Lack of Color is the Australian hat label that grew out of a stash of vintage hats and never lost the habit of playing with them. I think a good brim changes an outfit more than almost anything else, and this is the edit for that.
Lack of Color Hats: What to Know Before You Buy
Vintage hats, seen through an Australian lens
I will admit that I judge an outfit by its hat, or by the lack of one, so Lack of Color was always going to get my attention. Tess Corvaia and photographer Robert Tilbury started it in Queensland in 2011, and the spark was a personal collection of vintage hats, some inherited and some found secondhand.
What I like is that the idea was never to invent a new shape. It was to make an old one feel right for a younger wardrobe, with color and texture doing the updating. One foot in nostalgia, the other in a relaxed, very Australian way of getting dressed.
A hat is a small styling decision with a big effect on proportion and mood. Lack of Color has built its whole point of view on that, from beach brims to western shapes to softer buckets.
A brim for every kind of sunshine
The Vista Hat is the clean, wide-brim starting point I would reach for with linen and a swimsuit, and the Raffia Cowboy Hat leans into the label's western side. The Duke Cowboy Hat and the Noir Rancher Special Hat take that same outline somewhere darker and more graphic. For something softer, the Paloma Sun Hat stays close to a classic beach day.
The smaller pieces change the mood without changing the outfit. The Triangle Bandana adds a neat pop of color at the neck, and the Solar Groove Scarf can knot onto a travel bag or sit loose over a plain top. Picture her walking from a late breakfast to the water in the Paloma Sun Hat, a white shirt and flat sandals. My rule is to choose the hat first and keep every other accessory quiet enough for the shape to read.
Bucket hats, fedoras and a softer finish
The Holiday Bucket is a relaxed answer to a hot afternoon, while Vista Palma and The Spencer Wide Brimmed Boater bring a more structured line to summer clothes. The Melodic Fedora and the Palma Fedora are the ones I would pair with a light jacket when the sun is lower. For western character, Ridge Cowboy and The Ridge keep the outline crisp, and Snuggle Babushka takes the whole thing somewhere cozier.
Picture her packing one hat for a weekend, wearing it on the train and then to lunch outside. The trick is a neutral shade that sits well with whatever else is in her bag. I would let a wide brim be the focal point and skip a busy neckline that competes with it.
A good hat changes the whole picture
Lack of Color makes headwear feel like a personal signature, not a last-minute fix for the weather. The vintage references give the shapes some history, and the colors and textures keep them lively.
I would start with the silhouette I reach for most, then let one unfamiliar brim, maybe the Paloma Lattice Sun Hat or The Inca Bucket Hat, nudge me somewhere new. Although I already know which one would end up on the hook by my door. I went deeper on a related idea in Nutrafol for Women, and What to Know Before You Start a Hair Supplement.
