FINALLY! A Stylish Hat Helmet (or is it Helmet Hat?) for Bicyclists

Photo: Nara Shin - via Coolhunting

Unless you're a five-year-old like my youngest daughter who loves her oh-so-stylish Raskullz Unicorn Helmet, or you're a guy with ample sense of humor and love wearing the Bald Head Helmet, there's just not that many fashionable choices between keeping safe and looking stylish.

Thankfully, Dr. Cheryl Allen-Munley may have the solution. Allen-Munley is a bicycle enthusiast and former Director of Transportation in Jersey City who wrote a dissertation on bike safety. She's turned her knowledge into Bandbox, a stylish line of bike helmet that looks like fashionable hats.

Photos via Bandbox

Bandbox helmets aren't only fashionable, they're comfy and super-safe, too. "I designed it to actually mimic the shape of the human head - basically my head," Allen-Munley said to Coolhunting, "Styrofoam—which most helmets are made out of—is not as impact-resistant as elastomeric foam, which is what we use."

After the thermoplastic shells are molded and the foam is molded, Allen-Munley assembles that hat part herself. Her skill as a milliner truly shows when women inquire about the hats at outdoor fairs, not realizing that they are actually bike helmets.