Shop for Beanies

Beanies at Village Hat Shop

The transition of "watch caps" to "beanies" represents a lesson in the evolution of the English language. If enough people begin to call something old by a new name, the old name will ultimately be trumped by the new name. Watch caps, whose name comes from the hat worn by sailors doing their "watch" aboard ship, became popular street wear when skateboarders and their pals took up the hat as a sartorial symbol of their subculture. They called these hats "beanies", and like countless words before it that came up from the street and into the general language, "beanies" stuck.  Whatever you call them, the good qualities of these hats are the same by any name: simple, warm, and easy to carry or pack.