Having Umbrella Troubles? 28 Reasons to Consider the Rain Hat

After many water-logged years of struggle and strife, I am officially giving up my umbrella—for a rain hat.

Looking back, I’m not sure what I ever saw in umbrellas. First of all, they’re never there when you need them (who wants to lug around a bony metal contraption everywhere they go on the off chance that the forecast is correct?). And if you do have one handy when a sudden storm hits, the darn thing will always find a way to make your life difficult. Encounter a small gust of wind while crossing the street and it will surely turn inside out. Leave it at the entrance of a restaurant and it is doomed to vanish by the time you’ve completed your meal. At worst, it will open up inside the vestibule of your apartment building and leave you cursed with seven years of bad luck. At best, you will spear someone in the eye with one of its points while attempting to bob and weave through a crowded intersection.

Enter the rain hat. Convenient, compact, and a chic addition to any water-wicking ensemble, this hands-free accessory will keep you dry without compromising your ability to urgently order an Uber and enjoy your oat milk matcha latte sans spillage. Unlike its bulky umbrella counterpart, the best rain hats can be folded up and popped right into your handbag, so there’s no need to check it at the door—and even if you did, there are far too many unique iterations for a stranger to mistake it for their own. If you don’t believe us, just take a gander at our rain hat guide, below, and shop our favorite inclement-weather headwear styles fresh off the streets of New York, London, Milan, and Paris.