Advice to a newbie

[Alexander]

I just saw this hat online and fell in love, even though it dont have a brand.
So what do you guys say? Should i buy this cheap and good looking hat or continue drooling over the more expensive quality hats?
http://i6.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/ec/54/ac78_1.JPG

 

[irb]

As in wines, the final arbiter of what constitutes a great hat is you. If you like it enough that you'd miss it if you didn't get it, I'd say go for it.

 

[Alexander]

Thank you! Really good answer I will buy it as soon as i get my paycheck, lets just hope that it dont get stuck in custom so i will have to pay taxes/duties for it

 

[gtdean48]

I've got as many good looking cheap hats as I do good looking expensive ones. I wore them while I saved up & hunted for the good ones. That one looks like an old Stetson Whippet sort of. They eventually become a foul weather hat once you've invested in some high priced ones.

 

[Mulceber]

You could always go for the best of both worlds - save the image and ask a custom hatter to replicate it. It would be expensive, but you'd get a great hat and a great look. -M

 

[Goose.]

As in wines, the final arbiter of what constitutes a great hat is you. If you like it enough that you'd miss it if you didn't get it, I'd say go for it.

Yep. Get what you want.
If you miss out on it, you may always regret it. If you get it, and you don't like, you can use it as a beater or foul weather friend as GTDean said.

 

[Corky]

Here's my advice to a newbie...

If you feel like buying something on-line, why not?

But what you can't get on line is the feel of the hat... And for many of us, that is what's most important.

A good fur felt has a particular tactile quality, a certain silkiness to the touch which is called the "hand" of a hat. This is found in rabbit fur felt hats and increases with the amount of beaver in the blend.

Over the life of the hat, this will show up in the way that the hat wears or bounces back from abuse or reacts to the elements. Also, one sees a lot of posts about people experimenting with bashes or shaping their hats one way or another with steam or by soaking -- cheap hats will fall apart when you do any of that stuff, but good quality fur felt hats will take it and get better.

Best advice is to go to your local hat shop and to try on some of their best quality hats. The prices might be out of your range, but it will give you some idea of what to look for in your acquisitions. Focus on the tactile stimuli, as well as the visual.

Top quality all-beaver or beaver-rich blends hats can be purchased new for hundreds of dollars, but they can also be acquired as used or vintage for a lot less. Also, the quality of vintage felt seems to be superior to what is made today.

It is extremely important to learn to judge the quality of the felt by your own sense of touch. The number of X's on the sweatband can be misleading.

Best of luck