SunBody Hats

Some More New Hats...

We're about to fly out to Denver for the annual Western and English Sales Association (WESA) wholesale trade show. We've got a bunch of new hats we'll be showing, too.

I just took pictures of three of them today. Here they are:

The "Last Call" beer cap hat:

Read the details here: 

2. The Moab:

Here are the details: 

3. And the Terlingua:

Details here:

What do you think?

- Jimmy

Vote on our newest hat styles!

Now introducing out newest hat ideas for 2010. Please vote on your favorite styles! You may also choose more than just one!

Keep in mind these hats are works in progress. If you have any suggestions on how to make them better let us know! 

We made these samples using older hats that were lying around. If you order one they will be made from new fresh hat bodies. 

 

1. Cross Roads w/twisted band

2. Crazy horse shoe w/nuts and bolts band

3. Copper Horse Shoe w/studs and braided hat band

 

4. Crazy Horse Shoe w/twisted band

 

5. Austin with brown leather hat band and brwn eyelets and brown bound edge

6. Casa Blanca w/wide black hat band dipped brim in front and back

7. Breast cancer awareness visor with a pink bound edge and tie adjustment in the back for every one sold 5$ will be donated to the MD Anderson fund to further research

8. The Texan w/nuts and bolt hat band

9. Aussie fedora style hat with funky curled brim

If you are interested in purchasing any for yourself or for anyone you may know this holiday season, let us know and we will be more than happy to get them made up for you!  

Kid's can SunBody too!

Ridge & Tripp Kayser

Twin brothers Ridge and Tripp love to catch frogs and sneak a Dr. Pepper once in a while. Ridge was so excited to show off his frog while Tripp was wondering what happened to his pop!

 

 Living in Colorado and having fair skinned and blonde haired kids, we use our SunBody Hats for some major sun protection. The boys love to wear their hats no matter what they are doing. This is how Ridge and Tripp SunBody!

Thanks,
Fred and Heather Kayser

SunBody Hats For Everyday Use

Dear Sunbody Friends,
I absolutely love my Sunbody hats. I have one for work that I wear every day and folks when I say every day I mean every day. Let me tell you about my Sunbody. It was an open crown hat when I purchased it. It has under gone a few changes since then. It has had a montana fold, a deep gus and finaly a shallow gus. It has vent eyes that I placed in it. ( by the way the eye kit I got from ya'll is great) it has a green diamond band with a slight modification to the securing system. It is no longer white but has darkened with rain and sweat. Funny thing about Sunbody hats; no matter how long you wear them they always smell like a new hat. I still can't figure that one out, I have sweat so long in my hat that there is a dark ring under the hat band but it STILL SMELLS NEW. Size 7 1/2,
I added a couple of eyes in the brim right next to the hat band for my stampede string. I have been wearing this hat for nearly two years. It has been sat on, stepped on, my horse took it off my head one time to see if it tasted good, blown off into a mudhole a time or two, but to this day it is still the best hat I have ever owned. And I got all of that for fifteen dollars from the sale page. ( guys please don't change your hats. They are the only product that I know of that are worth more than you have to pay for them. And keep that sale page up and going. I dearly love a good bargain.)

With it's 4 inch brim I never worry anymore about skin cancer ( runs in the family but could have a lot to do with being the outdoorsy type and in Louisiana to boot) ( gets hot here lol).
When I first got my Sunbody it was the only one of it's kind in the parrish, but since then I have ordered one for a fellow preacher, my dentist, my wife, my dad and more to come I'm quite sure. I even sent my spare to Arkansas with an evangelist I had come and preach a revival for me. He saw mine and just had to know how to get one. I went into my office and got my spare( brand new with the tags still on it). We shaped that hat into a cattleman, put the vents in and away he went. I can't seem to keep a spare around so I ordered an open crown fine weave and set it up as my "dress" hat.

In closing I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to the Sunbody team. Great service and a great product have gone together to make the only hat I'll wear.

Trick or Treat with SunBody Hats!

Here is a photo from our 2009 "How do you SunBody?" picture contest:

Last October my girlfriend and I designed a pirate ship float for Halloween and took the kids around town on it to Trick-Or-Treat.

It was a pretty elaborate way to have a Halloween hayride, but it's something we will never forget. We put a lot of effort into our costumes and your reenactor hats were the perfect addition. They made great tricorns that we then dyed to give them that great aged quality.

The day after Halloween we sported our hats again at the Texas Rennaissance Festival for their pirate weekend, and this past Spring we redesigned our pirate ship float for our town festival's parade winning second place. We've had a lot of fun with our pirate costumes and love our pirate hats!

Thanks,

Glen Bird

Burnet, Texas

Video of Sewing a Palm Leaf Hat - Part 1

Here's the first part of a video I shot in Guatemala last year.  Juan Carlos Morales is sewing a palm-leaf hat.

