Hotdog vs Highstreet: Why our Hats are Worth Investing in

Our hats offer so much more than fun and colour! Here’s a look at everything we’ve packed into both our winter and summer kids hats and why they’re worth investing in over a high-street buy:

Unique patterns + prints

Let's start with one of our best loved features – our vibrant prints and patterns! Most high-street stores and supermarkets buy their fabric from stock or off the shelf. They don’t create original designs and use generic prints and colours you can find elsewhere. It’s why you often see similar prints in every single high-street shop. 

We design every single print and pattern from scratch, inspired by trends but also by H and F (my little ones) and real-life experiences we know children love.

Our prints are packed with fun and character to be a head turner wherever they go - whether it’s the playground, the beach, around town or on forest adventures. They’re perfect for making it easier to keep track of them as you foster their independence and let them explore. 

Cute and quirky animals are always a favourite with Little Hotdogs which is reflected in prints like Panda Pop, Moose Wave and Toucan Play. We have lots of  prints to choose from across our summer and winter hats collections. And by popular demand we also have a couple of solid colour options too.

Shop our children's sun hats

Image credit @o__yes__o 

Fantastic fit

Our fit is key to standing out from the high-street. When we were designing our hats, before we made any bulk production orders, we sampled and fit many hats on many different heads! Our feedback then shaped our brand. We learnt that using high-street sizing wasn’t big enough so are hats are actually bigger than many cheaper designs to meet our growing kid's needs.

We specifically looked at how the hat fits around the ears, the forehead and the back of the neck to make sure each design is really comfortable – no tightness or rubbing. And we looked at different head shapes to make sure our hats will fit every head. Cheaper products offer smaller sizes, inconsistent sizing and often will never even try a hat on a child before they send it out for sale...

Other fit details include clever roll-up neck protectors to offer full protection when they need it, while our winter hats have fold-up faux fur ear protects to keep out that winter chill. For your youngest pioneers we have under the chin straps to keep their hats on when curiosity gets the better of them. 

For our winter hats we also cut them so they fit with high collars on winter coats.

HaTech 

Little Hotdog Watson hats don’t just look and feel fab. One of our biggest selling point is that they’re each packed with features to keep your kids safe and comfy as well as stylish. We know how hard it is to find kids clothing and accessories that does it all, and how important it is to keep our little explorers protected as they play and discover the world – which is why we’ve thought of everything. Our smart design features include:

Our winter hat technology

• RainAway – Water resistant fabric to make rainy day fun less soggy!
• KidCosy – Lined with thinsulate to be super warm and snuggly 
• TwinkleTwinkle – Reflective safety detailing perfect for the school pick up or late-night holiday walks

Our summer hat technology

• UPF50+ - Super strength sun protection to keep little heads safe
• Buzz off, bugs – In-built mosquito repellent coating to keep nasty critters away
• Goldilocks fabric – Cleverly adapting fabric to keep your child’s head the perfect temperature 

Find out more about our HaTech here

Shop our hats

Image credit: @this.kid.11

Quality, quality, quality

By now you’ll have noticed our hats have been made with attention to detail throughout - made to last with quality finishes you won’t find unravelling within a few hours of rambunctious kids play. Way back in the beginning we surveyed parents about buying kids hats and we found the average person was buying up to 3 or 4 cheap hats per season because they shrank, fell apart, didn’t look good after a few wears, didn’t offer enough protection or their children simply wouldn’t wear them!

Little Hotdog Watson set out to change that and quality has been essential in making it happen. We trial all our new products on little heads before we sell them. We TEST everything. Testing is expensive and most cheaper brands do minimum testing to cover the basic safety requirements.

We go above and beyond, checking safety and performance. Before we launched, 100 families all over the world tested our hats and fed back. It means our hats really do have pluses high- streets just don’t!

Shop our hats

Image credit: @pasteque_retro

Fabric

We’ve taken great consideration into our fabrics too. Natural fabrics offer the best breathability and performance, but some cheaper brands will skimp here and use polycottons rather than a 100% cotton like we use. This can lead to very hot heads.

While there are cheaper brands that offer 100% cotton too, what you can’t tell by the 100% cotton label alone, is that the quality of cotton differs when you buy cheap. A cheaper cotton will be rough, stiff and bulky. At Little Hotdog Watson we only use the highest quality which means it’s fine, lightweight, soft and with a smooth finish.

Our fabrics also wash and wear really well. All our fabric is tested for shrinkage and pre-washed to ensure the optimum fit lasts.

We also care about the fabric that’s inside. It may be hidden away but our hats feature a super soft jersey lining to make each hat as comfy as possible – and increase the likelihood your child will be happy to wear them!

Sustainable

Little Hotdog Watson hat's are woven in a mill run on 75% solar energy that also recycles and re-uses the water made to make the hats.

We use the latest in technologies combined with long lasting construction techniques to make hats that last and can be passed along to other children in the family.

We make what we need and no more and work at a considered pace. No excess, no constant churn of trends. 

Read more about about how and why we make the way we do. 

Shop our hats

Image credit: @izakorszakphotography

Part hat, part play mate

It’s such a thrill to see how children fall in love with our hats! Alongside all the comfort measures and quality standards, our signature cub ears add character that kids quickly fall for and it’s not long before our hats have become so much more for the Little Hotdogs who wear them. Imaginary friends, adventure companions, safety blankets – our hats have carefully designed to be hats your little ones which actually want to wear and play with, indoors and out.

Be part of the adventure

When you buy from Little Hotdog Watson you join the adventure. Our hats are made to celebrate the importance of fun-filled, bold childhoods where our kids are encouraged to get out and own the world that’s theirs!

Ready to snap up a Little Hotdog Watson hat? Browse our latest collections here.