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[gqmagic]

How much can a fur felt or beaver be stretched? One size, 2 sizes, 1/2 size? And approximate cost?
The answer may hasten my purchase of a custom. Thanks

 

[gtdean48]

How much can a fur felt or beaver be stretched? One size, 2 sizes, 1/2 size? And approximate cost?
The answer may hasten my purchase of a custom. Thanks

Professionals can reblock but I, personally with my stretcher, will only try 1 size. The brim gets wonky if I try more than a 7 1/2 to a 7 5/8.
HTH

 

[T Rick]

My money says it has his brand, West Coast Choppers, on it somehow. I don't think he wears anything w/o an endorsement deal around it, but you never know.
From Monster Garage, it looks like he shops with Kid Rock....

While I can't say I always like Kid Rock's choices in hats (or the way he wears them), I do know he's into them, and that's a good thing. FWIW, he is a regular Customer at Henry The Hatter in Downtown Detroit (several pics of him down there too).

Also FWIW, the time I managed to meet him briefly and shake his hand, he was wearing a Santa hat. It was Christmas Day 2006, we were at a military dining facility in the Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, and he was in Country to entertain the troops. This was lunch time, and he'd shown up at this base to dish chow to the troops (I was there as a contractor working on the classified areas of the new U.S. Embassy). We avoided the line he was serving in, making room for the troops, but they had a cake cutting ceremony, after which I found myself standing right near him with a lull in the action. Took the opportunity to let him know that most of the Tradesmen working on the Embassy had come from Detroit, a fact most didn't know, and he naturally appreciated (big proponent of the City).

 

[crawlinkingsnake]

anybody know anything about the Biltmore hat company? I saw one I really liked in a shop near Wash,D.C.

 

[jlee562]

anybody know anything about the Biltmore hat company? I saw one I really liked in a shop near Wash,D.C.

Used to be made in Canada, but they recently closed that factory. If you run a search, you should be able to find some info.

 

[rrd]

Anyone know anything about Richman bros?

 

[Duper]

A milan straw hat breaths well and looks good. I would not want to soak it but a light rain has not effected mine. They are pretty stiff but tough for a straw hat.

Thanks Job. I have emailed Panama Bob while I digest on a Milan straw. I had a Panama hat I really liked a few years back. I had mistakenly left some dog treats in it one day when visiting family. The hat was on a table at the front door. She wanted the treats and the Panama was just collateral damage. Unfortunately I have never been able to find a suitable replacement for it. The Panamas do seem to be a bit more "unique" being hand made and all.

 

[jlee562]

Vintage size tags hanging on by a thread: do you tape them? Tear them off and store them with the hat box? Does it even matter to anyone else but me?

 

[DavidJ]

Why have there been so many size 7s showing up in the classifieds lately?? I need to save money, but they're so tempting!!

 

[gtdean48]

Vintage size tags hanging on by a thread: do you tape them? Tear them off and store them with the hat box? Does it even matter to anyone else but me?

Gently remove them & store them with the hat box... I know what size my head is & wouldn't want the tag to fall off without me noticing it & lose it. JMHO....

 

[alanfgag]

Vintage size tags hanging on by a thread: do you tape them? Tear them off and store them with the hat box? Does it even matter to anyone else but me?

On a related note, I wonder why so many of these paper size labels remain affixed to the vintage hats that have survived a half century or longer. Why didn't more owners remove them or snip off the part that extends beyond the sweatband? I think I might have, in the day.

 

[Old Buzzard]

Dobbs date

Hello Dobbs Fans!

Could you help me with an approx. date on this hat? Seller claims circa 50s.

The hat is very light and thin felt. Crown is 5 1/4 inch tall...Brim is 2 1/4 inch wide
Brim binding is 3/16 wide...Ribbon is 1 7/8 inch wide...Sweat band is 1 3/4 inch.

Can't read stick on paper tag other than Company name and address. No markings
on back side of sweatband other than size stamped in ink.
First time for pictures on the lounge, hope they work.

