Involution's Guide to Crafting Your Beanie

We are no strangers to the cold, from growing up we were constantly told that we would lose most of our heat through our head, and a beanie was thrown on us to ensure we didn’t freeze.

From the 12th century (yes, you read correctly), the style of the beanie has been a recognised shape that everyone knows. The function of a beanie, from winter workwear essential to a fashionable lifestyle item, will always have its purpose in today’s age.

With its popularity and practicality, the beanie is an accessory that easily goes from work to casual, providing warmth and style both on and off the job. As such, the branding opportunity has grown exponentially for businesses and employers, creating custom beanies businesses can use to promote their brands. Beanies have become a far more important essential than just keeping heads warm – they have become a brand statement that promotes your identity.

A beanie hat is a head-hugging garment that typically sits over your ears and covers your head to keep you warm. Beanies come in many different styles, including turn-ups, no turn-ups, pom-poms, bobbles, reflective and insulated options, slouch designs, and even peaked versions that blend the classic beanie with a cap. A common question is whether the beanie is a hat or a cap. Whether you call it a beanie, a cap, or a hat, we embrace all the terms and what truly matters most is that the styles keep evolving while staying true to the classic look we all love; and we have you covered no matter what you call it!

Yes you guessed it, the fisherman beanie was the original headwear worn by fishermen to protect them for the harsh sea weather conditions. Today, the Fisherman beanie has become a trendy concept with vintage charm, and a popular option for independent brands. With a shorter and tighter fit, this beanie features the classic folded brim, a style that sits just over or above your ears. A trendy choice with ample embroidery branding opportunities and a retail-ready folder over the label.

Styled on the classic cuffed beanie shape, the pompom adds a modern and stylish twist to the beanie, with the options for a faux fur bobble or a pom ball in single or multicolour. Often associated with ski hats, the bobble beanie is available in plain single colours or woven-in designs with quirky patterns. With our bobble beanies, you can have a fully bespoke design to your brand in Pantone-matched colours or you can opt for one of our current range and add your logo or choice of text to the cuff. The pompom is an aesthetically pleasing addition to a beanie hat adding a fun and playful touch to the headwear.

The cuffed beanie is considered to be the most popular standard of beanie that has become a famous streetwear piece as it is also known as the ‘hipster hat’. You will recognise the beanie with its cuffed, double-layer hem for extra warmth over your ears. The double-layer hem also improves the fit, keeping the hat firmly on your head. The cuffed beanie is a trendy option that everyone can suit and with decoration available, a logo on the double-layer hem makes for a smart and unique look to the beanie.

The skull cap sits like the fisherman beanie, as it’s a smaller style of beanie with no cuff or peak to provide a low-profile look that became popular in factories and workshops in the early 1900s. This style is very casual, keeping the style of the beanie to a minimum while hugging your head tightly to create a better-fitted beanie. The best thing about the tighter-fitted skull caps is their ability to fit under hoods and helmets more seamlessly, so you can perform in all the elements.

You may be thinking, there are so many choices and beanie types, how do I know which one will work best for my business? Well below we have picked out 3 of our favourite beanies that we think can make a real impact for your business and help narrow down your search.

The Woolly Ski Hat always proves to be a favourite choice amongst businesses - it represents the classic beanie look with a fold-up cuff and a loose fit at the top for a relaxed look when worn. The cuff ensures for a comfortable fit and extra warmth, with plenty of space to add your bespoke branding to. This beanie makes for a great fit for any winter scenario or outdoor work, and its unisex and range of colours available, a practical workwear choice. This affordable headwear option will keep staff warm on colder days, whilst keeping your brand at the forefront, with the recommended decoration of embroidery to the centre of the cuff for a personal touch.

The Mighty LED Beanie, the beanie that meets innovation. Prominent to the centre of the cuff, this beanie comes with an embedded LED light, a smart headwear option for the dark winter days; practical for both warmth and visibility. If you work in areas where you need the extra light, this beanie is a popular choice in the automotive and construction industry thanks to its practical hands-free light that allows you to keep working without interruption. With the LED light at the focal point, you can decorate the beanie around the sides or the back to include your company logo.

Be seen with the Rigi Reflective Beanie, a safety beanie with reflective details that make your team visible in low-light conditions. Whether you’re out running or working on the roads, this beanie prioritises warmth and visibility, causing for any light to create a reflective shine to the beanie. If you’re looking for an interesting decoration option, you can pair this beanie with our glow-in-the-dark embroidery threads to create the ultimate safety beanie for the night with your logo shining in the moonlight.

When it comes to beanies their function and the situation they are worn in, can change which type of beanie material you opt for as your preferred headwear. From cotton, acrylic, mixed, or eco-friendly blends, a beanie comes in a wide variety of materials, made for any time or season.

Cotton beanies are the most breathable choice of headwear, whilst also providing excellent heat retention. As a result of the cotton fabric, these beanies typically have a super soft feel that makes them a comfortable wear for long periods of time, and ideal for the outdoors. Based on its features, a cotton beanie is often a strong choice for cold working conditions, as well as active roles with physical movement.

Acrylic beanies are made from synthetics, a durable headwear option that is less likely to be damaged by snags. Great for their performance, acrylic beanies are super light and provide better quick-drying functions, making them great for workwear scenarios such as landscaping or as lightweight options to be worn under hard hats.

For businesses seeking greener headwear choices, our growing range of eco-friendly beanies aligns with our journey to becoming net zero. Options such as the Olivine GRS recycled beanie are made from a combined mixture of polyester, nylon, and elastane, and impressively made from 4 recycled PET bottles.

When it comes to beanie hats, such as the popular choices we’ve shown above, they don’t tell a story until you’ve added your personalisation, from logos to designs. The most popular decoration method is embroidery, where logos and designs are stitched onto beanies to create your very own embroidered beanie.

Personalising beanies is an excellent branding solution, especially in the colder months, suitable for any work sector where headwear is needed. Adding a logo or text to a beanie is not only eye-catching and a conversation starter, but the perfect advert to promote your business and make your team look unified. As your team works on jobs, or travel between work, a company-branded beanie allows for more brand exposure and an opportunity to grow your brand awareness. There's a lot of value behind a personalised beanie.

Whilst the most common embroidery positions on a beanie is to the centre front or cuff, we can also embroidery logos to the right and left side of the beanie; if you want a different location altogether, get in touch with our team to see how we can help.

We have two fixed sizes for embroidering on our beanies. For the front decoration, the maximum size is 100x40mm. The front part of the beanie is the area that most people will see first, making the front decoration a great place for including your business logo or design to stand out. For the left and right side decoration, the maximum size is 80x40mm, making the sides ideal for including a name or slogan, making for a nice touch to add alongside your logo on the front.

So, if you’re looking to supply your team with new winter headwear or launch a new line of beanies, here at Involution, we will work with you to craft the perfect beanie for your needs. Personalised in-house, design the most unique headwear with us and enjoy our fast turnaround time with our selection of beanies.