USA Tariffs & duties included — price you see is the price you pay.
Bought the New Yorker 12 years ago - have worn it death. Spoke to Oska and decided on the Fino New Yorker - it is the most gorgeous hat ever! Thanks
Delivered as promised. Fits perfectly. Great communication as well.
I had been doing a lot of research to find this exact hat. The Australian is not your traditional Panama hat, However, it is a true Ecuadorian hand made hat, the style fits me well, and it’s exactly what I was looking for.
I contacted Truffaux with questions and the responses were such that I felt I couldn’t go wrong ordering from this business. They pride themselves in making sure you get the correct fit, tell you what to expect, and make sure your hat stays looking good for a long time.
The box this hat was sent in was sturdy and protected it well, however, because the brim of the hat is arched, the way it laid in the box it flattened the brim and messed up the overall appearance. I believe it will straighten out but I’ll need to work with it to make sure of that.
I would have loved to have this hat in a finer weave but Truffaux assured me this weave is best for this hat.
I’m looking for to wearing this hat for a long time.
Top quality hat and very comfortable to wear! Super quick delivery half way across the world.
The hat is beautiful; well made, well styled, looks great on me. I'm very happy that I found Truffaux.
Oska was super helpful, too, in ensuring that I received the hat in good nick. I live in rural Mexico and some standard shipping methods don't work for me. After explaining this to Oska, he was more than helpful, working with me to find a method that ensured I received the parcel. Do take Oska's sizing advice. While his recommendation was for a size larger than what I normally would wear, I didn't regret taking the advice. The hat fits really well. Thanks again to Oska for your help.
Many thanks to Oska.
Oska was great at suggesting hats for me from photos I sent and ultimately I chose the Golden Traveller. More emails went back and forth over sizing and then a very well packed hat travelled halfway round the world to me, arriving completely unscathed by it's trip. I'm delighted with it and with the service I received from Truffaux and would recommend them to anyone looking for a new hat.
It is really a great hat. After consulting Oska what might fit me well, I decided to go along with his recommendation and it does fit perfectly. Just a handsome great hat. Thanks alot Oska.
The New Yorker is a gorgeous and fantastic hat, don't hesitate! It makes you feel fabulous but its not too posh. It cools your head down, is very confortable to wear, the straw absorbs the sweat. Perfect!
The great interaction with Oksa helped the decission, shipping (around the world) was no problem, the hat arrived in perfect condition. I am very happy!
Perfect fit and a great hat!
Handsome hat in just the right size and light as a feather. It arrived halfway across the globe quickly and well packed. Good experience all around.
I got the best Panama hat I have ever had from Truffaux. It exceeds my high expectations. And that is not the only reason I am writing this review. I am pretty fussy, and what I truly appreciated was Oska Truffaux's obvious personal concern that it be the right hat in the right size for me. I picked Truffaux because their web site is impressive about hat making and sizing. And I was right!!
Oksa was very helpful in answering my questions about selecting a panama and sizing. I went with the Cuban at his recommendation and man, it is an amazing hat! It suits my head shape perfectly, I've received lots of compliments on it, but most importantly, it is very light and cools my head astonishingly well. Just the slightest breeze and I've got instant a/c. Thanks Oksa!
I love a panama hat, and have many I rotate through, but don't like travelling with them because they get bent out of shape so easily.
A YouTube search on how to travel with hats led me to Oska's shop and my purchase of The Traveller, which arrived just in time for a 2 week trip to Japan and France.
The hat looks great, fits well (thanks to Oska's email assistance) and handles the rigours of travel better than I thought it would, springing back to shape from all manner of mis-treatment.
Great value for the price, I thoroughly recommend Oska and his hats, especially The Traveller.
The buying process was unbelievable. Placed an order and rapidly received a personal response asking if I had ordered the correct size. Sent in my measurements and it turned out I needed a size larger than what I had ordered. Who knew that hats shrink!
A week or so later the hat was in my hands. Quick considering that it had to make it from Australia to the United States. Tried it on, too big! My wife handed me an envelope which contained foam shims. Three of these and a perfect fit which will allow for shrinkage (hat, not my brain).
Wore it today for the first time other than trying it on. Hardly noticed it was there. Super comfortable. Looks good too!
If you want a piece of garbage with no customer service I guess there is Amazon.
