As those of us with small humans will attest, keeping a hat on a child’s head can be as relaxing and successful an experience as trying to enjoy a quiet picnic on a particularly active volcano. Kids don’t care about little things like sunstroke and sunburn and harmful UV rays frying their teeny-tiny skin cells – they want to be freeeeeee, goshdammit, and they don’t mind telling you as much by repeatedly throwing their hat in the gutter. Sigh. It was after one such situation – after many, many attempts to wrestle a beanie back onto an errant toddler – that this author stumbled upon Little Noggi and promptly fell in love with handmade hats especially designed to stay put on tiny noggins.
Lovingly created in Melbourne by creative wonder and mother of two Sheree Steele, Little Noggis are limited edition and released for sale just once a month. With a fastener at the neck and a shape that allows for optimal peripheral vision (essential in clocking a free swing/the quickest route to a table choc-full of fairy bread), these beauties stay on even the most stubborn of shortstack. As an entirely one-woman operation that creates ethical, well-made pieces to last a lifetime, Little Noggi’s mostly organic, handprinted materials are sourced from indie textile houses and combined to create truly unique designs – with any fabric scraps niftily turned into little ears attached to headbands. Oh, and speaking of ears – the hats come with an optional pom-pom on the winter design and ears on the summer. EARS WE TELL YOU. Personally, we don’t think that level of cuteness is ever optional. Parents, set your alarms for the next release date.
