Ask a question, get an answer

[nvilletele]

I wasn’t terribly grabbed by their hats, but they do appear well made, as afar as one can tell from a photo.

The sizing would also be an issue for me, as 58 is best.

 

[dkstott]

Wondering who may have experience good or bad with Gamble & Gunn in Great Britain.
Have this pork pie ordered and on the way:
https://gambleandgunn.com/product/gamble-gunn-heisenberg-style-porkpie-hat/
At $41 U.S. obviously not high end but other hats I’ve gotten in the UK have been very decent, though this is my first Gamble & Gunn purchase.
Just wanted to see if anyone can weigh in on this company and anything you may have from them.

A few things that I've learned from purchasing newsboy caps from Gamble and Gunn.

#1. Make sure of your size. Return shipping is NOT paid by gamble and Gunn.

I'm between a 57 & 58. They've been willing to sort through their caps and provide me with great fitting caps.

# 2. Watch their product descriptions. If it says " British made" then the items is completely made in Britain.

If there's no indication, its likely that the fabric was made somewhere in the UK, but the final product was sewn elsewhere.

They've told me that have to outsource the sewing in order to sell their lower priced caps at the $40-60 prices.

 

[M Brown]

Who has had habanero/mango ice cream?

it's pretty awesome

 

[nvilletele]

Who has had habanero/mango ice cream?

it's pretty awesome

Not I, said the duck.
Love mango, hate habanero.

 

[johnnycanuck]

Wondering who may have experience good or bad with Gamble & Gunn in Great Britain.
Have this pork pie ordered and on the way:
https://gambleandgunn.com/product/gamble-gunn-heisenberg-style-porkpie-hat/
At $41 U.S. obviously not high end but other hats I’ve gotten in the UK have been very decent, though this is my first Gamble & Gunn purchase.
Just wanted to see if anyone can weigh in on this company and anything you may have from them.

I do like a good porkpie. That one has a nice classic shape and dimensions. Please give us a review when it comes in. I know I would like to hear about it.
Johnny.

 

[Edward]

Are they using Stetson trademarks and pictures to market knock-off hats?

They're certainly ripping off Stetson marketing material. I wouldn't be confident what might arrive from such an operation would be recognisably a counterfeit of the Stetson model.

 

[Edward]

I do like a good porkpie. That one has a nice classic shape and dimensions. Please give us a review when it comes in. I know I would like to hear about it.
Johnny.

Quite so. Porkpies I seem to see available (and in a much wider range of colours) in wool far more often than I do in furfelt. Many of the wool ones I see look really nice, though it's hard to fully tell as with anything from a photo what they feel like up close, whether it's possible to pop the brim down at the front (not usually with a wider wool brim, though I've encountered one or two of the stingy type with a pp style shape where it seems to be possible), and so on. I think a lot of us who get 'into' brimmed hats can end up somewhat wary of wool - I know I tend to knee jerk prefer felt by a long way, but I'm trying in some cases not to automatically dismiss wool if it would do my job. I've been consciously thinking about this of late as there are some wools I really like. I think it works well for a nicely made bowler, for one. I've seen porkpies and homburgs in wool online in colours I can never find in furfelt (at least not without great expense and often custom work), so this is my point of interest here...

 

[belfastboy]

Quite so. Porkpies I seem to see available (and in a much wider range of colours) in wool far more often than I do in furfelt. Many of the wool ones I see look really nice, though it's hard to fully tell as with anything from a photo what they feel like up close, whether it's possible to pop the brim down at the front (not usually with a wider wool brim, though I've encountered one or two of the stingy type with a pp style shape where it seems to be possible), and so on. I think a lot of us who get 'into' brimmed hats can end up somewhat wary of wool - I know I tend to knee jerk prefer felt by a long way, but I'm trying in some cases not to automatically dismiss wool if it would do my job. I've been consciously thinking about this of late as there are some wools I really like. I think it works well for a nicely made bowler, for one. I've seen porkpies and homburgs in wool online in colours I can never find in furfelt (at least not without great expense and often custom work), so this is my point of interest here...

Out of a curiosity I purchased a few wool capelines just to try them. At first glance it is hard to tell them apart from a lighter weight fur felt. They do require an application of stiffener to make them more easily worked. As you say the colour palette available is really wide and they are great for making more fashion oriented hats for women in the bright colours. But as a hatter wool is harder to work with due to its floppier nature. Perhaps if I did more of it the work would come more easily. But for the extra time involved it makes just as much sense to buy the ore expensive fur felt and save the time. I would guess if the hats were machine made in a production line then the savings are substantial. I made a cloche for my wife so we shall see how it stands up to the elements.

 

[Who?]

I stopped buying wool hats almost forty years ago, but everyone is free to re-invent the wheel, I guess.

Stick to fur felt, and you will be happier, and you will own better hats.

Also, Akubra hats are a hell of a bargain, I think.

 

[Edward]

Out of a curiosity I purchased a few wool capelines just to try them. At first glance it is hard to tell them apart from a lighter weight fur felt. They do require an application of stiffener to make them more easily worked. As you say the colour palette available is really wide and they are great for making more fashion oriented hats for women in the bright colours. But as a hatter wool is harder to work with due to its floppier nature. Perhaps if I did more of it the work would come more easily. But for the extra time involved it makes just as much sense to buy the ore expensive fur felt and save the time. I would guess if the hats were machine made in a production line then the savings are substantial. I made a cloche for my wife so we shall see how it stands up to the elements.

