They look like the day I bought them but I believe it’s man-made fiber rather than straw. At least the ones I have. They hold up really really well. Thank you for bringing that up because I haven’t looked recently at his colors.❤️
 
#15
maxxout said:
Yes, thank you for the suggestion. I bought Eric Javits hats about six or seven years ago at Nordstrom I have one black and one in bark. They look like the day I bought them but I believe it’s man-made fiber rather than straw. At least the ones I have. They hold up really really well. Thank you for bringing that up because I haven’t looked recently at his colors.❤️
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Bark was exactly the color I was thinking of!
 
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