There's something singular about wearing a hat that was made specifically for you. Not selected from a shelf, not adjusted at the brim, but built from the ground up around your choices — your material, your colour, your finish. This guide walks you through every step of our Made to Order process, so you can arrive at your perfect hat with confidence.
The Process
Every Hills Made to Order Hat begins as a set of decisions, and our configurator is designed to make those decisions feel considered rather than overwhelming. You'll work through eight steps at your own pace, each one building on the last. There are no wrong answers — only preferences — and our team reviews every order before it enters the workshop to ensure everything works together beautifully. Once confirmed, your hat is hand-blocked, trimmed, and finished by our craftspeople before being carefully packed and sent to your door. Most made-to-order felts are completed within three to four weeks.
Select your Material
Your material choice is the foundation of everything that follows. We offer two weights of wool felt — a 120g for a lighter, more flexible wear, and a 150g for those who prefer a more structured, robust hat — as well as a premium fur felt in 130g and 170g for the finest possible finish. Bear in mind that your material selection will influence which colours and finishing options are available to you further along, so it's worth taking a moment here to think about where and how you'll be wearing your hat most.
Select your Colour
Once your hood is chosen, you'll see the full palette available in that felt. Our colour range spans from deep charcoals and classic blacks through to warm earthy tones and cooler neutrals — each one selected to work with the natural character of the felt rather than against it. If you're unsure, consider your wardrobe as a whole. A versatile mid-tone will carry you further across seasons and occasions, while a stronger colour makes a statement worth committing to.
Select your lining
A lining is one of those details that only you will know is there — but you'll feel it every time you put the hat on. Our standard option leaves the interior unlined for a clean, minimal finish, while black satin adds a touch of quiet luxury and a smooth feel against the forehead. For something truly personal, our custom lining option lets you choose a fabric that means something to you — a small detail that transforms a well-made hat into something genuinely one of a kind.
Select your trim
The ribbon trim sits at the base of the crown and does more to define the character of a hat than most people realise. Our standard colour-matched ribbon keeps things clean and cohesive, letting the felt speak for itself. A custom ribbon introduces contrast and personality — our trim chart offers a wide range of colours and widths to explore. For something more structured and contemporary, our leather trim option with a buckle or keeper finish brings an understated edge to any colourway.
Select your Brim edge
The brim edge is a detail that rewards close attention. A bound edge finishes the brim with a ribbon that neatly wraps and stitches around the circumference — traditional, tidy, and hardwearing. A cut edge leaves the felt raw at the tip for a cleaner, more modern look. The welted edge turns the brim over and stitches it back on itself — a technique with deep roots in classic hatmaking that gives the brim a distinctive rolled weight and feel.
Select your Badge
The Hills Hats badge is a small emblem worn on the left side of the crown — a mark of provenance that our craftspeople have applied to every hat leaving the Auckland workshop for over a century. You can choose between our classic black badge, a white badge for darker colourways, or no badge at all for a cleaner, unbranded look. It's a small decision, but one worth making deliberately.
Select your Brim shape
The brim shape determines the overall silhouette of your feltand how it frames your face. A dipped brim follows the classic curve — lower at the front and back, with a gentle rise at the sides — and is the most universally flattering. A turned-up brim sweeps boldly upward all the way around for a more dramatic, fashion-forward profile. A flat brim sits level and strong, lending a contemporary edge to the traditional shape.
Size guide
A well-made hat deserves a proper fit. You'll find a straightforward guide to measuring your head accurately at home on our Sizing page, all you need is a flexible tape measure and a few moments. View Size Guide Learn how to measure
Your hat, made by hand
Once you've worked through all eight steps, your configuration is summarised in a clear order overview before you check out. From there, it passes to our team in Wellington, who review every detail before the hat enters production. What arrives at your door is not a product picked from a warehouse but something made specifically for you, by hand, in New Zealand — a hat with your choices woven into every stitch. We hope you'll wear it for a very long time.
