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Keep on Truckin’: The Best Trucker Hats for Men

Many consider the style a relic of a bygone era. To their surprise, it’s back — and bigger than ever.

collage of three hats Courtesy

By Evan Malachosky

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While baseball caps date back to the mid-1920s, trucker hats only entered the fold in the late 1960s. They were, as the name implies, a promotional tool for trucking companies, because they were cheap (and easy) to produce and comfortable to wear.

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An Accidental Success

Original to rural communities across the US, trucker hats were first given away by local feed shops, agricultural stores and tractor manufacturers. They teamed up to create the trucker hat, a style that cost next to nothing to make. The soft foam front, mesh back and screen-printed logos made the hats super-cheap but effective nonetheless. They gave them away as part of inexpensive advertising campaigns. A gimmick at first, the style eventually became one of the most effective promotional products ever made.

This is why when you sift through vintage versions, you’ll find plenty of Acme Seed and John Deere caps — aka “Americana memorabilia,” Cole McBride, co-owner of Portland vintage shop Kissing Booth, says. “I.e. cigarette companies, sports hats, car companies, local farming hats.”

Designer Renditions

Although the style was initially cheap (and working class), it has since been adopted by fashion circles. It’s been famously repurposed by brands like Von Dutch, Billionaire Boys Club and the ilk, and worn by famous faces like Britney Spears, Pharrell Williams and Justin Theroux.

Nowadays, it isn’t hard to find a trucker hat sporting your favorite teams’ logo, bands’ name or a reference to your chosen city. There are plenty of options that nod to the style’s roots, too, with logos for breweries, workwear brands and beyond.

The Best Trucker Hats for Men

Matty Matheson’s workwear brand, Rosa Rugosa, makes its own trucker hat. The cap references classic feed and seed iterations, and it’s made in Canada in small batches (by a well-paid team).

This is, as insiders call it, “future vintage.” It looks like something you’d find in a bin at Goodwill, but it’s brand-new. It’s part of an ongoing collab between Coors and Huckberry. You’ll notice, though, that this entry is made from all-over mesh — no opaque front panel.

There’s no beating around the bush here: This cap isn’t supposed to look old or even vintage. It’s a simple, logo-dominated trucker cap meant for fans of The North Face, of which there are plenty (myself included).

Pendleton’s National Park Trucker pays tribute to a handful of the US’ most spectacular public grounds: Yellowstone, the Badlands, Olympic, Crater Lake, Glacier and Zion.

Nashville shop Imogene + Willie worked references to the style’s roots into its trucker hat, which they call the Service Station Trucker. Their shop operates out of an old service station, too, meaning they aren’t doing it just for show.

Manors Golf’s mesh trucker hat looks a lot like early trucker hats. It has a plain white foam front with a big logo and a mesh back. The logo, however isn’t for Manors Golf, but the Nineteenth Hole, what golfers call the clubhouse at the end of the course.

Katin’s trucker hat is a nod to the 1976 edition of Katin’s annual pro-am surf competition, the Katin Pro/Am. The event was hosted from 1976 through the early ’80s and then again from 2008 to 2011.

Urban Outfitters’ selection of trucker hats skews, well, trendy. They make hats for Gen Z, if that makes sense. This one, however, is a simple, no-nonsense nod to the Bay Area, which includes Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose.

Native American-owned workwear brand Ginew’s trucker hat has the brand’s well-known Ojibwe Thunderbird felt patch on the front.

Camp High isn’t necessarily a command, but you can do it, if you want to. Instead, it’s a brand founded by a former Burton designer. It’s fun, colorful and eye-catching (for obvious reasons).

Fear of God’s collaborative trucker hat with hat-maker New Era is fitted, a feature you almost never see with trucker hats. (They’re almost always adjustable.)

Kapital’s trucker hat is a cult-favorite. They’re nonsensical, over-the-top and often colorful — like the Free Wheelin’ Cap. Fashion folks love them for the look, which references classic workwear styles, but up-close they’re a little more chaotic.

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