head cap

Ways to Wear a Cap 

Wearing a cap comes with a bundle of benefits including saving yourself the unnecessary stress of trying to style your hair on its bad days. But with so many ways to wear a cap, how can you be sure you’re doing it in a way that’s not only comfortable, but will help you stand out for the right reasons?

Hats come in different shapes and sizes and wearing different styles will also compliment certain outfits better, so here at Mainline we’ve picked out our favourite ways you can style your chosen head wear.

Having the brim just above the eyebrows is the most common way to wear this hat and hats in general, and contrary to their original purpose, it doesn’t have to be sunny for it to work!

Wearing a baseball cap in its traditional style works brilliantly and doesn’t require a certain head shape unlike others.  This style of hat has been developed over the years and they are now available in leather, suede, silk and cotton. Regardless of age, baseballs caps are a timelessly practical and practically timeless accessory, and whether you’re a young student or on the far side of 40, a cap will never look out of place.

They’re also a versatile headpiece, and wearing a cap backwards (given that your hair situation is under control!) can add a very laid back look to any casual outfit, although the snapback is a much better option for this.

 The rise of the snapback has largely been credited for its use in hip-hop culture and since its recent revolution, wearing it backwards has become a huge hit! The good thing about this style of hat is that it suits near enough every head shape and size.

Picking the right colour of hat is important for this look as it can either ruin or make your outfit. Our tip is to avoid a colour clash as much as possible, but snapbacks are made to be casual, so pinks and other bright colours are not uncommon.

The most popular way to wear the snapback is front to back, making sure the front of your hair can be seen pushed back in the gap. Allow the hat to press against your head, it’s simply not a good idea to have it balancing.

Flat Cap – Straight Forwards

Like it or not, the flat cap is back and it’s not just the elder generation that are getting involved.

Before its return, this classy hat was only acceptably worn with a more formal, more gentlemanly attire, whereas now it can be seen as a centrepiece of a slightly more modern casual dress, such as a jacket and jeans and everything in between.

This hat really is a brilliant alternative to the baseball cap, and should be worn the same way we recommend you wear that – forwards (sorry if any Samuel L Jackson fans are reading).

When rocking the flat cap, keep the colours plain or in sync with your chosen outfit and you’re sure to set the perfect impression to oncoming eyes.

Truth be told, there’s a hat to suit every man, and if what we’ve covered isn’t for you, then there are plenty more styles out there ready to be discovered, such as the fedora and the beanie. If you think the style you’re after isn’t deemed very popular or cool, just make sure you be yourself and wear what makes you happy. Remember that fashion is always changing with things bouncing back and fourth in and out of style. But, the most important thing to remember is to wear your hat comfortably and with pride; it’s not a good look to have a bright red ring at the centre of your forehead where your hat has been too tight!

 

Just a ‘simple’ cap

What is the first thought that comes to your mind, when you are thinking about NIRS? The infrared light? Maybe research you performed with this technology? For me as a product designer for Artinis it was the ‘head-cap’ for months. It’s a relative simple product compared to the NIRS systems, but it should not be neglected. It is in many cases the only physical link between the device and the subject. If this links fails, the system will not work properly, no matter how well the systems itself functions. In this blog post I would like to share some aspects of the development of our NIRS head-caps.

My focus as a product designer is to improve the head-cap in order to enhance the experience of a NIRS measurement for both the researcher and the subject. The challenges we faced in this development were to create an ergonomic fit for all the subjects, the flexibility of the researcher to measure any brain area, to handle the weight of our 100+ channel Oxymon fibers [1], an ‘optode grid’ specially designed for NIRS and compatible with our Oxymon, Brite, Octamon optodes and optode/electrode holders (classic, pinch, NIRS/EEG, Ring Electrode holder, etc.). Here I will explain how we managed to tackle these ‘challenges’ in order to create the Artinis (NIRS) head-cap. 

 

We started this design process with the question: Which brain regions are of interest for you as a user? Technically speaking, every brain region could be of interest for you. This is why we believe that the cap should cover the entire scalp. It seems obvious, but I have seen many head-caps of the competition that forget to cover e.g. the entire prefrontal cortex. As shown in figure 1, the frontal outline of the cap ends slightly above your eyebrows, while the back of the head-cap covers the whole visual cortex. 