Thank you for any information,
OB

 

[TipTop]

Not sure how to "search" this topic, so I'll post it here.

Is there a graded listing of manufacturers--and their model grades--anywhere on this site (or elsewhere)? What I mean is what were Setson's top (high quality) models' names? For instance, I discovered recently on ePrey that Churchill, one of my fav brands had an elegant LTD edition , made with vicuna, that came in its own fitted case (I have posted that auction today in eBay steals/deals, etc.).

But also, I was wondering how Stetson, Cavenaugh, Knox, Dobbs, etc. stacked up against each other at price points (generally; I'm sure they all had high-end models). (I realize there were eras to consider too, as manufacturers came and went, were bought up by others, etc.)

Anyway, that's my overall list question. Anybody seen one here or elsewhere? Many thanks.

 

[DJH]

Ray, I don't think you'll get a one post answer to your quality question. There are a multitude of posts hereon the Lounge that go into some of these issues.

You might have already found this one, but the Quality Think Tank thread is a good place to start attempting to decipher the mysteries of Stetson quality designations through the decades.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Anyone know anything about Richman bros?

Richman Bros was a chain of clothing stores that went through some ownership changes in the 70s and closed up in the early 1990s. I have a Richman Bros strat clone that's a pretty nice hat; I'd guess their hats were jobbed out to Lee (who made hats for J C Penney and other department stores) or some other hat manufacturer that supplied the chains.

Maybe someone can look at the hat I linked to and see if the various tags/stickers are indicative of a particular manufacturer.

 

[GamaH]

Hey y'all, I had a question regarding the term "taper" on Fedoras.

From this thread here, I've come to the understanding that the crown tapering is defined from the profile view (side ways). If this is a misconception, please correct me.

Otherwise, what is a / | \ crown, when viewed from the front called? Is that tapering as well? I noticed that my Borsalinos have a much sleeker look than my Optimos, both from the front and profile views. If I want my crown to look like / | \ from the front when worn rather than | | |, do I tell the hatter that I want a tapered crown, or does how tapered the crown looks depend on the type of crease on the hat? Although I think the latter is somewhat unlikely, since both my Borsas and Optimos have a teardrop crown, but the former is visibly tapered.

In case I just did a terrible job stating what the question was, the question is, are fedoras with a crown like this called tapered, or is tapered only for profile-view.

 

[job]

It is a tapered crown. The way a hat is creased will effect the crown shape. You can see a difference with a center dent and a c crown and how deep the are applied. If you are having a hat reblocked tell the hatter what effect you are after and maybe it can be achieved.

 

[Duper]

I own a Sunbody fine palm pressed fedora. Is the fine palm very different than a Milan straw for texture, build and comfort? I have been looking at photos on the different hat vendor sites and the construction looks similar.

 

[GamaH]

It is a tapered crown. The way a hat is creased will effect the crown shape. You can see a difference with a center dent and a c crown and how deep the are applied. If you are having a hat reblocked tell the hatter what effect you are after and maybe it can be achieved.

So let me get this right, a tapered crown is a tapered crown, and it will look tapered from both the profile and front view?

Basically what happened was this, I bought a Borsalino sometime back, and I really liked how it looked; it had a teardrop crown, so I had an Optimo made in a teardrop crown as well, and while I never really compared them from profile views, the front view of the Borsalino suits me better, in my opinion. Looks less "boxy," if you will. I like my Optimo more (mainly because the quality is far superior), but the look of the Borsalino's crown is what I'm trying to recreate with my next Optimo hat perhaps.

Since they're both teardrop crowns, I'm pretty sure the Borsalino crown is more tapered than my Optimo, but I'm not certain that it's the correct word, so I sort of need to have that clarified before anything else. I mean, I don't want to be telling Graham that "Oh, I want a tapered crown," and then end up with something different from what I was expecting because I used the wrong term. E.g.; telling the tailor that you want "a traditional fit" when what you really want is a modern silhouette.

 

[jlee562]

You can have taper in both the front and back, and sides of a hat's shape.