Max Headgear -- Coneheads, Dreadlocks The Latest Word In Ski-Hat Fashions

Believe it or not, the latest ski-slope fashion in Sunriver, Ore., is a candy-colored cap with about 30 fleece tentacles that resembles the offspring of a cupcake and an octopus. One of its most enthusiastic fans says it looks "a lot like a mushroom on the video game Super Mario Land."

Its formal name is a Dred Head, and by all accounts it is a hot seller in parts of Oregon, and at Washington ski resorts including Crystal and Stevens Pass.

Jay Zimmerman, an employee at Four Seasons Sports in Sunriver, says Dred Heads appeal to teenaged snow boarders and grandmothers.

"I've got ladies 65 and older that are part of the Sunriver Bridge Club wearing these hats," said Zimmerman. "Why not? They're warm on your ears, soft on your heads, and they help keep your goggles on."

A serious skier, Zimmerman says he wears one regularly on the slopes and is not concerned that the hat, with its fleece tentacles flopping around like unruly dreadlocks, is not the most aerodynamically efficient headgear available. Dred Heads retail for about $36 and come in seven color combinations.

The young are on the cutting edge of the new looks in slope head wear, including winter versions of last summer's popular Mambosok - a fashion concept that looks something like a pair of men's boxers worn on the head - and a 3-foot stocking cap known in sporting-goods stores as the "elf hat."

Though the classic Mambosok is a tube-shaped affair with a drawstring on both ends, a winter version is made of brightly colored polar fleece and is stitched together at the top, conehead style. The hats are made by a pair of young entrepreneurs in Kirkland and are available, among other places, at Snowboard Connections in Pioneer Square and Fiorini Sports in University Village. They sell for $13 to $15. The elf sock, manufactured by The Mews, of Center Conway, N.H., is made of acrylic and is also available at Fiorini for about $24.

Of course the fashion forward could also wear these ski hats on nippy days in downtown Seattle, as recently demonstrated by a trio of young businessmen from Seattle Northwest, a securities firm, who agreed to model them.

James Hattori, who usually skis in something more traditional than a Mambosok, said he might "wear it just for fun."

Blaine O' Kelley, who modeled the elf hat, said fashion-wise he preferred the Dred Head, as did most of the people on the street the trio polled.