Keong Saik Hat Shop With S$145 Panamas: Hat of Cain

Hat of Cain sells only genuine Panama hats woven from toquilla palm in Ecuador, and it sells them from a small salon at 43 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089147. The shop opens Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm and on Sunday from 11:30am to 3:30pm, and it is closed on Monday and public holidays. The cheapest hat on its own price list is the Sierra at S$145; the most expensive is a Grade 32 Superfino at S$3,200. If you came looking for a hat shop that will actually fit you rather than hand you a size off a shelf, this is the one in Chinatown.

The company was founded in Singapore in 2012 with what its own story page calls a simple goal: to find the perfect hat for life in the tropics. It began with a handful of classic shapes and now carries men's, women's and unisex Panamas in short, medium and large brims, plus flat caps, travel hats, sunglasses and hat accessories. In a 2017 interview with HNWorth, Bill Cain said it had always been his dream to have a funky hat salon that offers personalised services, and the Keong Saik shop is built around exactly that idea.

The salon is not a browse-and-go boutique. Staff talk you through crown shapes and brim widths against your face and how you live, explain the difference between tight, formal weaves and looser crochet or twisted weaves meant for travel, and offer small finishing touches such as feathers, coloured headbands or seasonal trims. The site has a separate Book an Experience page for a hat fitting, which is the better route if you want a quiet half hour with the full range rather than a quick try-on.

Every hat on the shelf is labelled with a grade, and the grade explains most of the price. The Brando, which the shop calls a classic entry-level unisex Panama, is Grade 3 in a Brisa weave with a diamante crown, a 7cm brim and an ink blue grosgrain band, and it costs S$275. The Sean Connery is a Grade 12 centre-dent shape with a reinforced 5.5cm to 6cm brim and a black double-bow band for S$450. The Anthony, also Grade 12 but in the finer Cuenca weave, is S$615.

Above that sit two hats that most visitors only look at. The Fino #21 takes six to eight months to weave and costs S$1,200. The Superfino #32 is described as the product of eight to ten months of the finest work that can be done on a Panama, comes with a hat case and a hat clip, and costs S$3,200. Ask to hold one next to a Grade 3: the difference in how light passes through the weave is the clearest lesson in the shop.

For a first Panama in Singapore heat, start with the 7cm brims. The Brando and the Cruiser at S$275 are everyday shapes that work with a linen shirt, and the Voyager at S$220 is pitched for travel. Women who want shade rather than tailoring should try the Sierra, a large openwork brim of roughly 10 to 12cm in baby pink or dark brown at S$145, or the Boater Wide Brim, a softer twisted-weave boater with a 9cm brim at S$325.

Not everything here is straw. The City Boy is a small-visor flat cap in 100% Subalpino linen made by Cappellificio Biellese 1935, an Italian hatmaker from the Cervo Valley near Biella, priced at S$245 in sizes from 57cm to 62cm. It is non-adjustable and dry clean only, so try two sizes before you choose. Skip the sunglasses wall unless you are already set on a hat; the eyewear is good, but the reason to come to Keong Saik is the Panama fitting, and that is where staff time is best spent.

Most of the Panamas come in S/M to L/XL or in centimetre sizes from 55cm upwards, and many have an adjustable velcro strap inside the sweatband, which helps if you sit between sizes. Every online order ships in a hat box sized to the brim width,. If you are buying for someone else, the shop has a guide to measuring a head on its site, and the online store sells a S$100 gift card.

Two accessories are worth the extra spend if you travel. The Hat Stretcher, S$40 in small (55cm to 58cm) or large (59cm to 62cm), is solid pine with an aluminium turnbuckle; you steam the hat and leave the stretcher in for at least 20 minutes to undo shrinkage from sweat and heat. The Hat Case at S$155 holds up to three hats with brims up to 9cm, carries four ways and is durable enough to check in.

Weekday afternoons are the easiest time for an unhurried fitting, because Keong Saik gets its crowds after dark when the bars and restaurants along the road fill up. Sunday hours are short, 11:30am to 3:30pm, so arrive early if you want time to compare grades. Do not plan a Monday visit: the door is shut, and it is also shut on public holidays.

If the salon is full or closed, the shop lists its Singapore stockists on the Find Us page: the Colony Clothing boutique at Raffles Hotel, Brisa at Tanglin Mall and in Joo Chiat, and the Fullerton Hotel Shop. Those counters carry a smaller selection without the fitting service, so treat them as a fallback for a gift rather than a substitute for choosing your own hat here.

Keong Saik Road is a curve of restored two- and three-storey shophouses in the old Chinatown, and the walk is half the reason to make the trip. Heading up the road you pass the small Cundhi Gong Temple and, near the top, the Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple, a Hindu temple whose carved gateway is easy to spot. The boutique Hotel 1929 and the Keong Saik Hotel occupy restored shophouse rows along the same stretch.

From there, Duxton Hill is a few minutes' walk for a quiet, tree-shaded loop, and Maxwell Food Centre on South Bridge Road is the obvious lunch stop before or after a fitting. If you are wearing a new Panama out of the shop, the Chinatown walk at midday is a fair test of whether the brim you chose actually keeps the sun off your neck.

Address: Hat of Cain, 43 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089147. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 6pm; Sunday 11:30am to 3:30pm; closed Monday and public holidays. Email: inquiries@hatofcain.com. The nearest MRT station is Outram Park, a short walk away. The online store takes cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Prices quoted here come from the shop's own online store: Sierra S$145, Voyager S$220, Brando S$275, Sean Connery S$450, Anthony S$615, Fino #21 S$1,200 and Superfino #32 S$3,200. Corporate gifting and bulk orders go through the same email address. Ask the Karpo APP for a Keong Saik dinner nearby once your hat is boxed.