Also the head shape of each individual is unique. But there are also so many similar characteristics which I as a designer use. E.g. the relation between the size of the head circumference, distance between the nasion to inion and ear to ear are used to create the overall shape. The overall curvature on your forehead, the flat area on the side of your head or the small bump (inion) on the backside of your head are used to generate an equal amount of pressure. We used the space below your chin to secure the head-cap and limit movement artefacts during a measurement. Our design in figure 1 illustrates that we used the characteristics to shape the head-cap and generate a comfortable fit for each individual while the cap covers all the brain regions of interest.

We designed the Artinis head-cap with pen and paper. How did we managed to translate our ideas into a functional prototype? We started by selecting the material. We wanted a material that is comfortable to wear for multiple hours, sturdy enough to handle the weight of our 100+ channel system and easy to clean for hygienic purposes [2]. We tested multiple fabrics but also silicone. Neoprene fabric proved to be the most suitable material for our application. After multiple iterations of prototypes, we were able to create a satisfactory cap. The Artinis head-cap shown in figure 2 implements all features we initially specified, including covering all brain regions of interest [3]. Figure 2 also shows us a special designed ‘optode grid’. In the next section I will explain how we developed this NIRS grid.

 

Figure 2: Artins head-cap design features
The ‘grid’ is a word we often used during the development. It should be an optimized NIRS optode template with a distance of 30 mm between the optodes. We designed the head-cap such that the neoprene stretches on predefined locations, therefore comfortably embracing the subject’s head. This stretching, however, comes at the price of changing distances between optodes. We were able to incorporate the stretching properties into the calculations for the optimal optode positions. As the shape and size of the human head differs individually, however, maintaining a perfect 30mm distance is impossible. We strive to optimise the distribution of distances thereby outperforming other caps on the market. Figure 3 and graph 1 shows how our grid compares to the Easycap. These points are measured with the Polhemus digitizer. We see that the interoptode distance is way more consistent with our headcaps.

How to Choose a Swim Cap

With a little help, choosing a swim cap is an easy task. Ultimately, your swim cap selection should complement your swimming activities feel great when you’re wearing it.

3 Basic Types of Swim Caps – How To 

ChooseThere are three basic types of swim caps on the market. Kiefer carries a variety of colored and patterned caps, made by Kiefer, Speedo, and TYR, but there is not much variety across brands. Swim cap material is the biggest decision – they do not all have the same intended use, so let’s get talking!

 Lycra Swim Caps

Are you an aquaciser? If you like to do water aerobics, aquatic therapy, or work against the current in the lazy river, a Lycra cap might be perfect for you. Lycra swimming caps are made of a soft, breathable fabric so you won’t get a ‘hot head’ doing your swim workout. They are strong enough to keep your hair in place and out of your face, but stretchy enough to be comfortable. Try out the Kiefer Lycra Swim Cap or a Speedo Lycra  Swim Cap.

 

Latex Swim Caps

Lap swimmers, you are looking for something different and more streamlined. One option is a latex cap. Latex is a stretchy and durable rubber (if cared for). Latex caps are more widely available and are also the least expensive. Latex caps are available in solids, patterns, and team prints. These caps are often included in race bags for triathlons or open water swimming competitions. They are easily customized to give a team or event a unified look. Kiefer offers a huge variety of latex caps:

• Fun Caps with seasonal themes

  Silicone Swim Caps

  ption number two, also recommended for lap swimmers, is a molded silicone cap. Silicone caps are more expensive than latex caps, but outlast them without fail. Soft silicone doesn’t grab your hair like latex and  will stretch to accommodate different amounts of hair. Silicone swimming caps are for everyone, and Kiefer has an excellent selection to choose from:Because silicone bathing caps are more user friendly, have a longer life, and offer a soft grip around your head, I put them at the front of the field.

  Specialty Silicone Caps

  Silicone swimming caps have more mold varieties then latex, and additional specialty styles are available for smaller audiences:

  Ultimately, swimmers should go with what they like. Try different bathing cap materials and different brands until you find your favorite. Just because you don’t swim laps doesn’t mean you won’t prefer latex or silicone over Lycra.
  The important thing is you get yourself in the water and just keep swimming!
  Kiefer Customer Service is happy to help you select bathing caps for swimming.
  PS. Looking for more advice? Check out our swimsuit material selection guide
  
  
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