Get The Gear: Throwback Knit Caps

While they’re far from the most athletic item in your wardrobe, knit caps are essential now that cold weather is finally rolling in. And, in terms of aesthetics, your hat is probably the best looking piece of gear in your arsenal. While a jersey or sweatshirt is going to look weird if it deviates too far from the norm, hats have plenty of latitude for patterns, retro logos and anything in between. Here’s some of the best we’ve come across

While there’s nothing exactly wrong with the Patriots’ current uniform, it’s kind of generic: there’s some blue, some red, some white and a stylized logo that looks more like as much like a bird as a it does a patriot. Their old logo, ‘the snapping patriot,’ however, is a different story as there’s no way to mistake a literal patriot holding a football.

This knit cap includes that logo, so it definitely gets a nod from us. But, just in case you didn’t watch the Pats before the ’90s, it still spells out which team you support.

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Until 2000-2001, the San Antonio Spurs logo featured a splash of pink, teal and orange behind the team’s word mark. While those colors, picked to represent a Texas fiesta, never made it onto the team’s uniforms, they were the perfect balance to the logo’s predominate black and silver.

This cap brings back that color palette in all of it’s 1990’s, Miami Vice-esque glory. Once again, those colors are exactly what it takes to set off the black, in this case in the hat band and pompom.

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This one isn’t technically a throwback, but it qualifies on spirit. This season, the Indiana Pacers are wearing Hickory High uniforms, based on the timeless basketball movie, Hoosiers. To the unfamiliar, the movie tells a loosely historical story of a tiny high school (Hickory High or, historically, the 1954 Milan High School team) beating the odds to win the Indiana State High School Basketball tournament.

Beyond the reference to a classic sports movie, the hat also gets points for being white; it’s rarely seen in winter clothing, so it gets a few bonus points for boldness. And, in case your fandom warrants it, there’s still a Pacers logo on the hat band.

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