This is interesting to hear. I have noticed that wool seems to be more common for women's hats beyond the budget price range. The impression I had is because fashion for women's hats seems to be about less rigid shapes that suit wool well. Clearly with many men's styles wool isn't ideal - which I've always thought of in terms of its properties, but your point about it being also a question of the wool taking longer to work with, and thus balancing cost of materials against labour costs / time is an important one. I get the impression wool really does need a higher level of machine-stamping in the manufacturing process - and then can't really be reshaped in the way a felt hat can?

I stopped buying wool hats almost forty years ago, but everyone is free to re-invent the wheel, I guess.

Stick to fur felt, and you will be happier, and you will own better hats.

Also, Akubra hats are a hell of a bargain, I think.

I do stick to fur for the most part; it's this itch for a navy blue porkpie I can't seem to scratch without going wool....

 

[Monte]

Wondering who may have experience good or bad with Gamble & Gunn in Great Britain.
Have this pork pie ordered and on the way:
https://gambleandgunn.com/product/gamble-gunn-heisenberg-style-porkpie-hat/
At $41 U.S. obviously not high end but other hats I’ve gotten in the UK have been very decent, though this is my first Gamble & Gunn purchase.
Just wanted to see if anyone can weigh in on this company and anything you may have from them.

A wool, and not felt. No leather sweat. Cashing in on a TV series style. I don't know how far I'd test the crushable and water resistant qualities. I don't want to offend, but I would have saved my dough for any kind of felt with a leather sweat. Those wools wear out in hurry when used hard. I actually do like a brown hat though.

 

[belfastboy]

This is interesting to hear. I have noticed that wool seems to be more common for women's hats beyond the budget price range. The impression I had is because fashion for women's hats seems to be about less rigid shapes that suit wool well. Clearly with many men's styles wool isn't ideal - which I've always thought of in terms of its properties, but your point about it being also a question of the wool taking longer to work with, and thus balancing cost of materials against labour costs / time is an important one. I get the impression wool really does need a higher level of machine-stamping in the manufacturing process - and then can't really be reshaped in the way a felt hat can?



I do stick to fur for the most part; it's this itch for a navy blue porkpie I can't seem to scratch without going wool....

I will post more info as I work with it. This is very much a process of discovery. I was thinking of offering a line of ready to wear women's hats with wool at a lower price point but am rethinking that. I stiffened the brim to give it structure but left the crown soft and malleable. We shall see how it turns out and holds up. The difference in price is not great.....$20 versus $50, wool to fur. So if it takes another two hours to work the wool then it makes no sense. The women's wool hats in the fedora/western styles are all very stiff and have a machine stamped look to them. I think the wool requires the heat, pressure and stiffening along with the machine to press them into shape and are not workable by hand as is a fur felt.

Wool just doesn't have the structural integrity (at least what I have seen) that fur felt affords.

 

[moontheloon]

Hello old friends

What are you guys using these days to access the forum on your phone?

I haven't been on in quite some time and the old Tapatalk app seems to not be the thing anymore.

Looking forward to hearing from you old codgers.

Ant

 

[belfastboy]

Hello old friends

What are you guys using these days to access the forum on your phone?

I haven't been on in quite some time and the old Tapatalk app seems to not be the thing anymore.

Looking forward to hearing from you old codgers.

Ant

Great to see you post. But I am no help to you.....as a really old codger def not the one to ask for tech advice. My go to lid is the light grey Borsa I bought from you!

 

[Frunobulax]

Hello old friends

What are you guys using these days to access the forum on your phone?

I haven't been on in quite some time and the old Tapatalk app seems to not be the thing anymore.

Looking forward to hearing from you old codgers.

Ant

Yeah, Tapatalk turned out to be a train wreck after the site went to a new software platform. I just use the AdBlock Plus browser on my phone.

Hope you're doing well, my friend.

 

[moontheloon]

Great to see you post. But I am no help to you.....as a really old codger def not the one to ask for tech advice. My go to lid is the light grey Borsa I bought from you!

Phenomenal hat ... I miss it often

Glad you're enjoying it old friend

 

[moontheloon]

Yeah, Tapatalk turned out to be a train wreck after the site went to a new software platform. I just use the AdBlock Plus browser on my phone.

Hope you're doing well, my friend.

Great to see you uncle Jim

 

[BobHufford]

Looking forward to hearing from you old codgers.

Hey Ant!

I'm just using Safari on an iPhone and put up with the ads (they are less annoying that right after the conversion of the Lounge software).

I was thinking of you just this morning as I was digging through the Portis Path thread. Hope you and yours are doing well. The kids in college yet?

 

[moontheloon]

Hey Ant!

I'm just using Safari on an iPhone and put up with the ads (they are less annoying that right after the conversion of the Lounge software).

I was thinking of you just this morning as I was digging through the Portis Path thread. Hope you and yours are doing well. The kids in college yet?

ha!

not just yet my brother... they are 9 and 6

hope you are well old friend

I think of you when I watch Otis Gibbs videos on youtube... he resembles you

 

[Edward]

Hello old friends

What are you guys using these days to access the forum on your phone?

I haven't been on in quite some time and the old Tapatalk app seems to not be the thing anymore.

Looking forward to hearing from you old codgers.

Ant

Are you on iphone or android? I use Opera on android, which works well. Still prefer a "proper" computer for typing a response of any length with my sausage fingers, but that's me and the phone rather than the browser.