If you want a great hat that will fit, you are in the right place!
Just arrived - absolutely amazing hat! And, I can’t say enough about how helpful Oska was in finding me the right hat, and his customer service is extraordinary. I’ll be buying more.
GET THE RIGHT HAT FIRST TIME
Skip the stress of wondering if it will look great, fit right and arrive safely. With 20 years of global shipping experience, I’ve mastered the art of pairing the perfect style and size, then delivering it to your door in pristine condition.
No one does it better, and tens of thousands of satisfied customers attest to my unmatched personal expertise.
What is a genuine Panama hat?
How to Spot a Real Panama Hat: A Beginner’s Guide to Fakes, Grades and Fair Prices
Buying a genuine Panama hat can be tough for a beginner. The Panama is an exquisite artisanal art form with a long and revered heritage, and it is frequently copied and faked in substandard form. Any white hat can be called a “Panama,” which is downright deceptive marketing.
I love the Ecuadorians. They are beautiful people with generous hearts, and they cannot afford to mount international legal battles to stop the trickery, so it goes on. The only way to work out what’s real is to look into the details. Here is what we look for at Truffaux, and what you should look for too.
1. Fake Panama Hats: Polypropylene, Paper Straw, Toyo and Shantung
These are the most prevalent fakes. They are machine-made across Asia in vast numbers, very cheaply. You’ll see them sold as “artificial straw,” polypropylene, “paper straw,” Toyo or Shantung.
All of these hats breathe terribly. They make your head smell and sweat, and they are damn uncomfortable. Paper hats can sweat themselves apart, and manufacturers often coat the paper in plastic to make it last longer. Now you have a plastic bag on your head, a terrible idea in hot weather.
How to tell: Check the materials. If the seller doesn’t specify them, you can be sure it’s plastic. If the hat costs less than $100, you can be very sure it is not a genuine Panama hat.
2. Other Straw Hats Passed Off as Panamas
Weavers in China, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia and even Brazil make straw hats. Sometimes they use the same straw as a Panama (toquilla, Carludovica palmata), but usually it’s an inferior alternative, and the preparation and weaving are substandard too. The Chinese have an ancient hat-weaving tradition, but the straw they use is coarse, scratchy, easily broken and dyes poorly.
How to tell: Unless the seller explicitly states it is made in Ecuador, it is not a Panama hat. Some retailers will lie about origin, so the only way to tell is the pricing and the shape of the weaving.
On a genuine Panama, the centre of the crown spirals out from a point. If you see that, it is most likely a Panama. Unfortunately, some makers copy the shape of the weave to produce a high-quality fake, so it gets tricky. As a rule of thumb, if you’re buying from a retailer that sells many unrelated fashion products, it is unlikely to be a Panama.
3. Low-Grade Panama Hats: Handwoven, but Not Worth Owning
This is where it gets even more misleading. When hats are handwoven in toquilla straw, they are sorted into grades and priced accordingly. You can buy a Panama in Ecuador for $25, but these hats are not worth owning. They are what the trade calls grade zero: loose, erratic, lumpy and coarse, woven rapidly and in large numbers by inexperienced weavers.
To hide the imperfections, the hats are bleached heavily until they are a rubbery, luminous mass, then dyed an ivory colour and passed off as a bargain to unsuspecting tourists and online buyers.
How to tell:
Hats are like anything else: you get what you pay for.
4. Low-End Ecuadorian Drop Shippers
No doubt you’ve come across amazing “deals” online on Montecristi hats, finos and cheap Panama hats. There are no legal standards for Panama hat quality, so sellers can say whatever they like and convince you with a lovely picture that you’re getting a bargain.
Most of these businesses simply buy up cheap hats and ship them. They don’t know how to style or fit a hat, or how it will look on your head. If you don’t care how it looks on your head, at least you save some money.
Quick Checklist: Is It a Genuine Panama Hat?
Why Truffaux Panama Hats Cost a Bit More
Every hatmaker works to a different price and quality point. We’ve been fortunate to design beautiful, practical Panama hats that people love to own. They cost a bit more, but for the next ten years your investment always looks good and you love to wear it. To me, that is what really matters.
Now that you know what a genuine Panama hat looks like, the next step is finding one that suits you.
Read our guide: Finding the Right Hat for Your Face & Body Shape