L4sBotTIL that Panama hats may take a master weaver up to 8 months to produce, at a price of $200. The best hats can sell outside of Ecuador for 50x what the weaver is paid
QuokkaDamn and I thought it was bad that my company makes 5.5x the profit off of my labour than I make, feel sorry for these people getting even more shafted.
CharliechonchI had no idea of the type of weaving involved with those. That’s pure insanity
Always like the ones that get you down a rabbit hole… Most are apparently on the order of a couple of days to produce, utilizing a less compact weave at the expense of some durability and finish, but are much more affordable than the thousands that the more high end ones can cost (more around the $100 mark at the low end). Still likely an order of magnitude more than the artisan gets…
Also thought that with such a high price there would be a lot of fakes, which does appear to be a problem. Linked a site below that seemed to summarize well with photos some of those characteristics, if anyone else is interested. Can’t say I’m in the market for a several hundred dollar straw hat, but to each their own!
How to spot a fake Panama Hat? What is special about Panama Hats?
Genuine Panama Hats are meticulously hand-woven in Montecristi and Cuenca, both cities located in Ecuador. But like in almost everything, the fake Panama Hats market exists alongside the genuine one. This article will help you to spot the ‘fake’; If you see a circular rose on the top of the crown, then it is genuine as that is the beginning of the hand-weaving. Copies don't have that rose, the imitations have a square or a triangle on the top centre.
wow look at this hat that has 4000 weaves per square inch. you can only see the individual weaves with a magnifying glass. insane