He begins with three pieces of palm-leaf in a star pattern. To this he sews palm braid in an over-lapping spiral. In this video he completes the top of the crown, measuring it to see that the crown disc is the right diameter (18 cm) for the size of hat he is making (57 cm - 7-1/8).

Notice that he is doing this all on a treadle sewing machine: powered by his feet, not a motor.  Most of the hatmakers use treadle machines.  In recent years some of them have invested in motors for their machine. But, until you see his feet toward the end of the video, I bet you wouldn't guess that Juan Carlos' machine doesn't have a motor.

Juan Carlos is one of about 70 hatmakers that sews hats for SunBody.  Pueblo to People began in 1979 when it purchased hats from his father, Juan, and a small group of hatmakers. That's 30 years ago! 

I worked with Pueblo to People from 1983 to 1995.  When I began SunBody Hats in 1996, we began by buying hats from Juan and the group began by Pueblo to People.

The group named itself "Wokaj Kabahujil"  after a Mayan shrine in the village of Panaxit where the group started and where many of the hatmakers still reside.  Palm-leaf hatmaking in Guatemala actually traces its roots to this village.

Jimmy Pryor

Braiding Palm Video

All of our hats are made of braided palm leaves. In Guatemala, seven strands of palm are braided into a flat plait about 1/2" wide. 150 feet or more of this braid will go into a 4" brim standard palm hat.

Here's a video of a woman in Quiche braiding palm:

She is wearing the tradition Quiche "traje", or dress.  Quiche is one of 26 indigenous languages spoken in Guatemala.  Approximately 1 million people speak Quiche, more than any of the other indigenous languages. You can hear her speaking a native language.  I presume it is Quiche, which is predominant in the department (state) of Quiche, but it could be something else.  Do you know?

Last year when I went to Guatemala I shot a lot of video of the hat making process. I hope to be converting more of it to a YouTube friendly format in the coming days and getting it it posted.

Jimmy Pryor

It's SunBody Season!

This picture was featured in the Houston Chronicle...

A Houston Chronicle article by Shannon Tompkins, published September 24th featured 3 ways to  get a jump on Autumn hunting...

You can find the article here.

If you cannot view the article due to a pop-up blocker you can click here.

The story featured this picture of two hunters and their dog ready for the hunt!

After taking a closer look at the picture we were happy to discover our Camo Cowboy hat!  See below.

Since we are approaching hunting season we are offering some selected Camo Cowboy's at a discounted price.  Click here to take advantage of these stylish Camo hats at a GREAT price!

We are still offering our new darker Camo Cowboy!

Of course, we have the good ole' standard Camo!

So, as you stock up on shotgun shells, and new sunglasses don't forget to grab a SunBody Hat!  It just may prove to be your "lucky huntin' hat!"

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Help SunBody Hats Fight Breast Cancer
By purchasing one of our two hats that have the signature breast cancer ribbon on it you will help the fight against breast cancer.  Please take a moment to read about how SunBody donates money to a good cause.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

For every hat purchase (either hat shown) a contribution is made to MD Anderson Cancer Center. 

We were very happy last year to right a check to MD Anderson, lets try and beat last year's contribution!  We are not talking a few pennies for every hat purchased.  For ever RETAIL purchase $5.00 goes to MD Anderson Cancer Center! 

We are calling out to all our loyal customers and SunBody Hats supporters.  Please help us during the month of October to raise breast cancer awareness by wearing your hat. 

More importantly, help us make a contribution to the great people at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Click on the hats for ordering information

Wholesalers' can make a difference too.  For every hat you purchase for your store a contribution is made. 
Call us for details.

SunBody Twitters and MORE!

Hey guys,

We have joined the Twitter community.  You can find us at http://www.twitter.com/SunBodyHats
Feel free to follow our "tweets" as we will often send out little blasts of information, news, etc on our new Twitter site.  If you have any suggestions in regards to our Twitter page you may email them to sunbody@sunbody.com!

We want to thank you again for you HUGE participation in the 3rd annual, "How Do You SunBody?" contest.  All the entries were fantastic, and your voices as to who your favorite pictured SunBody contestant was WAS GREAT!  This year's contest was a lot of fun, we hope you had as much great of a time as we did.  Again, congratulations to all our winners! 

We are getting lots of calls and emails in regards to our top hats!  We are very excited about the response!  We are working with our hatmakers in Guatemala to stock our warehouse in Houston, TX so we can keep up with the demand.  We will keep you posted as to when we get a new shipment in!

Finally, do you have any hat ideas, or hatband ideas?  Something you'd like to see in the SunBody Hats catalog.  Maybe there is a specific crease you would like to see?  Again, the more input we get the better.  You can post you requests in this blog, or if you'd like to email your suggestions, you can email them to scott@sunbody.com

Thank you for your continued support!

-SunBody Hats