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Akubra Overload

B.J. Hedberg

Practically Family
Messages
528
Location
Minnesota
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Reblocked and spot-cleaned my well-used campdraft this weekend to get it ready for vacation. It really is a great hat to play around with. Nice and soft once you break it in, but it still holds its shape well. Needs some ribbon rework still though. I’m just really a fan of the Akubras. Good, cheap, and tough.
 

Lando

Practically Family
Messages
588
Location
VT, USA
I own and have owned a bunch of Akubra hats but I've never owned one like this.
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I ordered a Snowy River in White from Everything Australia back in December. Because of a problem with another hat on the order, it didn't arrived till just today. Thing is, I didn't know that Akubra did fuzzy hats. I've never seen one before and was genuinely happily surprised by what came in the box. When I ordered it, I just saw the color listing for white with no mention of a different finish on the felt. So, can anyone tell me, is this something Akubra offer? Does anyone else have a fuzzy Akubra? and I know, thats sounds like the beginning of a joke lol.
 

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
I've never seen a velour Akubra before Lando. That's definitely a cool hat. If they have some models like that now I might have to pick one up!
 

DesertDan

One Too Many
Messages
1,582
Location
Arizona
Wow, that is quite a find Lando!
I have never seen a fuzzy Akubra nor read any mention of them.
That hat looks great, congrats!
 

Lando

Practically Family
Messages
588
Location
VT, USA
Maybe the good folks at Everything Australian could explain this "mystery" hat. Have you contacted them?

I was actually going to write an email today lol. Was just checking here first in case it was something quite common I'd just missed. I'll let you all know what they say.
 

Seb Lucas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,562
Location
Australia
I'd be interested. Maybe it was part of a run for some kind of rodeo/horse show and they made a bunch of them for that. Akubra certainly used to produce custom jobs based on existing patterns. Maybe they still do if the quantity and price is right.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
I am curious, does anybody here own an Akubra top hat? I am not sure under what context I'd see myself wearing a top hat, now, but it does look like a nice hat.

Special-TopHat-Black-preview.jpg
 

Lando

Practically Family
Messages
588
Location
VT, USA
Okay, so Sam emailed me back from Everything Australia about the fuzzy Snowy River, and says that the long haired furfelt was a finish they use to do on a model called the "Jack High". Both the "Jack High" model and the option for the White Snowy River have both been discontinued. It appears that when he put the custom order in for the white Snowy River, this was just what they supplied, and maybe be the only white they had. His exact words were that my hat may now be a "collector piece" lol . The other hat on the order was a Navy hat and he was told that that model in that color was now discontinued which is why the order had to be changed and took a little while longer than normal. So there you go. I just got lucky.

Now, does that mean they have the ability to do a long furfelt and just no longer do it? Would they do a special run in one model if say a bunch of people really wanted one? What model would people want in a shaggy furfelt?

Either way, it's a really nice hat and I'm very happy with it.
 

fedoracentric

Banned
Messages
1,362
Location
Streamwood, IL
I am curious, does anybody here own an Akubra top hat? I am not sure under what context I'd see myself wearing a top hat, now, but it does look like a nice hat.

Special-TopHat-Black-preview.jpg

I have to say, I am not a fan of most new-made toppers. They usually seem fat and clunky, not elegant like the toppers of those days gone by. I prefer vintage when it comes to toppers--then again, I have a smaller size head so I can afford to wait for a good vintage topper to come up.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
I think the Akubra top hat recalls an earlier style in top hats, when they were made of felt, and before it was mostly silk top hats that had become popular between the later 19th and early 20th centuries. I think many of these silk hats were collapsible, so that they could be reduced in size to be placed under one's seat at the opera, for example. I could be mistaken about the weight of the felt, and the antique felt top hats could have been made lighter, too.


Okay, so Sam emailed me back from Everything Australia about the fuzzy Snowy River, and says that the long haired furfelt was a finish they use to do on a model called the "Jack High". Both the "Jack High" model and the option for the White Snowy River have both been discontinued. It appears that when he put the custom order in for the white Snowy River, this was just what they supplied, and maybe be the only white they had. His exact words were that my hat may now be a "collector piece" lol . The other hat on the order was a Navy hat and he was told that that model in that color was now discontinued which is why the order had to be changed and took a little while longer than normal. So there you go. I just got lucky.

Now, does that mean they have the ability to do a long furfelt and just no longer do it? Would they do a special run in one model if say a bunch of people really wanted one? What model would people want in a shaggy furfelt?

Either way, it's a really nice hat and I'm very happy with it.

That long haired felt on the Snowy River is very interesting. I think it looks like a great hat, and it's very unique for an Akubra. I haven't seen another Akubra hat like it, yet. Is the hat older, or of more recent stock?
 
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DesertDan

One Too Many
Messages
1,582
Location
Arizona
Lando, thanks for the info on the longhair Snowy River. You have definitely lucked into a very unique and great looking hat, congrats!

Cheers!
DD
 

Joao Encarnado

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,776
Location
Portugal
Now, does that mean they have the ability to do a long furfelt and just no longer do it? Would they do a special run in one model if say a bunch of people really wanted one? What model would people want in a shaggy furfelt?

Either way, it's a really nice hat and I'm very happy with it.

Don't know if you can ask directly to Akubra, but I would try.
 

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